Olympic Flame Comes to Ballyholland Sports Day
On Wednesday 30 May the Olympic flame made a surprise visit to Ballyholland P.S. Sports Day to kick start the Olympic celebrations in County Down.
The children of Ballyholland school together with the teachers, staff and coaches from Ulster GAA organised a fun filled day of events to celebrate this special year of London 2012. There was an opening ceremony with our very own Olympic flame and the torchbearer was head boy, Pearse Loughran.
The rest of the children had individual flags of participating countries and all the Primary 7 children had huge flags that were paraded in the middle of the pitch. Music was played out over the sound system with the theme of the ‘world in union’ and togetherness and spirit of the Olympic Games.
After the opening ceremony the whole school took part in FUN activities that involved running, jumping, throwing events in a non-competitive environment. There was no winner or loser in these activities and each child was in a country that competes in the Olympics. All these events are similar to the track and field events which take place in every Olympics and after the FUN events children were given the choice to take part in traditional sprint and relay races only if they liked.
The day itself was very special with the flags, music, parents and children making it a great spectacle and a wonderful atmosphere.
The goal of the Olympic movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. This was very much so the case in Ballyholland on their unique sports day.
A very special thanks to all who took part in the day and to the principal, teachers, staff, pupils and parents of the Ballyholland community who helped out in any way.
