English Schools Championships
The English Schools Championships (formerly known as The All England School's Championships) is an inter-county athletics meeting for under 15, under 17 and under 19 athletes, which have been held since 1925. Athletes compete for the county in which their school is located. Athletes may only compete in one main event and in the relay for their county. From 2000 the upper limit of the senior age group was reduced to athletes under 19 as at 31 August in the year of competition, thus meaning athletes can only compete for two consecutive years in the senior age group. It is widely recognised that the English Schools meet attracts the most competitors of any meeting in Britain and has been dubbed the "Kids Olympics" and is the 4th largest athletics event in the world.[1] The vast majority of current elite British athletes have all competed at the English Schools Championships, the meeting is seen as springboard for aspiring athletes.
To gain the right to represent your county a qualifying standard must be achieved, examples of standards include 6.80m in the under 19 boys long jump and 4:43.00 for the senior girls 1500m. As with all selection criteria, some events (i.e. the sprints and jumps) are more difficult to qualify for due to the large amounts of entrants at all age groups.
Some well known athletes who hold championship best performances include Mark Lewis-Francis (under 15 & under 17 100m), Jamie Quarry (under 15 boys triple jump), Carl Myerscough (under 17 and under 19 shot putt) and Dean Macey (under 19 decathlon).
Funding issues have recently put the future of the English Schools Championships in doubt, but sponsorship deals which have been put in place have provided security until the Olympics come to London in 2012.