The English Schools' Athletics Championships are annual national athletics competitions organised by the English Schools' Athletic Association ESAA for

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s in England aged 12–18 for track and field, cross country and race walking. The events are used to select the English team for the Schools International Athletics Board competitions (which involve England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) and the

ISF ISF may stand for: Science and technology *Interstitial fluid * Imaging Science Foundation *Incremental sheet forming *Information Security Forum, an international information security best practices organization * Ingenieurs Sans Frontieres (Engi ...

World Schools' Cross Country Championships and World Schools Track & Field Championships.

Age groups

Age groups for the championships are defined based on a student's age on 31 August of the school year in which the competition is held as follows:

Track and field championships

The track and field championships have been held every year since 1925 (except for 1940–1945 due to World War II), are the 4th largest athletics event in the world and since 2003 have been held at the major athletics venues of Birmingham Alexander Stadium, Gateshead International Stadium and former Sheffield Don Valley Stadium. To be eligible to compete students must attain a
entry standard
Each county selects a team for the championships from the eligible students attending schools in their area subject to various constraints including maximum team sizes and students only being allowed to participate in a single individual event at the championships. Teams earn points based on the finishing position of their students in each event and their performances levels. The teams compete for various trophies based on their points earned. Since 1951 Essex have attained the overall highest points total the most times.

Cross country championships

The cross country championships have been held every year since 1960 for boys and 1968 for girls (except for 2001 due to the foot-and-mouth outbreak). Originally separate events were held for boys and girls but since 1989 they have always been combined.

Combined events and race walking championships

A separate championships is held each year for combined events and race walking. For combined events students compete in the track and field

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

(JB, JG),

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

(IG, SG),

octathlon An octathlon is a combined event competition consisting of eight different sports or contests. Track and field An octathlon in athletics is an event which consists of eight track and field events. The word "octathlon" derives from the Greek words o ...

(IB) and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

(SB) events. For race walking students compete over

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

(JB, JG, IG) and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

(IB, SB, SG).

Notable competitors

Many competitors at the English Schools' Athletics Championships have gone on to win individual

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and World Championship medals including multiple gold medallists Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Kelly Holmes and Greg Rutherford.

External links

English Schools' Athletic Association (ESAA)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English Schools Championships, The Athletics competitions in England 1925 establishments in England Education in England Recurring sporting events established in 1925 School sport in the United Kingdom Under-18 athletics competitions Youth sport in England