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Parwich sport has never had it so good, as dozens of fans crowded together supporting this impressive occasion. The ground was hard & the conditions were cold but we witnessed drama, mental resilience & the breathless physical fitness of so many.

We may not have had the hordes of celebrities who were present last night at Calzaghe’s fight, we were just more selective choosing Dr Sam Strachan (aka Tom Chambers) to open the occasion. One of his more memorable & very astute statements was “may every ball be in” as he manfully cut the recycled red ribbon to the hard play area. Di who opened the proceeding stated that she “particularly enjoyed the kiss” from heart throb ‘Sam’ of Holby City fame.

Three teams were competing for the accolade of champion of champions, the single sex team of the Netball players and the mixed teams of footballers & tennis players.

For further tales & photo click below.

Don refereeing the football said “The swirling wind and the firm playing surface made good football difficult, but all concerned produced three exhilarating high tempo games. Being a youngish, up and coming official I was quite keen to use my red and yellow cards but due to the high level of sportsmanship and indeed the moral standing of most of the participants, to my great disappointment this wasn’t possible. I couldn’t even influence the result, with the girl’s netball team being narrowly defeated.” However I have to add that I was only refereeing because no-one wanted me in their team!!
Results of the football competition – 1st Footballers, 2nd Tennis Players, 3rd Netballers.

Amanda umpiring the netball said “It was a high quality competition with the men picking the rules up very quickly and still ignoring them. It was good to see the children managing to dart around tying some of the adults in knots. The key reason for the whistle going regularly was the frequent unbridled enthusiasm of players running with the ball.
Results of the netball competition – 1st A draw – Netballers & Tennis players, 3rd Footballers.

Paul speaking for the Tennis players said “The refereeing and the withering cold left few spectactors for the tennis, however the hardier youngsters showed their true colours and skills in close games all round. The netballing adjudicator however determined the results!”
Results of the tennis competition – 1st Tennis players, 2nd Netballers, 3rd Footballers.

As the morning progressed more and more spectators were co-opted onto teams, regardless of age & fitness – it was “cool” to be seen on the courts. Ultimately there could only be one winner, even though anything could have been possible in terms of the umpiring decisions, so it was really nail biting to the finish with the true champions being the Tennis Players.

On a more serious note thanks must go again to Ballidon Quarry for all 18.5 tonnes of chippings, to the ‘Awards for All’, Lottery Funding for the rebound fencing and the refurbishment. The resurfacing of the courts came from funding of the original group set up in 1993. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible with all their hard work. The morning was brilliantly organised in an exceeding relaxed way, with super refreshments including a marvellous buffet spread, Sandra & Glenis have never had so many offers to wash up, the water was the only warm thing of the day.

Let’s hope this is not a one off event, the camardarie, atmosphere and fun make it a deserving event to become an annual feature on the Parwich Calendar.

Part of the original 1993 funding group.

Thank you to Colin Beesley & John Fuller-Session for supplying the photos.