Sport Wales

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.

Sport Wales
Chwaraeon Cymru
SportSport in Wales
JurisdictionNational
AbbreviationSCW (CCC)
Founded1972
HeadquartersSport Wales National Centre
LocationSophia Gardens, Cardiff
PresidentJohn Hughes
ChairmanLawrence Conway
Official website
sport.wales

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.

In 2016, Dr Paul Thomas was appointed as a new Chair, following Laura McAllister.[1] However both chairman and deputy were sacked by the Welsh Government in March 2017 due to concerns that the organisation had become dysfunctional.[2]

National Centres

Sport Wales National Centre
Main article: Sport Wales National Centre

The Sport Wales National Centre was established in 1972 to provide facilities to help develop Welsh sport. It is the national sports centre for Wales and is part of a network of facilities aiming to ensure Wales is able to compete on the international stage.[3]

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.[4]

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 to elite athletes.[5]

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.[6][7][8]

Governing bodies of sports in Wales with their headquarters at the Sport Wales National Centre include Basketball Wales, Welsh Judo Association, Welsh Gymnastics, Welsh Hockey and Squash Wales.[9][10]

Plas Menai

Plas Menai is the National Watersports Centre for Wales (Canolfan Cenedlaethol Chwaraeon Dŵr), a purpose-built watersports centre on the Menai Strait, Gwynedd, overlooking Anglesey. Watersports courses available at the Centre, which includes a residential complex, include canoeing, cruising (yachting), dinghy sailing, kayaking, powerboating and windsurfing.[11]

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.[12][13]

Plas Menai is owned and run by Sport Wales.[13]

Other Facilities

Key national and regional facilities include the Welsh Rugby Union Centre of Excellence at the Vale Resort, the Wales National Football Development Centre and 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 2008 Olympic Games was the most successful for any Welsh contingent in 100 years.
  • More than 25% of the Great Britain Paralympic team's gold medal haul in Beijing came from Welsh sportsmen and women.
  • Since the advent of the National Lottery, Sport Wales has invested in key landmark facilities – the Wales National Velodrome, Wales National Pool, national and regional centres across a number of sports such as athletics, swimming and golf. The latest piece of the jigsaw is a National Centre of Excellence for rugby.
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References
  1. "Dr Paul Thomas appointed Chair of Sport Wales". Welsh Government website. Welsh Government. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  2. "Sport Wales chairman and deputy sacked by Welsh Government". BBC News. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  3. "::The Welsh Institute of Sport:: – Overview and History". Sport Wales National Centre website. Sport Wales National Centre. 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  4. "The Welsh Institute of Sport – Overview and History". Sport Wales National Centre website. Sport Wales National Centre. 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  5. "The Welsh Institute of Sport – Overview and History". Sport Wales National Centre website. Sport Wales National Centre. 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  6. "contact info". Welsh Sports Association website. Welsh Sports Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  7. "FDSW". Disability Sport Wales website. FDSW. 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  8. "The Welsh Institute of Sport – Overview and History". Sport Wales National Centre website. Sport Wales National Centre. 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  9. "BAW – Basketball Association of Wales – Home". Basketball Wales website. Basketball Wales. 2009. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  10. "Welsh Judo Association". Welsh Judo Association website. Welsh Judo Association. 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  11. "Plas Menai – Course and Holidays". National Watersports Centre-Canolfan Cenedlaethol Chwaraeon Dŵr website. Plas Menai. 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  12. "RYA – Home". Welsh Yachting Association website. Welsh Yachting Association. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  13. "Plas Menai – About Plas Menai". National Watersports Centre website. Plas Menai. 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
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