BIG prizes are on offer in tomorrow’s climax to the inaugural AFM Super Six Athletics Challenge. Over the winter months hundreds of the island’s Year 7 and 8 students have been taking part in the indoor event with the carrot of reaching the finals at Beau Sejour.

‘I’m delighted with the response we’ve had not only from the athletes themselves but also from the schools. It’s gone even better than I would have hoped for in its first year,’ said competition organiser and the island’s athletics development officer, Lee Merrien.

‘AFM have been a fantastic sponsor too. Their assistance has been invaluable as they have enabled us to provide some excellent prizes – iPod Shuffle, digital camera, Polar heart-rate monitors and trainers – and they have provided me personally with time and resources.’

All the finalists will also receive an event T-shirt to compete in and take home afterwards and both Merrien and Dale Garland, fresh from winning a gold medal in the 4x400m relay at the European Indoor Championships, will be on hand at the finals.

The competition tests the island’s 12-to-14-year-olds in the four pillars of athletics: speed, strength, power and endurance.

The first discipline is a 30m turnaround sprint where the athlete starts with their back towards the turning point.

Next up is a standing long jump, followed by the overhead throwing of a medicine ball.

And lastly, to test endurance, there is the bleep test where the competitor has to run back and forth to beat a bleep that steadily gets quicker.

The final sees the top six athletes in each discipline battle it out for the honours.

‘Everyone is looking forward to it,’ said Les Beaucamps PE teacher Duncan Flint.

‘The people are excited by it because it’s a really simple idea. Lee Merrien has done really well to attract such really good sponsors for the events because the prizes are fantastic.

‘I know loads of kids and parents are going up for the finals. It should be quite an afternoon of excitement and action.’

Flint has been staggered by the standard shown in the competition. He was particularly impressed by the performances in the bleep test. In the qualifiers, Beaucamps’ Year 8 cross-country specialist Sam Hall came fourth in the discipline with St Sampson’s Marcus Heaume first.

‘The standard of the endurance has been a surprise because we’ve got Sam Hall and he came fourth,’ said Flint.

‘I don’t know who that guy is from St Sampson’s but he must be some athlete.

‘From a girls’ point of view, I’ve been amazed with the sprints.

‘Their agility on the turn has been better than the boys.’

Ladies’ College PE teacher Helen Watts also views Super Six as a success.

‘It’s been good and it’s good for them to have some exciting competition during the winter months with a focus on athletics,’ she said.

‘They’d enjoyed taking part in the first and second rounds of the competition. Those who have made it into the top six now have a very good chance of winning some really good prizes.

‘It should be good fun.’

The earlier rounds took place in each school sports hall, with the results being posted on the Guernsey Island Amateur Athletic Club website – www.guernseyathletics.org.gg.

‘The website idea has proved very successful as I think the teachers and parents have enjoyed being able to look up the results and rankings just as much as the children taking part,’ said Merrien.

‘I have Alan Rowe to thank for the website: he put it all together.

‘Hopefully the final itself will be just as successful.

‘All the rankings are up to date and a list of qualifiers (top six athletes from every event) has been sent to the various schools.’

Tomorrow’s action starts at 4pm and ends by six.