London Youth Games 2007 report

The borough’s team braved the rain to grab glory at last week’s London Youth Games.

In the main games, the team secured 18 top ten finishes while in the mini-games, for primary schoolchildren, the team struck gold in a series of events.

Over 300 of the borough’s best young athletes took part in 45 events across 26 sports against competitors from all 33 London boroughs, at the games held at Crystal Palace Sports Centre. They were organised by Richmond Council’s Sports Development Team working in partnership with local clubs and schools across the borough.

The action started on Thursday (28 June) with the London Youth Mini Games featuring elite sporting talent from the borough’s primary schools. Over 80 youngsters from 28 schools were selected from Richmond Council’s Competitive Edge festivals held through the past year.

Following on from last year’s success, the team claimed gold medals in netball, tag rugby and hockey, were runners-up in the swimming and claimed a creditable third in football. To cap a successful day, the football team also won the fair play award.

In the main games on Saturday and Sunday, Richmond upon Thames secured 18 top ten finishes including gold medals for the girls tag rugby team.

There was further success with second-place finishes in indoor rowing, angling and boys judo, bronze medals in girls hockey and girls disability football, and a fifth-place finish for the boys squash team.

Cllr John Coombs, Cabinet Member for Youth, Culture and Leisure on Richmond Council, said:

”To have 18 top ten finishes shows the remarkable strength in depth we possess in sports across the borough.

“The excellent results across the whole weekend are further evidence of the great strides we are taking to encourage more youngsters to take part in competitive sport, both through the Competitive Edge initiative and the work of our Sports Development Team.

“However, this success could not be achieved without the support of parents, volunteers, team managers and, of course, the hard work of the young people themselves. I also thank our sponsor, Harlequins, for their contribution to the London Youth Games.”