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. They are the main adviser on sporting matters to the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

and are responsible for distributing National Lottery funds to both elite and grassroots sport in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

National centres

Sport Wales National Centre

The Sport Wales National Centre, located in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, 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 enabling Wales to compete in international sport. The centre has indoor sports halls, next to Glamorgan CCC's

SWALEC Stadium The Cardiff Wales Stadium, which is part of Sophia Gardens Cardiff ( ; ), is a cricket stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in Sophia Gardens on the River Taff. It is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and is listed as an international ...

in Sophia Gardens. Sports activities in the Main Hall include

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, trampoline,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, dance and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

. The site also contains squash courts and

weight training Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises ( ...

rooms. Outdoors, the Institute has an international standard permeable artificial pitch, which is one of the home international venues for Welsh

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. The pitch is also used for

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Their outdoor

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts are also used for

and

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four Outfield#In association football, outfield players and a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper). Other differences from association football ...

. 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 for elite athletes. 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.

Governing bodies of sports in Wales The governing bodies of sports in Wales perform an organisational, regulatory or sanctioning function at a national level in Wales, some tracing their history to the 19th Century. Many cooperate with similar bodies from other countries to agree ru ...

with their headquarters at the Sport Wales National Centre include Basketball Wales, Welsh Judo Association, Welsh Gymnastics, Hockey Wales, Wales Rugby League and Squash Wales.

Plas Menai

Plas Menai, owned and run by Sport Wales, is the National Watersports Centre for Wales (). A purpose-built watersports centre on the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, overlooking

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, it was opened in 1986. Watersports courses are run at the centre, including

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

, cruising (

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

dinghy sailing Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats - usually for fun, learning necessary sailing skills (often also within family), and competition. RYA lists Five essentials of sailing dinghies as: * The sails * The foils (i.e. the dagge ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, powerboating and

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

. The centre is also the headquarters of the Welsh Yachting Association () (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.

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, 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 2012 Olympic Games was the most successful for any Welsh contingent in 100 years. More than 25% of the Great Britain Paralympic team's gold medals in 2008 came from Welsh sportsmen and women, who made up around 16% of the team. With help from the National Lottery, Sport Wales has invested in the Wales National Velodrome, Wales National Pool, and other national and regional centres across a number of sports such as athletics, swimming and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, as well as a National Centre of Excellence for rugby which opened in 2009.

References

External links

Sport Wales website

Plas Menai website
{{Authority control Physical education in the United Kingdom Sports organisations of the United Kingdom Welsh Government sponsored bodies 1972 establishments in Wales Sports organizations established in 1972