Street sports
Music and sport have been combined together for the first time
in a new event aimed at young people in Thanet.
Street Sports Tournament was part of Summer Blast 2008 and was
organised by Thanet District Council’s sports development team, Pie
Factory Music and Pipeline Youth, with support from Thanet
Leisureforce.
The idea was to bring sport and music, including DJing, rap, hip
hop and dance together to provide a musical background to sports
competitions, with expert commentary provided by the sports
development team and support from the Trinity cheerleaders.
Held at Hartsdown Leisure Centre, a steel sports cage was used
for two versus two basketball and football tournaments, with play
encouraged by adapting rules to praise individual’s flair and
skill. Grandstand seating close to the cage provided a great
atmosphere, with more than 100 young people coming along.
The eventual winners of the basketball were Joshua Berthoux and
Ben Giles, with Neil Barnett and Chris Gregg winning the football.
All are 16 and from Margate.
Thanet District Council’s Sports Development Officer, Martyn
Cassell, said: “This was the first time we had tried this format of
blending together music and sport. These are two very important
parts of youth culture and the tournament went down very well. It
is essential we look for more examples of this type to work with
our young people”
Steve Kreeger from Pie Factory Music said: “The concept of
bringing music workshops and sports competitions together to create
a well-fused and successful event for young people who deserve such
opportunities is certainly something that we will be looking to do
again. It was a great success with some great skills on
display.”
ENDS