WSM Bath and Bristol partnered with volunteers from local churches to stage 8 different Get Sported Camps over four weeks of the school summer holidays in Frome, Bath, South Bristol and North Bristol. A brilliant time was had by all  including 15 different daily character qualities built into ‘Teamwork’, ‘Changing Teams’, and ‘Winning & Losing’ ministry curriculums plus great sports coaching and fun games through football, rugby, tennis, cricket, softball, athletics, baseball, volleyball, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, Ringo, team building, dodgeball, handball, dance, arts and crafts and performing arts through a partnership with Freedom Theatre Company.

Over 300 different children between the ages of 5-12 attended the camps in total, all hearing the good news of Jesus and many making decisions to follow Him. It was wonderful to have so many volunteers from local churches helping on the camps including over 25 ‘Young Leaders’ who joined to assist and be mentored over the summer.

Get Sported Summer Camps begin next week with workers and volunteers from WSM Bath, Bristol and local partnering churches trained, equipped and ready to serve.

The camps will involve great fun, fantastic sports coaching in a variety of sports such as football, cricket, basketball, rugby, baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis, swimming and other activities such as dance, arts and crafts, water games and performing arts through a theatre company partnership. Above all, there will be great character development with weekly curriculums and daily themes for the children to grow from God’s Word.

There is still space for children between the ages of 5 and 12 to attend on all camps which are listed below:

Mon 26- Fri 30th July – Get Sported Bath and Get Sported South Bristol

Mon 2- Fri 6th August – Get Sported Frome and Get Sported North Bristol

Mon 9-Fri 13th August – Get Sported Bath and Get Sported South Bristol

Mon 16 – Fri 20th August – Get Sported Frome and Get Sported Bath

For more information, prices, venues and a booking form please go to: www.getsported.org

Six schools, 650 children and 50 teachers were reached during a fantastic outreach involving workers and volunteers from WSM Bristol, Bath and local churches. The Kids Games involved dividing up the given year groups or in some cases the whole school into teams who then rotated around activity stations including sports, arts and crafts, games and Bible discovery. The theme of the Games was ‘I Belong’, where children were taught and discovered that they really do belong to God and His family and that they should treat others as though they are important too. Everybody had a great time and this is a project we are hoping to help roll out throughout the country linked to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

During the Fifa World Cup, both WSM Bristol and WSM Bath connected into the fever of the tournament to reach friends and the community by hosting match screenings in various homes with food and in churches as larger screen events. Despite England’s poor showing, a great time was had and a good number of people were reached using ‘The Prize’ DVD which features current Christian players sharing their testimonies on the greatness of Jesus.

The NCCF 2010 promised to be another good weekend with beautiful weather. On Saturday 8 teams gathered from across the country take part for the festival cup. Bristol & Bath had four teams representing the south west, but reigning champions Roehampton were looking to hold on to their title. The 8 teams split into 2 groups, with each team playing 3 games in the morning. During the lunch break Akeel gave his testimony with many non Christian players listening in. After Lunch there were the Knockout stages.  Already meeting earlier in the group stages, the final had Roehampton Vs All Nation Church facing each other. In a close match Roehampton were unable to keep their title and All Nation Church lifted the winner’s Trophy. Overall it was a really great day, with over 80 players taking part.
On Sunday teams from Molesey, St Thomas-Sheffield & Roehampton took part in another jam packed day of cricket. With one team not turning up, the format of the day changed to make four teams playing shorter games. Other than a short period of rain, we were blessed with good weather and managed to have 6 games, each team playing 3 matches. Thanks to all the teams that helped the event run so smoothly and look forward to seeing you next year!