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Sport | Sport in Wales |
---|---|
Jurisdiction | National |
Abbreviation | SCW (CCC) |
Founded | 1972 |
Headquarters | Sport Wales National Centre |
Location | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
President | John Hughes |
Official website | |
sport | |
Sport Wales (Welsh: Chwaraeon Cymru) 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.
They are the main adviser on sporting matters to the Welsh Government and are responsible for distributing National Lottery funds to both elite and grassroots sport in Wales.
The Sport Wales National Centre, located in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, was established in 1972 to provide facilities to help develop Welsh sport. [1] It is the national sports centre for Wales and is part of a network of facilities enabling Wales to compete in international sport. [2]
The centre has indoor sports halls, next to Glamorgan CCC's SWALEC Stadium in Sophia Gardens. Sports activities in the Main Hall include gymnastics, table tennis, trampoline, badminton, netball, basketball, archery, martial arts, fencing, dance and boxing. The site also contains squash courts and weight training rooms. Outdoors, the Institute has an international standard permeable artificial pitch, which is one of the home international venues for Welsh hockey. The pitch is also used for lacrosse and football. Their outdoor tennis courts are also used for netball and five-a-side football. [2]
Some of the country's national teams train at the Sport Wales National Centre, including the Wales National Rugby Team (on the Institute's full-size, floodlit rugby pitch), Wales National Badminton Team, the Wales national netball team and the Wales National Gymnastic Team. Owned and operated by Sport Wales, the Institute supports national governing bodies of sport and acts as a training base for elite athletes. [2]
Several of the country's multi-sport agencies have their headquarters at the Sport Wales National Centre. Including the Welsh Sports Association the National Governing Bodies Coaches, the Federation of Disability Sport Wales and Sport Wales. [3] [4] [2]
Governing bodies of sports in Wales with their headquarters at the Sport Wales National Centre include Basketball Wales, Welsh Judo Association, Welsh Gymnastics, Hockey Wales, Wales Rugby League and Squash Wales. [5] [6]
Plas Menai, owned and run by Sport Wales, [7] is the National Watersports Centre for Wales (Canolfan Cenedlaethol Chwaraeon Dŵr). A purpose-built watersports centre on the Menai Strait, Gwynedd, overlooking Anglesey, it was opened in 1986. [8] Watersports courses are run at the centre, including canoeing, cruising (yachting), dinghy sailing, kayaking, powerboating and windsurfing. [9]
The centre is also the headquarters of the Welsh Yachting Association (Cymdeithas Hwylio Cymru) (WYA), the governing body for the sports of powerboating, sailing and windsurfing in Wales. The Welsh Yachting Association is jointly funded by Sport Wales and the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). Sailing clubs in Wales are members of the RYA and, as individuals must join the RYA to race, the WYA has no personal members. Its purpose is "... to feed the RYA GBR performance pathway, and ultimately Team GBR 2012 and beyond". Wales contributed 10 -15% to the Great Britain Olympic Sailing Squads in 2008. [10] [7]
Key national and regional facilities include the Welsh Rugby Union Centre of Excellence at the Vale Resort, the Wales National Football Development Centre, Wales National Velodrome in Newport and the National Whitewater Centre in Bala and regional centres abound across a number of sports. National Lottery funding has been invested into these facilities.
The 2012 Olympic Games was the most successful for any Welsh contingent in 100 years. [11] More than 25% of the Great Britain Paralympic team's gold medals in 2008 came from Welsh sportsmen and women, who made up around 16% of the team. [12] With help from the National Lottery, Sport Wales has invested in the Wales National Velodrome, Wales National Pool, and other national and regional centres across a number of sports such as athletics, swimming and golf, as well as a National Centre of Excellence for rugby which opened in 2009. [13]
The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for inland waterways cruising.
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.
The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Masters Games is open to sports people of all abilities and most ages – the minimum age criterion ranges between 25 and 35 years depending on the sport. Auckland, New Zealand hosted the event's ninth edition from 21 to 30 April 2017.
Canoe Wales is the national governing body for paddlesport in Wales. It covers all branches of the sport from recreational canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding and rafting to whitewater racing, slalom racing and wildwater racing; flatwater sprint racing and marathon racing; canoe sailing; canoe polo; surf kayaking and canoeing; and extreme racing. The organisation has over 2,700 members including individual paddlers as well as affiliated club members. Full adult members of Canoe Wales are also by default Welsh members of Paddle UK.
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.
The Welsh National Netball Team, also known as the Welsh Feathers, 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 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 Federation of Disability Sport Wales is the national pan-disability governing body of sports organisations that provides local sporting and physical activity opportunities to disabled people in Wales.
The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) is an independent, umbrella body, supporting and representing the national and international interests of all the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport and physical recreation in Wales. It has a membership of over 60 NGBs. The WSA acts as an independent consultative body to the Welsh Assembly Government, Sport Wales and to UK Sport.
The Welsh Salmon and Trout Angling Association (WSTAA) is the governing body for game angling in Wales. It has about one hundred member clubs. Founded as the Welsh Fly Fishing Association in 1952, the WSTAA organises national and international angling competitions, including two major World Fly Fishing Championships and the 2002 Commonwealth championship in Wales—the WSTAA Wales team won gold at the 2009 IFFA River International competition. The WSTAA also highlights issues that affect Welsh anglers including: game fishing conservation; threats to water quality from acid rain; water pollution; barrages; poaching; stocking; and 'Objective One' funding.
The Welsh Archery Association (WAA) is the national governing body for archery in Wales. It was established in 2000 by the merger of the South Wales Archery Society, the North Wales Archery Society and the Welsh Archery Federation, and by 2002 had 51 affiliated clubs and over 800 members. Responsibilities of the WAA include the competition, judging and coaching of archery in Wales. The WAA are also responsible for the selection and management of representative teams competing for Wales at international events.
Basketball Wales is the sole controller and the national governing body of all aspects of the game of basketball in Wales. It is responsible for the management of the Basketball Wales National League, the national teams and for the organisation of all national and international basketball competitions held in Wales.
The Welsh Bowling Association (WBA) is the governing body for men's outdoor bowling clubs in Wales. It comprises 10 affiliated counties and 286 affiliated clubs. The WBA organizes competitions, including the county championship, and selects and manages the national side. Notably, at the 2009 Atlantic Rim Championship in Johannesburg, the Welsh men's team finished third.
Welsh Gymnastics (WG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in Wales. It has overall responsibility for the administration of all eight gymnastics disciplines in Wales – women's artistic, men's artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, general gymnastics, sports acrobatics, sports aerobics, trampolining and tumbling – through its four geographical areas, which are responsible for their own area competition and squad training sessions.
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.
Cardiff Sailing Centre is a Cardiff Council run watersports facility based on Cardiff Bay Barrage in Cardiff Bay. The centre runs dinghy & keelboat sailing, windsurfing, powerboat and other shore-based courses.
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