School children get into the Olympic Spirit

The Rotherham Festival of Sport is taking place in Clifton Park on Tuesday June 26 after the Olympic Torch Relay makes its way through the borough, including the park itself, on that morning.

The Olympic Torch is due at Clifton Park at around 9am and the Festival of Sport will begin at 10am to give the 1,000 children taking part the chance to cheer on the torchbearers before getting involved in their own sporting endeavours.

The children aged from five to 16 will be taking part in a variety of activities including:

- track and field
- handball
- goalball
- hockey
- football

Councillor Roger Stone, Leader of Rotherham MBC, said: "We're encouraging all our communities to join in with those along the Torch Relay route and this is a great example of our schools getting involved to promote healthy lifetsyles among our young people.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone and there will be schools out lining the route as well as those in the Park who wil be cheering the torchbearers and then taking part in this fabulous event."

The actual Olympic Torch will be visible to the public lining the streets from 8.50am on Sheffield Road at its junction with Marsh Street. It then goes along Westgate, down Church Street (past Minster Gardens and the Minster), through All Saints Square, along College Street and Doncaster Gate before entering Clifton Park.

The torchbearers will then run along the path past the Cenotaph, Bandstand and Children's Play area before emerging back on to Doncaster Road. The route then takes the torch all the way along Doncaster Road through to Dalton and Thrybergh before the torch goes back into its vehicle to be taken from Thrybergh (at the junction with Chestnut Court) through to Conisbrough, where it starts the next stage of its run as the torchbearers take it on the rest of its journey which ends in Cleethorpes for that day's evening celebrations.

The Festival of Sport will run from 10am to 3pm in Clifton Park and is supported by Rotherham MBC, RUFC Community Sports Trust and DC Leisure.