School sports: Churton School wins first Battle of the Bubbles challenge

The first Battle of the Bubbles challenge involved the number of skips and was won by Churton School. Photo / Supplied

Churton School has emerged as the winners of the first 'Battle of the Bubbles' Challenge as their students really took to the skipping ropes.

Set up by Sport Whanganui as a companion to the Whanganui Secondary School's ISO Champs, the challenge invited schoolchildren to register through the Sport Whanganui website and then log their daily number of skips on ropes or over set lines, with proof sent via a photo or video.

The Churton, Gonville and St Johns Hill schoolchildren took up the challenge, specifically those who have been back at school under level 3.

The challenge concluded on Tuesday, and Sport Whanganui announced early leaders Churton had completed 52,150 skips, despite a late challenge from Gonville, who went from 5000 skips to 42,421 in just under a week, while St Johns Hill completed 21,480.

"We would like to thank the three primary schools who have been so dedicated to this challenge," said co-ordinator Clare Lynch.

"Over the past two weeks, there has been a total of 116,051 skips logged.

"We are impressed with the level of engagement by tamaraki and staff battling for the bubble title."

She said Churton were consistent with their social distancing while doing the skipping in school, and Sport Whanganui will now present them with some sports equipment and a trophy.

Challenge 2 for the Battle of the Bubbles also started this week, this one called Keep Up's.

Taking a soccer ball or an equivalent, pupils can log or record the number of times they kick, knee or head the ball without it touching the ground.

This challenge started on Wednesday and runs until June 2.

Visit the Sport Whanganui Facebook page and website for more details.