On Sunday 15th July 2012 Downham Market travelled to UEA in Norwich to defend their title of Small Market Town Village Games winners 2011. This year the team went with a full squad excluding a senior 5 a side football team. The day remained fine and the team went full of enthusiasm and a very competitive spirit. Team members included:
Archery – Juniors Ben Rayner and Jacob White / Seniors Jerry Rose and Dan Woods
Darts – Jerry Rose
Fitness Triathlon – Sally Gooderson, Stuart Singleterry and Jacob WhiteB
Athletics – Cara Rose, David Lane, Callum Robinson, Ben Rayner and Joshua Gooderson
Tennis – Karen Starling and Kelly Robinson
Badminton – Carol Cade and Alan Schofield
Table Tennis – Junior – Harvey Whardle and Senior Stuart Singleterry
U11 Football – Harvey Whardle, Spencer Singleterry, Ryan Tegerdine, Conor Williams, Tai Flemming, Dominic Rutt and Torin Daniel
Rounders – Andy Rayner, Frances Rayner, Sara Rayner, Harry Cupit, Joshua Gooderson, Callum Robinson, David Robinson, Karen RObinson, Sally Gooderson, Danny Hannigan and Alistair Cupit.
Short Mat Bowls – Dave Brooks, John Belton and stella Belton.
It was a well organised day and though the majority of teams had gone to first round heats in their district to gain a place at the games Downham Market got an automatic place because they do not have any competition in West Norfolk. This is a real shame stated Frances Rayner, Village Games Sports-coordinator for Downham Market and organiser of the Downham Market Team. We would love to have some competition in West Norfolk so that we can prove how worthy we are off a place at the finals but I think our success over 2 years proves that we have a lot of talent and skills in Downham Market. Everyone went with the right attitude and were all out to win the trophy again this year. It is fantastic to spend the day with such a great group of people who love sport and want to take on the challenge. A big thank you goes to Active Norfolk for organising the event and also all the adults that brought along children to represent Downham Market, without them we wouldnt have had a winning team. Besides winning the competition we also had winners and runners up in several categories. Downham Market won the rounders, fitness triathlon, darts, archery and athletics with confirmed runners up places in Short Mat Bowls, Table Tennis and U11 Football. Funding for the Village Games Finals has been confirmed until 2014 so we are looking forward to going back next year to defend our title further.