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Young people between 7- 15 years old from all 11 boroughs of Surrey gathered together in Guildford and Woking at the weekend (21 and 22 June) to compete in the county's largest youth sporting festival, the Procter & Gamble Surrey Youth Games 2008.
Team Elmbridge finished third overall, behind Spelthorne and Woking. Interestingly, the Elmbridge Surrey Youth Games squad finished top of the medals table winning 6 gold medals, 4 silver and 2 bronzes. Winner's trophies were won in Netball (Junior & Senior), Hockey (Junior Mixed & Senior Girls), Tennis (Senior Mixed) and Swimming (Under 12 Mixed). Silver medals were picked up in Rugby (Junior Mixed), Judo (Junior Girls), Hockey (Senior Boys) and Swimming (Under 14 Mixed). Elmbridge also collected 2 bronze medals in Tennis (Junior Mixed) and Football (Junior Girls).
Two other success stories can be found in the form of our Boys Basketball and Senior Squash teams. The Squash team narrowly missed a medal position on the last round of games whilst the Basketball team showed great courage and spirit playing with a squad player down and heavily penalised due to an incomplete team. The basketball team achieved a fourth place medal and were worthy medallists in their inspired performances.
Highlights of the weekend include performances from hockey, winning two trophies and narrowly losing in the final to miss out on a third. The hockey teams were coached by former Surrey Youth Games participants and the girls were lucky enough to benefit from the experience of Sarah Haycroft and Harriet Tibble who are currently in the England Hockey Under 18 Squad. 
There was a clean sweep of Netball trophies (Junior and Senior), testament to the hard work of the team and coaches, with the weekend ending in a nerve wrecking tennis final, which saw our senior team beat Spelthorne in the last game to clinch the trophy. Elmbridges disability club based at Xcel Leisure Complex provided athletes for our Boccia team who competed well but faced stiff opposition.
The hope is that these players keep their competitive 'bug' and continue their development by finding the exit routes of local quality clubs, which the Council Sports Development Team help provide.
Councillor Jan Fuller, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture said, " I am elated with Team Elmbridge's overall performance with some brave and determined characters throughout our teams. Its great to see the inclusion of disability sports within the Surrey Youth Games and I am delighted with the continued success in the games, which reflects the fantastic work of the Sports Development Team."
The Sports Development Officer at Elmbridge Borough Council, said, " The achievement of our Teams are only seen when you look closely at the challenges that the individual sports faced, it's a tribute to all those that took part, team managers, coaches, parents and participants. Shortly we will be inviting those who were involved to an evening of celebration."
For more information on the Surrey Youth Games or if you would like to get involved with the Surrey's Young Coaches and Officials (SYCO) programme, please contact the |Sports Development Team.
Full details of events and final results are available on the |Active Surrey website.
There are 14 sports contested, with different age groups and eligibilities (set by the county associations and advisory groups) to best develop sport in Surrey. As a rough guide, young people that have represented their county in their chosen sport are ineligible to compete: the Games are therefore referred to as "Sub-County Level Competition".
Each Borough and District aims to win as many Gold, Silver or Bronze medals as they can, whilst maintaining a sense of camaraderie and fair play. One Borough or District will win the overall trophy by accumulating the most points from each of the sports events (11 points for each Gold Medal [1st place], 10 points for each Silver Medal [2nd place], 9 points for each Bronze Medal [3rd place], and so on, down to 1 point for 11th place). Other prizes on offer are the Fair Play Award, the Official of the Games, and Team manager of the Games.
If you want to be part of the Surrey Youth Games 2009, you need to take part in the Elmbridge Sports Festival 2009. More information will be coming soon.
If you are an interested coach or volunteer that wants to be involved in the 2009 Elmbridge Sports Festival or Surrey Youth Games please contact the |Sports Development Teamwho would be more than happy to hear from you.