Latest news with #youthsports
Sky News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Sky News
Netball: The team made up entirely of UK-based players representing Pakistan at major championship
The Pakistan youth netball team made up entirely of British-based players is competing in their first major championship. They're hoping that they will not only perform well but also help attract other British Asian and Muslim girls to take up the sport. Many of the girls in the team had their hopes of competing internationally crushed last year when they were unable to play in the Asian Netball Championship in Bangalore. Unexplained visa delays by the Indian government meant that the Cosmopolitan Roses Netball team they played for was unable to take part. But since then, a number of the girls who missed out have been sanctioned by Pakistan Netball to form a team to take part in the Asian Youth Netball Championship under their national flag. "It's an incredibly proud moment for the girls taking part," says Sadia Hussain, the co-founder of the British-based Pakistan Netball Academy UK. "Performance netball is one thing, but this is even more special for the girls. It's a chance to represent themselves, and to represent their roots." Sadia acknowledges that there are barriers to cross to encourage young Asian and Muslim girls on to the netball court. Issues around acceptable clothing and cultural and familial uncertainty can put many girls off. But she says the Pakistan Netball Academy, which she helped set up two years ago to tackle under-representation, can offer help, support and advice for girls who want to enjoy the sport she loves. Thankfully for the girls, the Asian Youth Netball Championship is in South Korea so there have been no visa issues to hold them back this time round. "It was hugely disappointing to miss out on the games in India," says the team's young captain Sumayya Safdar. "But it has given us more resolve and determination to perform well, and it's given us extra months to train and prepare." And they're getting some expert support to help them reach their goals. Their coach is former England captain Amanda Newton. Amanda won the Super League and Super Cup with her domestic clubs, and has won Commonwealth and World Championship medals with England. "The girls come from all over the country," says Amanda at a training session in Walsall. "We have players from London, Manchester, Birmingham and Scotland, so we are only able to train as a team every three weeks or so. But the training the girls do either at home, or with their own schools and clubs, has shown a huge level of commitment." "And when they're together, the team spirit is amazing. And they get such confidence and strength from playing with girls who look like they do and share similar faiths and backgrounds." The Asian Youth Netball Championship 2025 is from 27 June to 4 July in Jeonju, South Korea.
CTV News
9 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Brick Invitational bringing top youth hockey players to showcase talent at West Edmonton Mall
Players and organizers said the main goal of the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament is for the young athletes to have fun. Some of North America's most promising young hockey players will be in Edmonton this weekend for the annual Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament. The tournament will celebrate 36 years on Monday, when the opening puck drop takes place at 7:30 a.m. at the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace. 'The 36 years have gone very fast. The first one is a great memory, and as well as the one last year,' said tournament chair Craig Styles. The week-long competition features 14 youth hockey teams, with players aged nine and 10, from Canada and the U.S. It wraps up on July 6 with the final championship game at noon. Styles said about 82 per cent of kids who play in the invitational go on to play hockey at higher levels, from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. 'They form a foundation here. More and more in the last 10 or 15 years, we see where the cream has risen to the top at this tournament,' he added. Former invitation players who have gone on to NHL careers include Connor Bedard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos. A full schedule, live feeds and up-to-date game results can be found on the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament website.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 44th Acadian Games a 'transformative experience' for young French athletes
