Youth Games Almere 2022
Two wonderful reports back from Almere by Emily Peart and Thomas Fox, followed by how you can be involved in next years event on home soil!
Youth Games Almere 2022 by Emily Peart
The Youth Games was literally the best week ever. I absolutely loved everything about it. We did lots of swimming which was good, nowhere near as hard as our training sessions as Otters, but also got to do so much more. We were close to Amsterdam so we went sightseeing there with lots of our new mates, sunbathed at the beach, paddle boarded, ate weird food and just had such a laugh. The disco was so funny and the opening and closing ceremonies were cool. I was a bit nervous about staying at a host family but Phoebe and me got to stay together and our family were really nice. The travelling was long (17 hours on a coach) but even that was fun. I made lots of new friends that I’m still in touch with- it was the best week ever!
Almere July 2022 by Thomas Fox
Originally, I was due to attend the International Youth Games in Rendsburg (Germany) in 2020, unfortunately Covid hit and the youth games were cancelled.
Luckily, I was picked to go to Almere (Netherlands) this year to represent Lancaster.
Before we went our leaders/ parents arranged a few meetings to get to know each other.
We met at the bus stop in the early hours of the morning ready for our long trip to Almere on the coach and ferry. Stopping at several places for food and to stretch our legs. The journey took 17 hours in total.
On arrival in Almere we were introduced to our host families and we went to our houses for food and much needed sleep.
For the next 4 days, we trained and participated in galas along with teams from Rendsburg, Almere, Aalborg and Rathenow.
Hannah (our swimming leader) along with Alex (from Lancaster city) looked after and organised us for the swimming events.
Aside from swimming, we had lots of free time. Diego and Natalie (my host family) showed me the sights of Almere using buses, bikes, trains and a moped!
We went to the beach and met up with other athletes and their host friends.
We went late night swimming in the canals, we had a day trip to Amsterdam and saw lots of famous places.
We tried lots of nice Dutch food (also lots of McDonald’s, pizzas and kebabs too).
I participated in 8 races in the galas and won 1 gold, 6 silver and a bronze medal.
We had a closing ceremony and disco to say goodbye to our host families and other athletes, then another early start for the journey home.
It was a great week with Finn, Phoebe and Emily and I would definitely recommend going to other Youth games in the coming years.
Youth Games 2023!
Next year, the Youth Games will be held in Lancaster, 20th July- 25th July 2023. At the moment the years of birth that will be eligible to apply to take part will be swimmers born 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 though this may change closer to the time. As we are hosting the event, we will be able to have more swimmers taking part than the standard four swimmers when we travel abroad. We will be looking for families of those swimmers taking part, to host swimmers and leaders from the other countries that are taking part. More information on participation will be provided closer to the time.
The Youth Games used to be funded in part by the council but they no longer give any funding towards this amazing event. If you think that you might be able to help with fundraising or know of a business that might be able to provide some financial support, please get in touch with Suzanna at membership@carnforthotters.co.uk
