_The County's annual 6-a-side football tournament was held at the Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields earlier today.

Team W Company put on a good show, but as our team was short of numbers we didn't finish very highly. As a Company of junior cadets we tend to struggle entering older competitors to events and today was no exception.

The following cadets represented W Company in the junior age category and are commended for their efforts today:
- LCpl Joe Miller (Broomhill)
- Cdt Adam Lewis-Douglas (Belford)
- Cdt Andrew Carr (Belford)
- Cdt Ryan Carr (Belford)
- Cdt Jonathan Hayton (Alnwick)
- LCpl Teri Hall (Alnwick)
- LCpl Kirstyn Crate (Alnwick)
- Cdt Georgia Laidler (Alnwick)
- LCpl Caitlin Craik (Amble)

Y Company, from Newcastle and the south west of the County, won the tournament overall, giving them an important early lead in this year's Champion Company competition. There's always next year!

Photos of the event appear in our 2011 photo gallery.

_The Company welcomed SSI John Gaskin to Otterburn for his first Company weekend. Reflecting on the weekend, SSI Gaskin said: "I have enjoyed working with the cadets and staff and I have been impressed with their level of training.  The food and accommodation were good and I look forward to working with W Company in the future".

Three cadets were presented with their newly earned APC Star badges on final parade. Cadets Joe Hale and Zak Summers completed the final assessments towards their APC 1-Star and Cpl Kevin Straughan received his 3-Star badge.

The Company Commander, Major Mark Ewart, said: "Once again it is a pleasure to report a very successful weekend. The cadets took the opportunity to experience a diverse range of challenging exercises over the weekend.  I was very impressed by their technical ability, efforts and general humour at all times".

Cadets from Y Company, Northumbria ACF have won the annual 15 (NE) Brigade cadet military skills competition, Colts Canter, which was held in North Yorkshire earlier today.

The team, led by Cdt CSM Liam Arnot, were incredibly worthy winners, having spent months of effort on painstaking preparation to make sure everything went right on the day. Their efforts weren't in vain, with the team scoring highly on several of the competition events.

Our cadets, from W Company, came in 13th place overall from a field of 25 ACF teams based between Humberside to the Scottish Borders.

The final cut for team W Coy were:
- Sgt Will Young (Alnwick)
- Sgt Ellie Tribe (Alnwick)
- Cpl Ed Inkster (Alnwick)
- Cpl Josh Truman (Broomhill)
- LCpl Brandon Mayes (Broomhill)
- LCpl Joe Miller (Broomhill)
- LCpl Bethany Charlton (Bellingham)
- LCpl Jake Douglass (Bellingham)
- Cdt Teri Hall (Alnwick)
- Cdt Matthew Witherley (Broomhill)

Reserves were:
- Cdt Kirstyn Crate (Alnwick)
- Cdt Jess Campbell (Alnwick)
- Cdt Matthew Nixon (Broomhill)

The team was accompanied by adult team manager Lt Barry Lister, ably assisted by SI Andi Allan. The 2IC W Coy, Capt Tom Jackson, also attended the event as DS on the first aid scenario.

The cadets battled it out on Catterick training area, with wind so strong it was sometimes a struggle to stand. They began the event by having their kit inspected and taking part in theory tests on fieldcraft, skill at arms and fieldcraft. The teams then had to deal with a simulated first aid incident, which this year included a gunshot wound and hand laceration.

A huge thank you to all of the W Company cadets involved with this tiring weekend. Despite finishing 13th we're a lot wiser for the experience and know where to focus our efforts next time.

Photographs of the event will be added to our 2011 gallery shortly, so stay tuned for their arrival.

The High Sheriff of Northumberland, The Reverend Fiona Sample, visited Berwick Detachment, Northumbria Army Cadet Force, on Tuesday 20th September.

Holders of the office of High Sheriff are appointed as the Sovereign's judicial representative in the county they serve.

The Reverend Sample spent two hours with the cadets, first of all carrying out an inspection of the cadets, then she went around various stands covering topics from Fieldcraft, Adventurous Training, and the cadets' recent trip to Belgium before finally taking part in .22 shooting on the indoor range.

The High Sheriff is pictured with LCpl Natalie Spence in the image above.

More pictures of the visit can be viewed in the 2011 gallery.