Sporting behaviour to the fore as Chichester and Bognor pupils vie for football honours

Organisers said it had been fantastic to see the pupils compete once again after such a long time absent with the various restrictions previously in place.

Every event had a great turnout of schools and gave sports leaders from The Regis School and Bishop Luffa the opportunity to referee and provide leadership skills.

Both areas held an A team Year 5/6, girls’ Year 5/6 and Year 3/4 tournaments. Each led to their top three teams joining up for a competitive final.

In addition, there was a small school and B team one-off tournament where all the small schools in the partnership could enter.

The girls’ competition was held first this year, with the Chichester tournament at the University of Chichester’s campus.

Matches were refereed well by Regis School female football sports leaders who did a fantastic job. It was a competitive tournament but with standout winners.

East Witterings were first, Chichester Free School second and Parklands third. All three qualified for the area final.

The A team competitions were hosted by the university and at The Arena in Bognor.

The Chichester tournament took place first, with 10 teams competing in a round robin tournament.

The sports leaders from The Regis School again did a professional job. The top three teams that reached the final were: 1st Westbourne, 2nd Kingsham and 3rd St Josephs.

Westbourne did not drop a point nor concede a goal.

The high-quality 3G astroturf pitches were used for the Bognor sides. There was incredible teamwork from the 10 teams that entered.

The TRS Sports Leaders had a challenge to select their player of the tournament. In the end the three teams who moved on to the area final were: 1st Rose Green, 2nd Southway, 3rd Bishop Tufnell.

Next up was the B team and small schools’ event hosted at The Arena.

This event runs to increase the number of children accessing school football and creating similar abilities as it evens the playing field for schools with no more than 100 children in their Years 3-6.

With fewer children to choose from, it is naturally tougher to compete with the larger schools.

There was a good turnout for the small schools competition. It was great to see some of the schools who had already fielded teams for the A teams tournament return with more pupils. It made for another great round robin event.

The results of the small schools overall competition saw Medmerry take the trophy with Edward Bryant as the outright winners in the B team category.

On the same day came the second of the girls’ events.

Eight teams from the Bognor area competed in the closest competition, the results coming down to goal difference.

The girls’ football referees did a wonderful job and ensured the event ran smoothly. The results were: 1st Walberton and Binsteds 5s, 2nd Walberton and Binsteds 6s and 3rd Southway.

The SSP finals had the six best teams in the West Sussex West area from both the A teams and girls events returning to The Arena for the deciding tournament.

The A teams competition did take a hit from Covid but it was another standout performance from Westbourne that took the crown. They will represent WSW in the county final.

The girls’ final was another round robin final between, East Wittering, Chichester Free School, Parklands, Walberton and Binsteds 5s, Walberton and Binsteds 6s and Rose Green.

Rose Green replaced Southway who had to step down after Covid impacted their team.

Rose Green edged

bragging rights for the Bognor area with the outcome coming down to goal

difference once more.

To round off the term, there was a great turnout for the Year 3-4 tournament that Jessie Younghusband won.

All five tournaments showed sportsmanship with fist pumps with opponents, a real pleasure to witness.

Westbourne, Rose Green and Medmerry were wished great luck as they progressed as WSW representatives for the Sussex finals.

WSW School Sport Partnership manager Sean O’Connor said: “It is great to see so many different children representing their schools with over 500 competitors involved.”

Schools can access all kind of sports via the WSW SSP throughout the academic year via www.westsussex westssp.co.uk