A BROMSGROVE school has been short-listed for this year's prestigious npower Disability Sports Awards.

Designated a specialist sports college last September, Chadsgrove School, in Catshill, has been nominated for the School of the Year Award. However, it faces stiff competition from Round Oak School, in Leamington, and Penn School, in Wolverhampton.

Chadsgrove oversees school sport developments for 42 schools in the area and is one of only four designated 'hubs' out of 400 in the country located in a special school.

Two of its students have been selected for the British Paralympics' elite training squad sessions and it was presented with the Sports Colleges' Innovation of the Year 2005 award for the design and production of a wheelchair guard enabling users to participate fully in wheelchair football, tennis and boccia.

Many high-profile sporting personalities will be at Villa Park next Tuesday to support the English Federation of Disability Sports' annual event, which aims to raise the profile of disability sports and the achievements of competitors of all ages, their coaches and supporters.

Celebrity guests will include paralympian dressage rider Lee Pearson, Nigel Murray, the world's number one Boccia paralympian, wheelchair basketball star and BBC presenter Ade Adepitan, Villa's chairman Doug Ellis and Cecil Duckworth, chairman of Worcester Warriors Rugby Club.

Awards

Ten awards will be presented on the night, recognising not only competitors of all ages and standards, schools and teams, but also people who participate in supporting roles.

Kevin Rodgers, community involvement executive for npower, said: "The quality of nominations was excellent, highlighting the many achievements of some of this region's finest athletes. Energy is our business, which makes the continued support of this valuable programme so close to npower's heart."

pete.lammas@midlands.

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