Under his stewardship, in 1998, the British relay squad became the first team to win the European title in Budapest a feat they repeated in Munich (1999 & 2003) four years later. At the World Championships they achieved two Silver medals establishing a new British and European Record at Seville 1999. Then 2004 saw the ultimate achievement for the team – winning Olympic gold in Athens.
 |
| 2004 Athens Olympic relay gold medallist Darren Campbell |
I began to compete for the Boys Brigade and realised that I enjoyed the races and went from there to secondary school and developed.
I had very supportive parents and other people who were willing to give me their time - coaches and teachers.
School sport is instrumental in giving young people an opportunity to participate, experience and compete, hopefully in a range of different sports.
Clubs in the main can develop the interests further by giving either a greater competitive aspect or different experiences.
The main issue is to get young people enthused about the worth of keeping healthy and that there are a host of different ways in enabling this to happen, whether it is on an individual basis, within a group of people or whether within a team based sport.
Getting involved is so easy and so rewarding. When you are asked to get involved - do so; you never know where it can lead!
This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales. If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales
