We must build on our successes, says Sport Wales Chair McAllister

Gary Baker on 21/12/2011

The nation has punched above its' weight during 2011 but Sport Wales chair Professor Laura McAllister has challenged everyone to dig even deeper in the future.

Professor McAllister has warned that Wales cannot afford to rest on their laurels and be 'left behind' in British and global sport.

The achievements obtained by sportsmen and women throughout the year has been phenomenal, she said in addressing this year's Coach of the Year Awards at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff.

These not only include the inspired run of the Welsh rugby side at the World Cup in New Zealand in October and the sporting first of a Welsh team reaching football's highest club but also the achievement of athlete Dai Greene in gaining World Championships 400m hurdles gold and Paralympian Nathan Stephens in also winning a World Championships javelin gold last January.

Professor McAllister said: "There is absolutely no doubt that sport is an intrinsic part of our life in Wales.

"For a small country of three million, we have five world champions. Wales is a hugely successful sporting nation and it is because of people like you (volunteers and coaches) that we are pushing above our weight."

She added: "So, that's the job done then? Certainly not! We have to continue to raise the bar higher and we cannot rest on our laurels.

"The rest of performance sport will push on and we don't want to be left behind. Last year, Sport Wales committed to develop the number of coaches and volunteers in Wales to ten per cent of the adult population.

"It is the only way and the will is there to achieve it. We need to get coaches and volunteers hooked on sport for life."

Professor McAllister has also challenged people from multi-cultural backgrounds to come forward as future coaches and volunteers in Welsh sport.

She said: "We need to get coaches and volunteers in every club so that it is not just dependent on one person.

"We need to get more people from the black and ethnic minorities into coaching.

"Coaching and volunteering is a fantastic way to get people to excel on the international stage but we need to sell it to other cultural groups."

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