PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

25 June 2007

SPORTING SUCCESS AT THE CUMBRIA YOUTH GAMES 2007 AS COPELAND TAKE THE TITLE

The Cumbria Youth Games 2007 were held on Saturday 23 June in Penrith and once again were a great success with Copeland coming out on top for the first time. Hundreds of youngsters competed in 13 sports, with teams representing each of the 6 local authority areas in Cumbria. Venues for the Games included Frenchfields, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Lowther Estates, Hackthorpe, Penrith Leisure Centre, Castle Park, and the University of Central Lancashire at Newton Rigg.

The Cumbria Youth Games is the largest multi-sport participation event for young people in Cumbria. The sports in the Youth Games included football, rugby union, rugby league, tennis, basketball, netball, hockey, athletics and Boccia, a disabled event similar to bowls.

Paralympics tennis champion Mark Ecclestone was a special guest at the event, giving sporting tips to our young stars and even having a few tennis matches with some of the youngsters. English Cricket Board were also on hand with a Cricket Factory at Frenchfields for competitors and spectators to try out their batting and bowling skills!

Eden District Council Chairman Keith Morgan, Lee Doswell, Penrith Branch Manager for Cumberland Building Society and Mark Ecclestone presented trophies and medals to the winning teams from each sport at the closing ceremony at Penrith Leisure Centre, with the Cumbria Youth Games trophy being presented to overall Games winners Copeland.

Among the special guests were the Mayors and Mayoresses of many of the competing local authorities, representatives of sponsors Cumberland Building Society, Pioneer Foods, and Sport England.

Lee Doswell, Branch Manager at Penrith for headline sponsors Cumberland Building Society, said: "The day was an excellent celebration and showcase of sports talent in the county; it also gave a great many young people a real day to remember and will encourage them to take their involvement in sport further. It was a pleasure to be associated with the Youth Games 2007, which was a really enjoyable and well organised event".

Richard Johnston, Games Manager for the Youth Games, said: “It was a wonderful day and a great opportunity for the competitors to get involved in sport and showcase their talents. The competitors and volunteers who helped out on the day thoroughly enjoyed the event and it was wonderful to see so many youngsters so excited and enthusiastic about sport. Cumbria Sport Partnership works hard to increase school sport opportunities, develop school-club links, improve disability sport, provide quality coaching for players, supports clubs, coaches, officials and volunteers, and also works to increase participation in sport and physical activity. This event is the largest multi-sports event in the county, and Saturday’s event was a great success. I would like to thank Parkwood Leisure and Eden District Council for their help in coordinating the event”.

Results by sport

Sport	Age Group	Gender	Result
Football	Year 7	Girls	1^st Carlisle
			2^nd Barrow
			3^rd Eden
			4^th Allerdale
			5^th South Lakeland
			6^th Copeland
Football	Year 13	Girls	1^st Eden
			2^nd Allerdale
			3^rd Barrow
Rugby Union	Year 10	Girls	1^st Allerdale
			2^nd Copeland
			3^rd Barrow
			Joint 4^th South Lakeland
			Joint 4^th Eden
Rugby Union	Year 6	Mixed	1^st Carlisle
			2^nd Eden
			3^rd Copeland
			4^th Allerdale
			Joint 5^th Barrow
			Joint 5^th South Lakeland
Rugby League	Year 7	Boys	1^st Copeland
			2^nd Barrow
			3^rd Allerdale
			4^th South Lakeland
Kwik Cricket	Year 6	Mixed	1^st Copeland
			2^nd Carlisle
			3^rd South Lakeland
			4^th Eden
			5^th Allerdale
			6^th Barrow
Boccia	Year 13	Mixed	1^st Barrow
			2^nd Allerdale
			3^rd Copeland
			4^th Eden
			5^th Carlisle
Hockey	Year 3 & 4	Mixed	1^st South Lakeland
			2^nd Eden
			3^rd Allerdale
			4^th Copeland
Netball	Year 6	Mixed	1^st Eden
			2^nd Barrow
			3^rd Allerdale
			4^th Copeland
			5^th South Lakeland
			6^th Carlisle
Athletics	Year 5 & 6	Mixed	1^st South Lakeland
			2^nd Carlisle
			3^rd Eden
			4^th Barrow
			5^th Allerdale
			6^th Copeland
Basketball	Year 9	Mixed	1^st Copeland
			2^nd Carlisle
			3^rd Eden
			4^th Allerdale
Tennis	Year 5	Mixed	1^st Allerdale
			2^nd Copeland
			3^rd Eden
			4^th South Lakeland
			5^th Carlisle
Orienteering	Year 5 & 6	Mixed	1^st South Lakeland
			2^nd Allerdale
			3^rd Carlisle
			4^th Eden
			5^th Copeland

Overall District Places

Copeland	1^st
South Lakeland	2^nd
Allerdale	3^rd
Carlisle	4^th
Eden	5^th
Barrow	6^th

For further information, contact Richard Johnston, Games Manager on 01228 601255 or email richard.johnston@cumbriacc.gov.uk.

Further information on the work of Cumbria Sport Partnership is available at www.cumbriasport.com.