Sports competition proves to be a hit for over 50s

The event, which was held at Leigh Sports Village, involved competitors playing badminton, short tennis and indoor curling.

Foundation Degree Sports Coaching students from University Centre Wigan and Leigh College organised the event in partnership with the council-linked Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles.

Second year sports coaching student Jacob Forshaw said: “This was a new experience for many of us to work with an older clientele.

"It was great to see and learn how competitive they were and I thought the event worked well.

“It gives us another way to adapt our session planning and to learn different ways to accommodate the sport to allow for different levels of capability.”

Competitors take part in the sports

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The event also allowed interaction between the two different age groups, which ended with the keen sports enthusiasts joining the students back at Leigh College for tea and coffee along with a presentation to the winning team.

Regular badminton players Vivien Coleman and Jean Beauer were part of the winning group and were delighted with the event.

They said: “We had a blast.

"We come every week as we enjoy the social side but it was really enjoyable to interact with the Higher Education students.

"We had never done indoor curling before so we liked the variety of the session and it was a lot of fun.”

The University Centre Wigan and Leigh College’s Higher Education sports students benefit from using the Leigh Sports Village facilities.

The Foundation Degree Sports Coaching is a two-year course undertaken at Leigh College up to level five and is awarded by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

An extra year in which can be taken at UCLan to gain a top-up degree.