The first Sportlochaber Gala Day was a resounding success…Two hundred competitors – twenty teams of ten – took part in a major inter-club It’s A Knockout Competition. They got soaking wet, covered in foam, wiggled their bottoms in hoops and wriggled their bodies through tunnels – and came out laughing! The winners were the Lochaber Squash Club Team …
Several clubs also took promotional stalls so that they could promote their own sport and give out information about their activities – from the Tennis Club with Swing Ball, to the Inverness Rowing Club with 2 racing skulls and the West Highland Wheelers with a “mountain bike” obstacle course.
It was fantastic to see all ages and all sports competing against each other, with a great atmosphere in the Club afterwards. A big thank you to all the Clubs who took part for throwing themselves (literally!) into the day with such enthusiasm – all great sports!
It was a great honour to have our Patrons, Fergus and Ritchie opening proceedings – and an added bonus that it was Ritchie’s birthday! Thank you to Bridget Thomas and Tracy Jeffries, Active School Co-ordinators and Alan Clark, Head of Partnership Management at Sportscotland, for making the effort to come along and support the event.
Sportlochaber also hired a Smoothie Bike for the day in order to test it out– a bike with a Blender attached via a flexible drive shaft, so that as you peddle you whizz up your very own Fresh Fruit Smoothie – and it worked! We have taken photographs, notes and dimensions, and we are now in the process of making our very own bike, for which we have great plans (of which more on another day!)
The evening’s entertainment, The Nightfever Disco Roadshow, held in the Nevis Centre (with many thanks to John Maclennan and Willie Duncan) was great fun and enjoyed by all who attended…Ritchie’s dancing, notably, showed that being a world class athlete was the very least of his abilities!
The whole event was sponsored by Awards For All – it was free entry during the day and free entry for team members at night – and seemed to be totally successful in its aim of bringing clubs and community together.
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- “Where did the rest of the track go?!”
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- …Strange creatures from The Deep
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- “It’s a boy!!”
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- Thumbs Up!
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- “Why aren’t I going anywhere?”