S-Factor Academy held its first athletics summer camp this August concluding with a fantastic competition day! The camp welcomed over 57 young disabled athletes with 8 young disabled leaders assisting them over the 5 weeks. Throughout the summer, the young athletes experienced inclusive athletics; learning to run, jump, and throw! Parents, grandparents, and siblings of the young disabled athletes also got involved and had great fun being part of the S-Factor family.

As well as the athletes learning a lot over the summer camp, 4 young disabled people from Access Sport’s Ignite programme experienced work placement with the athletics club. The work experience students assisted S-Factor’s coach Adam and his team to deliver the inclusive activities and encourage the young athletes to be involved and try their best.

The final day of the camp was competition time, with athletes battling it out across 5 events; long jump, shot put, javelin, hammer and the 100m sprint. Athletes were split into juniors and seniors, with medals awarded to top 3 of each event.

With competition spirits high, S-Factor Academy was lucky to have Paralympians Vanessa Wallace and Sam Ruddock join the athletes to show off their medals and give their support for the 100m finals. S-Factor also welcomed Quest88, an adapted equipment company, who bought along a fleet of RaceRunners. RaceRunners allow individuals who require mobility assistance to run. These frames assisted the young people at S-Factor Academy to run alongside their friends, an opportunity often unavailable to them due to their physical impairment and lack of equipment.
                    
Sam and Vanessa were not the only the celebrities popping down to lend a hand with competition day. Access Sport’s very own Sports Jam Sam mascot came along to brighten up the day when the heavens unfortunately opened. He helped Vanessa and Sam award medals to the athletes and posed for a few selfies too!

    

We wanted to congratulate S-Factor Academy on their very successful summer camp, and look forward to supporting you further through the next year, hopefully welcoming more Paralympians down to the club!

We also want to thank Quest88, England Athletics, and Vanessa and Sam for supporting the competition day and making it such a fantastic event!