Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships

The second Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships were held in North Wales on 23-25 September 2011 with over 200 athletes from 24 Commonwealth countries descending on Wales for a festival of international running.

The three event venues of Llandudno (Conwy), Llanberis (Gwynedd) and Newborough Forest (Ynys Mon) played host to a weekend programme of Championship and open races across the disciplines of road, mountain and trail running, targeted at both local athletes and the visiting runners from the UK and beyond.

Welsh Athletics’ Head of Development, Steve Brace, spoke to Sport Wales ahead of the Championships:

“The Welsh Government’s Major Events Unit backed the event to gain profile for Wales and particularly North Wales. Television coverage will go out worldwide and establish Wales as a destination as well as a sporting venue. We’ve secured free to view coverage, with Channel 4 and Eurosport, as well as all the Commonwealth countries.

“The three events themselves are ideally suited to North Wales, which does tend to be under-represented in terms of major events. This is a stepping stone towards staging European and World championships, which is something we’re discussing with UK Athletics. Then there is the engagement with the local community, which should not be underestimated. There is a close club community in North Wales and we are very lucky to have excellent volunteers and local development officers across all the three counties involved.

“Our Welsh runners know the sites, and will have a lot of support on the courses, so hopefully home advantage will help. A lot can go wrong in these long distance races but the Welsh athletes are up for it. Pulling on the Welsh vest on Welsh soil – it doesn’t get better than this. This Championship will be the career highlight for many of these athletes.

“This is the second edition of this Championship (previously staged in Keswick) and it is the ideal event to bring to North Wales - hopefully with a view to integrating into the full Commonwealth Games in the future. It will bring profile to North Wales and upskill many of our officials. So there’s a whole important learning process for us.

“The support that we’ve had from the Welsh Government’s major events unit has been invaluable. We wanted to establish events that were not the norm and the 100km and ultra-distance community is a small body but one that deserves recognition.”

For more information and results from the Championships visit the official website at www.cmudc2011.org.

Kit Heath are Spot On this Autumn!

Kit Heath are Spot On this Autumn! 

Our designers have come up trumps with this new collection, perfect for the coming party season. 

Inspired by Champagne bubbles, this collection is available in sterling silver and 18ct gold plate and has the added advantage of being spot on trend for this Autumn/Winter trend....SPOTS!

So it is not just our designers who have taken inspiration from the sphere this Autumn season, Stella McCartney has launched a fabulous "ready to wear" collection that see's her spotted evening wear designs on the catwalk. 

Stella as usual is in good company with other designers such as Diane Von Furstenbergand and  Marc Jacob also introducing spots in to their autumn/winter collections. 
This trend has come to the high street in the form of spotted blazers, dresses and pencil skirts so the trend of mixing and matching designer with high street is set to continue through the winter and through to next year!
We can hear our wallets all breathe a small sigh of satisfaction at that!

Welsh International Tackles Coaching

Welsh international scrum-half Richie Rees started his rugby career at Dunvant RFC. He then played for the Ospreys regional team in Wales for two years winning the Magners League in the 04/05 season, before joining London Irish. In 2007 he returned to Wales when he signed for the Cardiff Blues going on to win the EDF Energy Cup in the 08/09 season and the Amlin Challenge Cup in 09/10.

Here, Richie talks about the importance of coaching at both the grassroots and professional levels.

During my experiences, which involve taking part in every team sport and individual sporting activity, I could make my (always willing) parents taxi me to wherever I wanted to go. When I was younger, through to my time now in my 8^th season as a professional rugby player, there has always been one constant - a willing coach / teacher / volunteer at the thousands of training sessions undertaken to aide and help improve my ability and make me the best player I could be.

Coaches play a particularly important role in developing children’s sporting abilities or simply increasing a child’s desire to participate in their favored sport, while also mentoring their overall development. Therefore, particular attention needs to be given to recruiting and retaining volunteer coaches. Volunteers are vital for increased sports participation and I feel parents, too, have a responsibility for assisting in their child’s sporting goals, something I was lucky enough to experience.

In my eyes, the most important quality you need to be a successful coach is enthusiasm. I have found that nearly all of the sporting individuals I have played with, at all levels, respond brilliantly to an eager, hard working, honest, knowledgeable leader. Good coaches will concentrate on the specifics of the individual or team and how they can best improve. My first memorable experience of [good coaching] was during my 2^nd year of secondary school with my PE teacher, an ex Rugby Player called Trevor Cheeseman. He noticed that I only seemed to pass the ball off my right hand and not my left. This was pointed out to me, worked on, corrected and now ironically means my stronger passing hand is now, my left hand. Had he not recognized this then it might not have been spotted until it was to late, in turn meaning I may well not be doing the job I do now because of the importance of having the ability to pass off both hands as a scrumhalf in Rugby Union.

So, good players / individuals need talent but they also need good coaches and the willing volunteers to give them the opportunity to enjoy their given sporting activity.

To champion your coach visit http://www.sportwales.org.uk/news--events/news--events/events-calendar/coach-of-the-year-awards-2011-.aspx