Teamwork sees schools smash record

Mar 5 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

TWO Merseyside schools have helped break a Guinness World Record.

Pupils from Cheshire Oaks High School, in Ellesmere Port, and Heath Football School of Excellence, Runcorn, helped perform record breaking keepy uppies.

Using a football, the children managed to keep the ball off the floor using any part of their body other than their arms or hands for 10 seconds.

More than 1,200 children from 21 schools across England took part in the event as they kicked off at 11am and every ten seconds passed onto another school.

The synchronised attempt smashed the previous record of 459 people, with 634 children taking part yesterday .

Mr Higgins, healthy schools co-ordinator at Cheshire Oaks High School, said: “It’s fantastic that we helped break the world record.

“We wanted to get involved with Sport Relief and were happy to link with the other schools.

“We asked our pupils to practice and 66 of them said they were up the challenge and they were.

“Sport Relief is a great charity event and we doing the Sport Relief mile and having a sponsored red dress day to help raise money.

“This is now our second World Record as we hold the title for the most consecutive baton relay.” The event was organised in connection with the BBC cartoon, The Likeaballs, ball-shaped aliens who pay a visit to planet Earth.

Jim Quick, creator of The Likeaballs, said: “We’re over the moon with the efforts of everyone involved in the record attempt.

“Achieving a Guinness World Record is incredible, especially for a record of this scale and with so many children involved.

“The Likeaballs are always facing tough challenges but triumph as a team, and the teamwork of all those involved today made the attempt an enormous success.”