Welsh athletes to appear in first ever youth Olympic Games
A gymnast and a boxer will be among five Welsh athletes flying the flag for Wales at the first Youth Olympic Games next week.
Singapore will play host to the inaugural event (14 – 26 August) which will feature some 5,000 athletes and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees.
A group of 40 young British athletes, aged 14-18, from 16 Olympic sports will participate in a competition schedule which includes all 26 sports on the London 2012 Olympic Programme, five of which will be up and coming Welsh talent.
Flintshire Taekwondo star 16 year-old Jade Jones, 18 year-old triathlete Eli Thorogood from Aberystwyth and Llanelli’s Zak Davies, also 18, will be joined by 17 year-old show jumper Carian Scudamore and youngest member of the Welsh contingent 14 year-old gymnast Jessica Hogg.
For more information on the Singapore Youth Olympics visit their website http://www.syog2010.mobi/public/sg2010/en.html
Welsh students take rugby stateside
Welsh students, determined to bring their passion for rugby to the US, are heading to Harlem in New York.
Rugby USA’s East Harlem Outreach Programme has recruited four students from the University of Glamorgan to help encourage the sport in New York’s schools and organised festivals and championships.
Tom Hatfield, Chris Day, Gareth Redding and Andrew Fern have all been in the US promoting the sport. They developed a new high school Sevens programme for elementary and middle schools and taken part in evaluating local rugby coaches.
Mark Griffin, chief executive of Play Rugby USA said: "The guys have been outstanding. Their knowledge of the variant game and how to coach skills are top class".
Two other students, Ben Cullen and Jamie Pincott have gone to the state of Indiana and won praise for their skill and spirit.
It is hoped greater numbers of Glamorgan students will be able to spend time across the Atlantic in future years.