Fun in the Sun – Hampshire School Games Festival 2024

We had another beautifully sunny day for the Hampshire School Games Festival 2024. Over 1100 students came out force with 108 schools taking part, from across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Children between the ages of eight and eleven, took over Winchester Sports and Leisure Park to experience the festival, which provides fun and different physical activity experiences.

Taking inspiration from the upcoming Olympics, the day started with a parade lap before the children took part in some of the 38 activities on offer. Ranging from the more traditional hockey and football to Kinball, climbing and skateboarding.

Schools are encouraged to bring students that may not regularly take part in school sport activities. It’s a safe, positive, environment to try something new, get active and most importantly – have fun!

One teacher said “We’ve had a fantastic day. The children have got to try loads of new activities, the martial arts was a huge hit, so was the climbing wall. It’s the first time many of them have tried an adventurous activity. They’ve enjoyed the experience and it’s great that they’ve had a go.”

The latest active lives data for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight shows that over half of our young people are not active enough. 50.2% are not meeting the guidelines for young people between the ages of 5 and 18 which recommends an average of 60 minutes of moderate activity a day

We host the event every year, in collaboration with Hampshire School Games organisers. A big thank you to our 200 volunteers, including students from local colleges and national sporting bodies for making the day possible.

The event is funded by National Lottery funding through Sport England.