The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council. In April 1998 the Women's Cricket Association was integrated into the organisation. The ECB's head offices are at Lord's Cricket Ground in north-west London.
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports, and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities.
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.
The Wales national women's football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the third-oldest national football association in the world, founded in 1876.
The Sport Wales National Centre is a sports facility in Cardiff, Wales, set up to assist the development of elite athletes in Wales. The Centre, owned and operated by Sport Wales, was established by the then Sports Council for Wales in 1971 as the National Sports Centre for Wales. Renamed the Welsh Institute of Sport in 1994, it has been known as the Sport Wales National Centre since April 2010.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
The Wales national netball team represents Wales in international netball competition. The Welsh Netball Association, the governing body for netball in Wales, is responsible for Welsh squad selection, international matches and for the training and development of players.
Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales. Working alongside partners such as governing bodies of sport and local authorities, they aim to encourage sporting ambitions in the young and promote championship standards nationally.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
The Welsh Judo Association is the governing body for the sport of judo in Wales. The WJA has 80 affiliated clubs and over 2,400 members. It is responsible for managing the Welsh Performance Squads the National Coach selects the Welsh national team to compete in international events. Double judo Olympic silver medallist Neil Adams is a former WJA National Coach.
Wales Netball, formally registered as the Wales Netball Association, is the national governing body for netball in Wales and was founded in 1945. Wales Netball is responsible for national championships, Wales national netball team selection, international matches, the training and development of players, coaches and umpires and for the Sport Wales National Centre Netball Academy, Cardiff.
The Welsh Association of Sub Aqua Clubs (WASAC) was the national governing body (NGB) for Sub Aqua in Wales until January 2016. Sub Aqua is a broad term encompassing both recreational underwater activities such as recreational diving and snorkelling, and competitive underwater activities including underwater sports as underwater hockey
Underwater Hockey Wales is responsible for underwater hockey in Wales. It is the association representing British Octopush Association (BOA) clubs based in Wales. It has seven member clubs. Underwater Hockey Wales is affiliated to the Welsh Association of Sub Aqua Clubs – the national governing body for underwater sports in Wales, comprising scuba diving, underwater hockey, and snorkelling.
The Scotland men's national field hockey team represents Scotland in men's international field hockey competitions, with the exception of the Olympic Games when Scottish players are eligible to play for the Great Britain men's national field hockey team. Prior to the formation of the Great Britain team in 1920, Scotland competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, sharing the bronze medal with Wales.
Wales competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Prior to the games the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales set itself a target of 27 medals, surpassing the 2010 total of 20 medals won in Delhi. After the withdrawal of World champion competitors Helen Jenkins, Non Stanford and Becky James, Chef de Mission Brian Davies conceded that the initial target was optimistic, but the target was actually attained by 30 July, the sixth day of the competition. Wales finished 13th in the overall medal table, but joint 8th, with Nigeria, in terms of the total medals won.
The Wales women's national field hockey team represents Wales in international women's field hockey, with the exception of the Olympic Games when Welsh players are eligible to play for the Great Britain national women's field hockey team as selected. The country's main targets as laid down by Hockey Wales, Wales national governing body for hockey, are the EuroHockey Championships, the FIH World League and the Commonwealth Games.
Isabelle Howell is a Welsh field hockey player.
Underwater hockey in Great Britain was first played in Southsea, Hampshire where it was invented in 1954. It is governed nationally by the British Octopush Association.
