Shrewsbury

Record amount raised in the All Night Sports Marathon

March 1st 2024

Sport Partnership Community Engagement (PCE)

On Friday 9th February, 38 enthusiastic Salopians set about the challenge of completing 10 different sports in 10 hours.

Students were divided into 4 equal teams, combining a range of skill and experience across a number of sports in order to create close competition for the coveted All Night Sports Trophy. The Farquharson Falcons, The O’Brien Orioles, The Jagger Jaguars and Holliday’s Hotspurs arrived promptly at 8:45pm ready to be briefed on the evening ahead.

The aim prior to the event was to raise more than the £6700 raised for last year’s All Night Sports Event, with £8000 being the target. At 8:59pm, 1 minute before the start, we reached our target of £8000.

The event started with Cycling, an event that required less actual sporting skill, but more balance and technique. Overseeing the event was Mr Kaye, who alongside two Sixth Formers, were scoring the event. As we moved on to the Dance, we were joined by Mrs Winkley, who is a trustee at Restart and spoke to the students about where the money would be going. The Dance provided some memorable moments, with some quality (and some lesser quality) freestyle moves on display. Our head of Dance Mrs Stanhope was delighted by the progress of the group to learn a routine in such a brief period of time.

We then moved through the ball sports, from Hockey to Basketball to Cricket to Netball, the high-octane action continued long into the early hours. The beauty of the sports hall at Shrewsbury is that you have no concept of time given the lack of windows, so students were able to continue through to the early hours without realising that they are normally asleep.

As we approached 5am, more physical tiredness than actual tiredness crept in, with students suffering minor injuries because of tired and late tackles. Luckily, no injury warranted a trip to A&E like Mr Morris did last year, and all were able to continue.

The final sport was Volleyball, a game that very few had any experience in. It was telling just a few minutes in when a wayward serve hit Mr Morris in the side of the face, much to the amusement of all participants and staff. As the seconds ticked away, actual rallies broke out and we quickly started to get through the games until finally, at 7:00am exactly, the decisive point was played, and they had done it! 10 sports, 10 hours, and a hall of very tired individuals ready to embark on their much-deserved Exeat break.