Metal bleachers overlooking the soccer pitch behind Mathieu-Martin high school in Dieppe are split — on one side, a sea of fans wearing blue shirts and hoodies; on the other, fans sporting fire-engine red. From June 25 to 30, those colours and what they represent motivate young athletes as they compete to help their delegations bring home the most gold medals at the 44th Acadian Games. The annual games have brought together 1,100 athletes this year who qualified from all over the Maritimes in sports including volleyball, badminton and track and field — not to mention cultural events like improvisation, arts and singing. "We're starting into the third generation of youth," said Nicole Melanson, vice-president of communications for the games. "So they have stories from some of their grandparents and their parents, and people are really attached to the Acadian Games now." Competitors between the ages of 11 and 17 are representing 11 delegations from across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. The games are hosted in a different municipality each year. For Chloe Allain, a mini-handball athlete who is representing Kent, the weekend is all about getting to meet people who are as passionate about their sport as she is. "My favourite part of the games is really when you watch …other teams play and when you get to spend time with some of them," she said. "It's a tremendous experience." WATCH | These young Acadian athletes are loud, proud — and here to win: Once the weekend begins, the athletes enter a kind of miniature Olympic village. Melanson said they don't stay with their parents. They sleep overnight inside classrooms at the high school and a local community college with their teammates, and all of their meals are made by volunteers. But it's more than games, she said: it's a chance for youth to grow and be part of something bigger. "It's almost a transformative experience for the kids," said Melanson, who also has children who have competed in the games. While the red worn by the Chaleur region, the blue of the Kent area or the purple of Prince Edward Island pits these athletes against each other on the field or court, they connect on a deeper level based on what they have in common. Since 1979, the games have been a weekend for French-Acadian youth to feel like their Acadian roots matter. That's the case this year for one mini-handball competitor from Yarmouth, N.S. "It is pretty special because there's not exactly a ton of people who speak French where I'm from," Finely Hanf said. "It feels pretty cool." Melanson said the games were created at a time when bolstering the French language and Acadian culture was an important part of building New Brunswick's identity. "The idea was as a minority language group to bring these youth together, make those contacts ... learn about the customs and the other regions and the fun differences in their accents," she said. More than 132,000 young people have taken part in the games between 1979 and 2019, according to the games' website, and more than 4,000 volunteers are needed to put on the games each year. For first-time competitors like Hanf, a big part of the weekend is being able to play in front of larger audiences, and on larger courts than what they might be used to in their hometowns. "There's a lot more seating so a lot more people are watching," Hanf said about her first experience at the games. "You kind of got to block them out ... at the same time, if your team scores a goal, enjoy them cheering." Gabby Arsenault, who is representing her province of Prince Edward Island for the first time in badminton, said this weekend is all about making memories in a new place. "I'm hoping to have a lot of fun and to tell good stories to my friends at home," she said. "It feels even more special because there's more people to communicate [with] in French." To Melanson, seeing the happy faces of young athletes and watching them meet new French speakers as she walks though the hallways and on the sidelines means the games are still accomplishing the goal they set out to. "The kids suddenly feel like this is really important," Melanson said. "I'm part of something, right? And I'm included." While finals for some sports have already taken place, all medals will be awarded Sunday when delegations will find out which region has taken home the most medals. One of the medals she's most looking forward to seeing awarded isn't a sport or cultural medal at all. She said throughout the weekend, some of the more than 750 volunteers at the games have a secret mission of keeping an eye out for athletes who showcase sportsmanship, and are supportive of other delegations during competitions. That player will get the weekend's friendship award. "Parents will never stop talking about when they were here. They're in the stands and they're exchanging their stories," Melanson said. "It's creating lasting bonds."
