Balfour Beatty London Youth Games 2008

Richmond upon Thames secured a 12th place finish at the 2008 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, the boroughs best result this century!

Organised by Richmond Council’s Sports Development Team, over 350 young people represented the borough. Richmond competed in over 41 sports ranging from the more obscure such as archery and weightlifting to the more conventional football and hockey.

The competition began back in February with cricket, where a 3rd place finish from the boy’s team resulted in a notable start to the Richmond 2008 campaign. The Games came to a close with the mini games and main finals weekend at Crystal Palace in the first week of July.

Richmond teams continued in this excellent fashion in the preliminary stages of the games. The borough finished in 10th place in the trampoline and tennis competitions which was a fantastic accomplishment. Karate boy’s secured 8th, while the karate girl’s managed a 6th place finish. Our most impressive performances came from the disability girl’s football team who came 2nd and the canoe sprints team who brought home gold!

During this time our mini teams were preparing to compete. Over 80 pupils from 28 Richmond primary schools took part on the 3 July at Crystal Palace. This year’s squad had a tough act to follow after top results last year, but their hard work and enthusiasm paid off. The swimming team finished 4th, netball came 3rd, hockey brought home 2nd place and the tag rugby team retained their 1st place title for the third year in a row.

Following the mini games successes, the finals weekend on the 5 and 6 July paved the way for some outstanding performances. Both the girl’s and boy’s hockey teams were exceptional finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Despite being under a lot of pressure to retain their 1st place title, the girl’s rugby team demonstrated skill and passion and remain champions for yet another year!

The Sports Development Team would like to say a big thank you to all of the participants, team managers, volunteers and parents for their contributions to this year’s games!

Reception at The Stoop, home to Harlequins Rugby

The Stoop was the perfect back-drop to host the 2008 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Reception.

Held by Richmond Councils Sports Development Team, the evening was an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of all those young people who have represented the borough in this year’s games.

Harlequins players Ugo Monye and Tom Guest were on hand to present the awards and praise Richmond’s competitors for their outstanding performances.  

Richmond’s Mini Games teams brought home a number of medals, including gold for tag rugby, silver for hockey and bronze for netball. We also had a number of top prize winners in the main games with gold’s going to our Girl’s Tag Rugby team and Canoe Sprints, Silver to our Disability Girl’s football team and bronze to our boy’s cricket and Girl’s Hockey

We also had a number of individual medal winners, in karate, judo, indoor rowing, cycling and swimming.

Dave Francis from Claredon School won the volunteer of the year award for all of this hard work with the athletics, swimming and football disability teams. Trevor Wetherall and Sean Martin of Richmond Canoe Club picked up the Main Team Manager’s Award, while Paul Burke took home the Mini Team Manager and most improved mini team category. The most improved main team category went to the tennis team who went up 14 places from 2007.

Schools Participation was recognised with Waldegrave School winning the girl’s and Orleans’s Park winning the boy’s trophy.  The Overall Contribution Award went to Teddington Hockey Club for their continued support and achievements.

As the evening came to a close, the Mayor of Richmond, Cllr Helen Lee-Parsons, accepted a cheque for £4,000 from Harlequins to contribute towards the 2009 London Youth Games.

Cllr Liz Jaeger, Cabinet Member for Youth, Culture and Leisure on Richmond Council, said:

“Congratulations to everyone who contributed to such a successful result at this year’s Youth Games.

“The teams performed superbly, with support from a number of committed managers, volunteers and clubs.

“Through initiatives such as the Council’s Competitive Edge and the generous contribution from Harlequins, I am sure the borough will continue to shine at future Games.

It was a great evening of celebration enjoyed by participants, parents, team managers and volunteers.

2009 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games

An online application form and information booklet for the 2009 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games will be released shortly.