Will there be a place for our super kids?

WHETHER budding Dale Garlands and Ian Powells will be able to compete in the 'Schools Olympics' launched in Battersea yesterday remains a mystery. The UK School Games - its official title - will go ahead in Glasgow between 7 and 10 September, but it seems unlikely that Channel Islanders will have a direct route to an event which is aimed to become the pinnacle of the competitive school sports calendar for 15 to 18-year-olds.

Each of the five sports in the inaugural Games designed to replicate multi-sports events such as the Olympics or Common-wealth Games - athletics, swimming, table tennis, fencing and gymnastics - will be contested by regional teams.

There are 12 regions in the case of athletics, eight in swimming while the four home countries will contest table tennis, fencing and gymnastics.

Dave Legg, secretary of the Channel Islands Schools 'Athletics Association, admitted he was in the dark over the event, but hoped Guernsey's best youngsters would somehow get the chance to compete.

'It's a nice idea. But we are in the dark. I've heard nothing from any governing organisations of school sports in England.'

Legg, though, is adamant that our best should not be left behind.

'If we have athletes good enough to be there, we'd like them to be there.

'I would like to know how they are going to select our kids. What is the criteria going to be?

Guernsey's top sports stars have long been eligible and fared well at the English Schools' athletics and swimming championships.

In recent times, Kylie Robilliard and Kimberley Goodall have won medals in track and field, while in the pool the island has produced swimmers such as Ian Powell and Jeremy Osborne who have been up with the best in the country.

Guernsey have also played in the last four British Secondary Schools table tennis championships and with that in mind GTTA president Derek Webb is hopeful that the island's outstanding juniors will win an invite to the Schools Olympics.

'John Arnold, president of the England Schools TTA has been keeping me informed and I've told him that if Guernsey are invited, we will be there,' said Webb.

'If we were involved it would be fantastic,' said Webb, who admitted that information was sketchy in the extreme.

Graham Chester, the island's sports development manager, was yesterday trying to contact organiser, the Youth Sports Trust, to clarify the situation with regard to Guernsey.

In launching news of the Games, Culture secretary and Olympic minister Tessa Jowell said it was fantastic news that £6m had been pledged towards the staging of the annual event up to 2011. 'This will be a fantastic celebration of sport for young people and a real legacy for generations,' said Jowell.