Manor School pupil Simon Marks is looking sharp.

SWORD SKILLS: Ace fencer Simon Marks has been picked for the Northern Ireland squad for the forthcoming Home Internationals

The 15-year-old has been selected for Northern Ireland in the under-16s Fencing Home Internationals.

The teenage epee expert will be lining up against England, Scotland and Wales at Queen's University, Belfast, on Saturday, March 11.

It's a great honour and achievement for the youngster to have been picked for an international event, as fencing is not included in the Manor timetable and his success is entirely due to his own efforts in his own time.

Basketball

The under-14s league final between Bootham School and Joseph Rowntree School was a thriller, Bootham winning 32-31 with the crucial score coming with just 42 seconds left on the clock.

Bootham also won the under-15s league final by a point, beating Easingwold 41-40.

Bootham established a comfortable lead but had to hang on grimly as Easingwold came back strongly.

Bootham clinched a hat-trick of titles by winning the under-16s League by beating Fulford 35-28.

Oaklands beat All Saints 32-30 in a thrilling under-13s final.

Each of the finalists and all participating players were awarded certificates. In addition a certificate was awarded to the most valuable player in each game.

These went to: U13, Donna Smith (Oaklands); U14, Oliver Mills (J Rowntree); U15, James Howie (Bootham); U16, Patrick Hawker (Bootham).

Cross-Country

There were some encouraging performances by York and District athletes in the North Yorkshire versus Humberside fixture at Beverley.

North Yorkshire won five of the six age groups with only the junior girls losing.

Aimee Collett (Tadcaster) and David MacQuarrie (Sherburn) both won their races and there were second places for Susanna Dale and Lara Gibbs (both St Peter's).

The full York results were:

Inter/Senior Boys (30 ran): 6th Joel Riley (Tadcaster).

Junior Boys (27 ran): 1st David MacQuarrie (Sherburn); 21st Shane Murphy (All Saints).

Year 7 boys (27 ran): 4th Alex Janes (Manor); 5th Tom Bean (Manor).

Inter/Senior Girls (28 ran): 1st Aimee Collett (Tadcaster); 2nd Susanna Dale (St Peter's); 21st Jenna Davies (Tadcaster).

Junior Girls (20 ran): 2nd Lara Gibbs (St Peter's); 10th Karen Espiner (Sherburn).

Year 7 Girls (27 ran): 3rd Nicola Lampard (Tadcaster); 4th Lauren Mason (Tadcaster).

Other locally-trained athletes running for North Yorkshire were: Emily Watts ninth, Sam Wood 11th, Rebecca Coates 12th, in the Inter/Seniors, Rebecca Greaves fifth, Roz Emslie sixth, Emma Astin 13th, in the juniors, Gemma Darley 22nd, in the year 7 race.

Netball

Netball events in March are:

Wednesday, March 1, York and District under-14 trials at All Saints Upper School, 4pm; Thursday, March 2, York and District under-16s and under-19s trials at Huntington School at 4pm.

FOOTBALL

Goals by James Ellerby (Clifton Without), Daniel Phillis (Riverside) and Mark Holt (Woodthorpe) earned York Boys Under 11s a 3-3 draw against Leeds on Saturday.

York Boys suffered a double defeat against Rotherham last Saturday, going down 1-0 in an U15 game and 3-1 at U14 level.

York Boys entertain Grimsby at home on Saturday at U13s, U14s and U15s level. The Under 11s' game against Scarborough has been called off.

York U15s: A Walton, R Taylor, A Buwick, G Law, N Willis, J Cairns (all Tadcaster); J McIlroy, T Vasey, M Wash (all Joseph Rowntree); N Balderson, M Corr, A Tegetmeir (all Millthorpe); C Atkinson (Oaklands); M McKenzie (Lowfield); A Welburn, C Johnson (both Huntington); A Bardy, W Moore, T Walker (all All Saints); A Adkin (Burnholme); B Small (Fulford); L Banfield (Barlby).

York U14s: N Briggs, J Roughley (both Barlby); J Bradley, M Holmes, A Fishwick (all Millthorpe); L Grant, D Franks, D Ali (all Huntington); I Dean, A Arthur (both Fulford); D Pickles (Manor); N Sharp (Archbishop's); T Walters (Joseph Rowntree); C Anderson (Selby HS); S Farthing, P Appleton (both Tadcaster); A Fisher, B Harrison (both All Saints).

York U13s: T Heslop, C Smith, J Kew (all All Saints); D Porter, C Dean (both Selby HS); P Dodd, C Chandler (both Huntington); D Hartas (Canon Lee); A Wood, D Huntington (both Barlby); A Monger, O Hutchinson (both Fulford); S Pinder (Brayton); N Kamara (Millthorpe); G Hird (Archbishop's); A Hull (Joseph Rowntree); S Heslop (Huntington).

