The event, which is run by the Youth Sport Trust (YST), will see over 1,600 elite school-aged athletes representing all regions of the UK compete across 12 sports at the city's premier sporting venues from September 1-4.

Alison Oliver, director of sport at the YTS, said: "We are really looking forward to the 2011 Sainsbury's UK School Games – an event that has grown year-on-year to become the fantastic celebration of sport that it now is.

"Thousands of spectators are expected to attend across the four days and they're in for a real treat.

"Some of the very best young athletes will be going for gold and aiming to use this event as a platform to a successful career in elite sport."

The 2011 Sainsbury's UK School Games will be the last edition of the event before it turns into the School Games next year and adopts a four-level pyramid structure that allows schools across the country to compete to qualify for a national final.

The new School Games will be inaugurated in May in 2012 at the Olympic Park.

Meanwhile the final UK School Games in Sheffield will se athletics, badminton, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, swimming, table tennis and volleyball.e promising young sports stars competing in the sports of

There will also be disability events in swimming, athletics and table tennis while for the first time, the competition will include wheelchair basketball, women's rugby sevens and mountain biking, which replaces road cycling.

The competition will see athletics at the Don Valley Stadium, badminton, fencing and volleyball at the English Institute of sport, gymnastics and judo at iceSheffield, hockey Abbeydale Sports Club, swimming and table tennis at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre and mountain biking at Wharncliffe and Wheata Woods.

Paul Green from Sheffield International Venues, who operate the majority of the sporting facilities, said: "This year's Sainsbury's UK School Games will be contested in many of Sheffield's world class venues, which we are sure will provide a fantastic experience for both athletes and spectators alike.

"As a city with such a proud sporting heritage we're very excited to be hosting Sainsbury's UK School Games and look forward to welcoming thousands of spectators to the Games in September."

Entry to the mountain biking event is free and is not a ticketed event while tickets and timings for the Opening Ceremony and the two new sports – women's rugby sevens and wheelchair basketball – will follow once venues are confirmed.

The UK School Games has been funded since 2008 with a £6 million ($10 million) grant from Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Through £750,000 ($1.2 million) of additional National Lottery funding, provided this year by Sport England, wheelchair basketball and women's rugby sevens will be included in the 2011 Games which Sainsbury's will be sponsoring for a second year running.

Tickets are £5 ($8) per day or £3.50 ($5.80) for concessions.

For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

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