Sporting venues for the inaugural UK School Games were announced today as Glasgow declared that it was ready to welcome the 1200 youngsters from all over the UK, who will take part in this new multi-sport event for the most talented teenagers in the country.

Further details about the UK School Games were revealed at a press conference attended by Scottish minister for tourism, culture and sport, Patricia Ferguson MSP and legendary Scottish Olympic swimming champion David Wilkie.

Scotstoun International Stadium will host athletics, table tennis and fencing. Swimming will take place at Tollcross pool and gymnastics will be held at the Kelvin Hall.

The athletics competition will see twelve teams from the under-17 age group competing against each other in 35 events over the weekend of 9th and 10th September. In addition there will be four disability athletics events.

Fencing will feature one team from each home country, with competitors from the under-17 age group competing in both individual and team events over two days of competition on 9th and 10th September.

Gymnastics will also feature one team from each home country in competition on Saturday 9th September. The men's artistic event will be for the under-16 age group while the women's will feature under-19's.

Swimming will see eight teams from the under-16 age group competing against each other on Saturday 9th September. Four from England, two from Scotland, one all Ireland and one from Wales. Ten disability events will also take place in the pool.

Eight teams will also compete in table tennis, from England north, south, east, west and midlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The two and a half days of competition for under-18's will begin on the afternoon of Friday 8th September.

The UK School Games will be funded by the Millennium Commission who will provide a National Lottery grant of £1.5m and the Youth Sport Trust will be responsible for staging the competition.

The UK School Games is also being supported by Glasgow City Council, sportscotland, EventScotland and VISA as presenting sponsor.

Patricia Ferguson, Scottish minister for tourism, culture and sport said:

"UK School Games in Glasgow will be a celebration of youth sport where Scotland's next generation of athletes will compete, inspired by Scotland's outstanding performance at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. We may see some of these young athletes competing again in Glasgow in 2014.

"The School Games will be great for Glasgow and great for Scotland, and give us another opportunity to show how we can host major events successfully."

David Wilkie, former Olympic swimming gold medallist said:

"I'm proud that my home country of Scotland will host the inaugural UK School Games and am sure that Glasgow will do a great job in welcoming competitors and spectators from all over Britain.

"I think the UK School Games will provide competitors with a fantastic opportunity to experience and learn how to deal with the challenges of a large multi-sport event, while focussing on performing to the highest standard against the best opposition in the country."

Mike O'Connor, director of the Millennium Commission said:

"Glasgow is leading the way by hosting the first UK School Games and I hope that other cities will follow their excellent example in the coming years. Investing in young athletes is an excellent use of National Lottery money."

Steve Grainger, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust said:

"The Youth Sport Trust are delighted to be responsible for managing the first UK School Games and I'd like to thank Glasgow for the commitment that they are putting behind the event and for the great facilities that will be on offer to young people from all over the UK when the Games kick off on September 7th.

"The UK School Games are the central part of a process that seeks to create a world class competitive sport structure for young people by 2012.

"September's four day spectacular in Glasgow will be aiming to re-create the environment normally only experienced by world class adult performers and to set a new standard for presentation of sports events for young people."

Councillor John Lynch, convener of cultural and leisure services, Glasgow City Council said:

"Glasgow is delighted to have been chosen to host the inaugural UK School Games. We have an excellent track record in hosting world-class sporting events and we look forward to welcoming all the athletes, their families and supporters to Glasgow in September."

Colin Grannell, managing director, Visa UK said:

"We are delighted to be the presenting sponsor for this inaugural event that provides a genuine opportunity for elite young British athletes, from a number of sports, to compete at the highest possible national level. We view the event as providing real work experience for those athletes aspiring to compete at the Olympic Games in future years.

"We truly believe that it is grassroots initiatives such as this that will pave the way to improving the standard of sport and the adoption of Olympic ideals amongst young people. We are looking forward to exciting competitions in Glasgow at some excellent venues."

Paul Bush, deputy chief executive, EventScotland, said:

"EventScotland's investment in the UK School Games has helped to ensure that the inaugural event will be staged in Glasgow.

"Hosting a multi-sport event in Scotland will further demonstrate our country's ability to successfully host events and also provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the city in the build up to submitting Scotland's bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in 2014."

Julia Bracewell OBE, chair of sportscotland said:

"sportscotland welcomes the inaugural UK School Games in Glasgow which is an exciting event bringing together young people in Scotland and throughout the UK.

"The multi-sport nature of the games offers fantastic opportunities for competitors and spectators alike to come together under the banner of competition and friendship."

Download the press release as a PDF

---

Notes to editors:

1. The Millennium Commission is a distributor of funds raised by the National Lottery and it has distributed over £2 billion to hundreds of project and thousands of people around the UK. Its funding programmes have included a major national programme of capital projects, including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Hampden Park Stadium in Glasgow, Odyssey in Belfast and new sports facilities with soccer and ten five-a-side pitches at Mile End Park in East London. The Millennium Commission's income from the National Lottery ceased in August 2001. For further information please contact: Shabana Pathan, Communications Officer, Millennium Commission, 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE. Tel: 020 7880 2071 Mobile: 07771 565 606 Fax: 020 7880 2000; www.millennium.gov.uk

2. The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people through sport. Its mission is to support the education and development of all young people through sport. Please visit www.youthsporttrust.org for more information.

3. Fast Track is delivering event management and media services for UK School Games with the Youth Sport Trust.

4. Visa's corporate commitment to the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Movement, the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees and national teams and individuals, has been an important factor in ensuring the continuance and success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Visa is signed up as a worldwide partner to both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games until 2012 and as such is firmly committed to the success of London 2012.

5. EventScotland is the national organisation for sports and cultural events and co-ordinates the delivery of the Major Events Strategy published by the Scottish Executive in November 2002. The strategy is designed to maximise the benefits of existing events, to attract new events, to showcase Scotland's assets and to encourage more people to visit Scotland to experience at first hand major sporting and cultural events being staged in the country. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and the latest event news please visit www.EventScotland.org

6. sportscotland are the national body for sport in Scotland and are dedicated to increasing participation and improving performances in Scottish sport. Its plays a leading role in driving forward Sport 21 the national strategy for sport in Scotland through partnerships with the public, private and voluntary sectors. sportscotland also distributes the Lottery Sports Fund in Scotland.

7. The BBC has been confirmed as the official broadcast partner for UK School Games in 2006.