All players are to meet at the All Saints ground, Sim Balk Lane for 9.30am.

The next set of football league fixtures for Primary and Secondary schools, to be completed by Saturday, March 4, is:

Primary 'A' League: Dringhouses v Rbt Wilkinson; Haxby Road v Clifton Without; Westfield v Riverside.

Primary 'B' League: Huntington v Poppleton Road; St Wilfrid's v Acomb; Scarcroft v English Martyrs.

Primary 'C': Appleton Roebuck v Park Grove; St Barnabas v Oaken Grove; Osbaldwick v St Lawrence's.

Primary 'D' League: Headlands v Carr; Kingsway v Hempland.

Primary 'E' League: Wigginton v Lakeside; Copmanthorpe v St Oswald's; Tang Hall v Ralph Butterfield.

Primary 'F' League: St Mary's v Skelton; Derwent v Knavesmire.

U12 League: Manor v All Saints; Millthorpe v Archbishop's; Oaklands v Burnholme; Fulford v Canon Lee; Joseph Rowntree v Huntington; Lowfield v Tadcaster.

U13 League: Manor v All Saints; Millthorpe v Archbishop's; Oaklands v Burnholme; Fulford v Canon Lee; Joseph Rowntree v Huntington; Lowfield v Tadcaster.

U14 League: All Saints v Manor; Archbishop's v Millthorpe; Burnholme v Oaklands; Canon Lee v Fulford; Huntington v Joseph Rowntree.

U15 League: Manor v All Saints; Archbishop's v Millthorpe; Canon Lee v Fulford; Huntington v Joseph Rowntree; Tadcaster v Lowfield.

U16 League: Manor v All Saints; Barlby v Sherburn; Huntington v Joseph Rowntree; Lowfield v Tadcaster.

Results

Intermediate (U13) Cup round two: Selby 11 (M Foyle 5, R Barlow 3), Lowfield 2.

U12 Trophy round two: Tadcaster 7, Selby 1.

Primary Cup: Hempland 'A' 5 (A Bilton 3), Skelton 1; Hempland 'B' 0, Riverside 6.

U16 League: Tadcaster 4, Oaklands 5.

Primary League: Poppleton Road 0, Scarcroft 2; Scarcroft 2, Poppleton Road 0; Appleton Roebuck 2 (Sharpe 2), Park Grove 1; Ralph Butterfield 'A' 1, Copmanthorpe 'A' 3; Ralph Butterfield 'B' 0, Copmanthorpe 'B' 6 (Carver 3); Clifton Without 2, Westifled 0 (Clifton scorers: M Pallister, James Ellerby).

Ryedale rule the courts

Ryedale School's domination of the basketball court has continued with the girls' under-15 team winning a regional contest just a week after the boy's under-12 team.

After a great deal of practice but only one game, the team played in the first Scarborough School Basketball Tournament for girls.

And they made an immediate impact by beating St Augustine's 44-8.

They went on to beat Whitby College, and then trounce tournament favourites Eskdale 28-10.

The final game saw them pitted against Caedmon, who were the first to score, but fought back in style to take the trophy.

The girls won the competition just seven days after the school's under-12s boys' team won their round of the Scarborough area tournament.

Games to start in York

A North Yorkshire will be first out of the blocks this summer to stage regional Millennium Youth Games.

The county's festival of youth sport will be the first in a series of regional Lottery-funded events taking place throughout the country.

It is all part of possibly the world's largest sporting challenge for youngsters, with an aim of getting children of all abilities involved.

Teams from across the eight districts of North Yorkshire will compete in eight sports, with the winners in each earning a place in the Millennium Youth Games national finals, to be held in Southampton in August.

The regional event will be held over the weekend of May 6 and 7, starting with the swimming events at the new Harrogate Hydro on the Saturday.

The seven other sports - netball, basketball, hockey, tennis, athletics, rugby union and football - will be held at the University of York on the Sunday.

Organisers intend that day to be a real celebration of sport, with sideshows and attractions throughout.

They are also hoping that the interest generated by the event will be a springboard for the various sports development initiatives which currently run throughout North Yorkshire.

Development squads are already up and running in the various districts, with young people invited to attend specialist coaching programmes and team building sessions.

The events and age groupings - school years eight, nine and 10 - are those selected by the Millennium Youth Games organisers, and have an aim of encouraging fun rather than competition.

To this end, children who have reached county level or equivalent are not allowed to enter, giving up and coming youngsters a chance to shine.

It is hoped more than 50 teams of young people will take part in the North Yorkshire event, to which friends and families are invited.

City of York Council sports development officer Mick Hutchinson said: "This is a fabulous opportunity for young people across North Yorkshire to be part of a national event which we believe is the world's largest sporting challenge for young people."

More than 40 regional qualifying events will be held around the country for the games' national grand final, with an estimated 250,000 youngsters taking part.

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