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 , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

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

National centres

Sport Wales National Centre

The

Sport Wales National Centre The Sport Wales National Centre ( cy, Canolfan Genedlaethol Chwaraeon Cymru) is a sports facility in Cardiff, Wales, set up to assist the development of elite athletes in Wales. The Centre, owned and operated by Sport Wales, was established by ...

, 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 Glamorgan County Cricket Club ( cy, Criced Morgannwg) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Glamorgan ( cy, Morgannwg). Founded in 1888, ...

SWALEC Stadium The Cardiff Wales Stadium, which is part of Sophia Gardens Cardiff ( ; cy, Gerddi Soffia Caerdydd), 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 l ...

in Sophia Gardens. Sports activities in the Main Hall include

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce o ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

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 (appr ...

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

, martial arts,

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

, dance and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

. The site also contains

squash courts Squash is a racket-and-ball sport played by two or four players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their rackets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. Th ...

and

weight training Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Trai ...

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 term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. The pitch is also used for

lacrosse Lacrosse is a 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 was extensiv ...

and football. Their outdoor

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

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 players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

. 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 The Wales national netball team represents Wales in international netball competition. The Welsh Netball Association ( cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-Rwyd Cymru), the governing body for netball in Wales, is responsible for Welsh squad selection, internation ...

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 to 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 Welsh Sports Association ( cy, Gwasanaeth Chwaraeon Cymru) (WSA) (established 1972) is an independent, umbrella body, supporting and representing the national and international interests of all the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport an ...

the National Governing Bodies Coaches, the

Federation of Disability Sport Wales The Federation of Disability Sport Wales ( cy, Chwaraeon Anabledd Cymru) is the national pan-disability governing body of sports organisations that provides local sporting and physical activity opportunities to disabled people in Wales. The Fede ...

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 Basketball Wales ( cy, Pêl-fasged Cymru) (founded in 1952 as the Basketball Association of Wales) is the sole controller and the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, national governing body of all aspects of the game of basketball in Wales. It is ...

Welsh Judo Association The Welsh Judo Association ( cy, Cymdeithas Judo Cymru) (WJA) is the governing body for the sport of judo in Wales. The WJA has 80 affiliated clubs and over 2,400 members. It is responsible for managing the Welsh Performance Squads the National ...

Welsh Gymnastics Welsh Gymnastics (WG) (founded 1902 as the Welsh Amateur Gymnastics Association) is the national governing body for gymnastics in Wales. It has overall responsibility for the administration of all eight gymnastics disciplines in Wales – w ...

, Welsh Hockey and

Squash Wales Squash Wales is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, national governing body of Squash (sport), squash in Wales. It has 121 affiliated clubs and is a member of the World Squash Federation and the European Squash Federation. Squash Wales is r ...

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, Gwynedd, overlooking

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, 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. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

, cruising (

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

dinghy sailing Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle o ...

, kayaking,

powerboating Power boating describes activities performed in a motorized boat. Generally, a power boat has a high power-to-weight ratio and a hull design that allows for easy planing, which allows for higher speed and improved handling. Also, the shape o ...

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 aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

. 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 The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for i ...

(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 and 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, 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