2008 Youth Games
Report by Eddy Stagg
Saturday 28th June celebrated the anniversary of the 10th Northamptonshire Youth Games. The day started at 9:30am and the sports were scheduled to begin at 10:30am. Just over 600 young people competed in the Games, representing the seven districts of Northamptonshire in ten different sporting activities: athletics, badminton, basketball, girls cricket, hockey, judo, netball, rookie lifesaving, tag rugby & advanced tag rugby.
"The Northamptonshire Youth games was designed to showcase sport and sports development to local politicians and VIP’s. It is also used to create new teams and clubs for young people, the Northamptonshire Youth games is used as a lever which coaches individuals, who later may have the chance to compete in the Youth Games. After the Youth Games, we hope that the talented individuals will decide to join clubs and play competitively every week, which is all part of sports development.”
Chris Holmes – Interim Director, Northamptonshire Sport
As always, the day began with the opening ceremony, to mark the 10th anniversary many special events were held.
“There was a parade of the young people who were dressed in their district coloured T-shirts and we invited the Corby Cheerleading Club who performed for the first time! We also held a mascot race in which five mascots from around the county took part.”
Nicky Milford – Games Manager
The mascot race as always was great fun and a big success; everybody on the edge of their seats up until the finish line, a real nail-biting race which ended with Daventry District Council’s Leo the Lion coming out on top.
Included in the open ceremony there was also a VIP event, Kettering MP Tim Hollobone attended with the addition of the Mayors of Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and the Chief Executives from surrounding District Councils. Interim Director, Chris Holmes led a presentation about what has been experienced in the last 12 months, and the progression of Northamptonshire Sport over the last ten years.
The Sporting Events commenced at 10:30am. Kettering Athletics Track and Conference Centre was the venue for: athletics, judo, hockey, tag rugby and advanced tag rugby. The girls cricket was held a short distance from the Kettering Athletics Track at Kettering Cricket Club. Badminton, netball and the rookie lifeguard competition were held at the Montsaye School in Rothwell.
Steve Johnson, joint Team Manager of Corby: “We entered the Northamptonshire Youth Games because it gives young people a fantastic opportunity to take part in a competition in the area, we hope that young people will carry on taking part in sport and develop as they keep playing.”
The Games ran very smoothly and everybody enjoyed the competition, the sun came out on the day for what seemed like the first time since the event began. Everybody enjoyed different parts of the day, Chris Holmes pointed out that the Basketball final was the favourite part of his day, while Steve Johnson enjoyed talking to the young people about how well their team did, and what they thought of the day.
“The Northamptonshire Youth Games was a great success, it is one of the highlights of our sporting calendar and as always was very well organised.”
Steve Johnson – Team Manager of Corby
Throughout the Games, the opportunities for the Press were plentiful. “We invited all of the local newspapers and radio stations to watch the Games, there are photo-spreads of the day in the Northampton telegraph and in the Chronicle & Echo. I was asked to do an exclusive interview in the Kettering Evening Telegraph.”
Nicky Milford – Games Manager
The Youth Games provides the first competition experience for a lot of young people in the area, and it’s a massive grass roots event where young people have the chance to compete against each other and to develop as they grow older. The Games fits the bill, it is a great idea to help children get involved in sport and to give something to the young people that they may not have experienced before.
Over the ten years, many young people have competed at the Northamptonshire Youth Games that have gone on to play at a very high standard in their field.
“We have had many people compete in the Youth Games that have been successful and that have achieved great things, Angelina Brown is an example, Angelina competed in what I believe was the 2002 Youth Games, Angelina is now in America completing her scholarship and is a part of the England Women’s Basketball Team.”
Gary Sheppard – Senior Sports Manager
However, the future of the Northamptonshire Youth Games is uncertain.
“We will be exploring over the next few months, talking to local politicians about the value of the Northamptonshire Youth Games and if the Games are a priority for other people. It will be the first year that we would have no funding for the Northamptonshire Youth Games so we will need to generate the money from elsewhere. It would seem a great shame and a disappointment not to have anything of the sporting nature in place next year, especially leading up to the Olympics in London.”
Chris Holmes – Interim Director
There will be a feedback meeting on Wednesday 17th September 2008 that will determine the direction of the games from 2009 onwards.
Nevertheless despite an uncertain future, Northamptonshire Sport would like to thank everyone involved in the 2008 Northamptonshire Youth Games including the Sports Coordinators, Volunteers, Team Managers, Participants and VIPs. A pat on the back is well deserved to everybody involved with the 10th Northamptonshire Youth Games and also to everyone one has been contributed to the Games in the last ten years. Thousands of young people have had a fantastic introduction to sport since the first games in 1999 and the positive experiences have led many of those young people to continue their sporting interests into their adult life.
“A special thank you must go to Event Co-ordinator Nicky Milford and to Gary Sheppard who has been helping for ten years, I’m sure Gary had been caught sweating a few times! All of the team managers and the Volunteers deserve special praise for giving up their own time in order to run the Northamptonshire youth games.”
Chris Holmes – Interim Director
The exclusive interview of Nicky Milford for the Kettering Evening Telegraph can be seen on:
http://www.northantset.co.uk/video.aspx?VideoPath=KET/youth%20gamesip%settings.wmv&VideoID=20616&ArticleID=4236773
