YOUNG PEOPLE FROM D&G HEAD TO BELFAST GAMES

Thirty nine of the regions most talented children in eight Commonwealth sports will this week travel to Northern Ireland to represent Dumfries & Galloway in the Belfast Active Games.

The games in Belfast are part of the Support 2^nd Team imitative for the Glasgow 2014 Games which linked Dumfries & Galloway with the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council and their competing team. Relationships between the two organisations have flourished during the last eight months following the visit by the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council at the Active Games Finals in Dumfries last September.

The trip that has been part funded by the Holywood Trust will include all 39 winners from the 2013 Active Games supported by Active School & Community Sport Officers, PE Teachers and eight Young Sports Ambassadors from across the region who have been role models for sport in their local school and community. The majority of the children aged 9-11 including Scottish Champions will be welcomed with an open ceremony at the Dame Mary Peters Stadium before the sporting competition gets under way the following day.

Council Leader Ronnie Nicholson added “the relationships being developed between Dumfries & Galloway and Northern Ireland are a result of the Glasgow 2014 Games and Support 2^nd Team. It now goes beyond sport and includes educational links and economic discussions and we have a real opportunity to create lasting legacies. The 39 children will be ambassadors for our region and will gain from this experience with some having aspirations of their own someday to compete in a Commonwealth or Olympic Games”.

Robert McVeigh, Chairman of the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council said ”We are delighted the Active games team from Dumfries & Galloway are joining us at a time when the Queen’s Baton is present in Northern Ireland. We look forward to hosting them in Northern Ireland’s edition of the Active Games on the 24^th May as part of the Support a 2nd Team Initiative”.