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Young fans meet Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes at trading card event
Young baseball fans got to meet Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes for a special event Friday morning. Skenes was on hand for a Topps Trading Card event at DICK's House of Sport at Ross Park Mall. It's the same place where his MLB debut patch card is on display. Advertisement The MLB reports that the card sold for $1.11 million at an auction March 21 to DICK's Sporting Goods. Seeing the card for the first time, Skenes said he's glad it's in Pittsburgh. Kids from local youth sports organizations got to have a Q&A with Skenes and play some games. 'He's the best pitcher in the league,' said one young fan. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
My daughter's school wanted her to learn about trans rights. So I kept her at home
Sarah Jones* has a happy, energetic, sporty daughter named Emma. She has just turned nine and loves nothing more than pulling on her football kit and running to the local park, a ball tucked under her arm. If Emma had been born a decade earlier, Jones would have seen this as little more than a carefree phase in her daughter's childhood. Now, she worries someone might suggest Emma was born in the wrong body. 'Emma isn't girly,' says Jones. 'She plays competitive sports and doesn't wear dresses; she's fantastic. But these conversations around gender identity are very harmful to children who don't conform to stereotypical ideas of it. I don't want her to think that just because she doesn't wear pink, she should be a boy.' So when Jones received a letter on Monday afternoon informing her that her daughter's school would be celebrating Schools Diversity Week for the next three days – and that Wednesday would be dedicated entirely to discussions, workshops and a Pride march – she was alarmed. The letter said parents would be welcome to come to the school at Wednesday lunchtime to discuss the events taking place. 'I work full time and was given hardly any notice to come in,' says Jones. 'And what good is a meeting on the day itself?' Launched in 2015 by the LGBT+ young people's charity Just Like Us, Schools Diversity Week has since become a fixture in thousands of schools across the UK. Primary and secondary schools use this time to celebrate the idea that families come in many forms and encourage young people to embrace differences – with the week often culminating in 'Rainbow Friday', when pupils and teachers are encouraged to wear their brightest clothes. This year, Rainbow Friday falls on Friday 27 June. In many communities, the initiative has been embraced as a moment of celebration and inclusivity. Not age-appropriate But when Jones looked through the websites the school had encouraged parents to visit ahead of Diversity Week, she was dismayed to find certain sections focused heavily on trans rights. This included sites like The Proud Trust, which offers a trans inclusion toolkit for schools on its website. Much of it, she says, was not age-appropriate. Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the Sex Matters campaign group, thinks parents are right to be worried. 'I believe in open-mindedness up to a point, but not so open-minded that your mind falls out,' she says. 'I have two adult sons and one is straight and one is gay and I absolutely support children learning that families come in all shapes and sizes. But one of the worst things you can do to a child is plant the seed of bodily discomfort just a few years before puberty, a time of huge physical and mental change. To tell them these feelings of distress mean you're in the wrong body is downright wicked, and yet schools are doing so all over the country in the name of diversity and inclusion.' Jones – who has already butted heads with the school over trans issues – knows this all too well. During last year's Pride events, her daughter's class read a picture book about a transgender man that included an illustration of a post-mastectomy body. 'I was horrified,' she says. 'The school told me they weren't showing the images, just reading the text, but for me, that wasn't enough.' Scarred by this, Jones decided to keep Emma* and her younger brother at home on Wednesday. 'It's the first time I've kept them off school for a reason other than illness. If I knew the kids were only learning about gay and lesbian rights, I would happily have sent them in, as I don't have an issue with any of that. But I can't take the risk.' Louisa Martin* found herself in a similar situation this week when she decided to keep her sons, aged six and eight, home during their school's Pride celebrations. It was a decision she found personally upsetting, as her brother – with whom she is very close – is gay. 'I won't risk damaging my sons' 'I couldn't be prouder of my brother,' she says. 'It broke my heart keeping the boys home: they know a lot more about gay rights than most of the kids in their class because of their uncle – but I will not expose them to radical gender ideology. It teaches them that if they feel unsettled in their minds, then their bodies have to change. I dread to think what would have happened to my brother if this had existed in his day, and I won't risk damaging my sons.' The irony, of course, is that most activities during Schools Diversity Week are ones that most parents would support. Both women say they would have welcomed the chance for their children to understand why the word 'gay' should never be used as an insult, and to learn that boys and girls don't have to adhere to narrow stereotypes. But when Jones met the school's head of diversity and inclusion – a former form teacher of Emma's – she became convinced she had made the right decision. 'She had pride flags all around her desk and refused to hear me out. I said, 'I don't think you can change sex,' and she just shook her head and said, ' Trans women are women.' She wouldn't budge an inch.' Martin, meanwhile, had to navigate the more personal pain of telling her brother she had withdrawn her boys for this particular week. 'He understood,' she says. 'He was sad, of course. These events should mark how far we've come since our school days in the 1980s. We would both love it to be a happy milestone.' Instead, it has become a reminder of how complex progress can be.
