A MAGICAL milestone has been smashed by the county's SportsSpecial School Sports Partnership.

The last three of the partnership's 25 competitions have taken the number of young people accessing inclusive competitions this year through the 1,000 barrier.

A cricket competition was held alongside a North Yorkshire Schools Games tournament at York Cricket Club, supported by newly-appointed Yorkshire Cricket Board development officer Richard Wilkinson.

School Games organiser Val French said: “This was a great inclusive event with our young people with special needs playing alongside their mainstream counterparts”

Teams were in two pools, with Hambleton & Richmondshire PRS coming out on top against Foremost and Springhill in pool one, with the outcome going down to the last ball as they won by three runs against Foremost.

In pool two, four schools battled it out with some great cricket played.

Welburn Hall took the Sainsbury’s School Games trophy after beating Mowbray 225-216 and just pipping The Dales by five runs.

Springwater came second, beating Mowbray 225-216, while The Dales and Mowbray shared third place.

Pupils also enjoyed practising their skills on the Cricket Factory and the adapted game of Table Cricket

The schools were back in action at the athletics competition at Huntington Stadium, with 11 special schools and 140 youngsters taking part in a total of 40 races including 100 metres, 200m, 400m, 800m and adapted races of 50m and 25m to suit all abilities.

There were also field events such as soft ball and grip ball throw, soft javelin, long jump and high jump.

French said: “This was a magnificent end to the competition calendar for most pupils, with certificates awarded for first, second and third place by retired Applefields head of post-16 Anne Cooley.

"We could not have run this event without the support of other staff, Young Sport Leaders from Barlby High School, All Saints' School, York St John University and volunteers from City of York Athletic Club.

"To reach the 1,000 mark for pupils with special needs taking part this year was fantastic.”

The final event of the year was at the new York Cycle Track, where Mowbray, Welburn Hall and Woodlands took part in their first ever British Cycling time trails and team competition.