Disabled youngsters from Wigan, Oldham and Rochdale won gold at the inaugural Greater Manchester Disability Games.
Organised by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust and held at Leigh Sports Village, which includes IFI accredited facility Leigh Indoor Sports Centre, it’s the first time Wigan Borough has hosted the event.
Teams from Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Salford, Tameside and Wigan competed in table tennis, athletics, Boccia, tag rugby and football to be named number one in the region.
Greg Warburton, 12, from Westleigh High School triumphed in the table tennis while Rochdale’s Redwood School won both football competitions – for severe learning difficulties and moderate learning difficulties.
Oldham’s New Bridge School won gold in Boccia and tag rugby while Oakfield High School in Wigan were crowned althletics champs.
More than 180 young disabled people between the ages of 11 and 16 took part.
Adam Blezard from Wigan’s Sports Development Unit said:
"This has been a great day for the region's young disabled athletes. Almost 200 individuals took part and we are, of course, particularly pleased that the Wigan schools taking part did so well.
It has been a fantastic day and we hope to build on it and make it an annual fixture in Wigan’s sporting calendar in which all ten districts of Greater Manchester compete. Grass roots events such as this highlight the depth of talent we have and hopefully will continue to do so in coming years.”
The event was supported by Greater Manchester's Competition Manager Network and Disability Sport Development Group and on the day by local sports clubs from Wigan Borough.
Wigan Sports Development run a number of initiatives for disabled youngsters, including a series of multi sports camps to be run over the summer holidays.
