World Class Welsh Sport: The Minister for Sport, Huw Lewis AM

In our third installment of opinion pieces to celebrate St David's Day we hear from the Minister for Sport, Huw Lewis AM, about what he thinks makes Wales such a great sporting nation.

“Wales is a great sporting nation. For a small country, we certainly have impact on the World’s sporting stage. Our Welsh Rugby Team has achieved great things in the World Cup and in this year’s Six Nations and the players have gained the respect of the sporting world with their mature attitude. The Welsh football team has some great young players and have improved enormously over the last 12 months.

“In this Olympic year, all eyes are turning to our Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Their achievements in Beijing and at the Commonwealth Games puts Welsh athletes in a great position in the lead up to the London 2012 Games. Of course, none of this would be possible without all the coaches and volunteers that harness this talent. Our world class sporting facilities give our athletes every opportunity to succeed.

“However, sport isn’t just for our elite athletes. The funding from the Welsh Government and the Lottery Fund has helped develop sport at a grass roots level. Our Free Swimming programme, for example, ensures that all our children and over 60s have access to sporting facilities. So this St David’s Day, why not get out there and get your children enjoying sport.”

Find out more about our great sporting nation and test your Welsh sporting knowledge with wales.com's interactive quiz.

Peta reloaded ; )

Guest post by my sista  Ulla Loge!

World Class Welsh Sport: Michaela Breeze and Melissa Hyndman's Views

In our second installment of opinion pieces to celebrate St David's Day we hear from Commonwealth gold medallist, and one of Wales’ most experienced athletes, former Olympic weightlifter, Michaela Breeze and Welsh National Netball Team coach, and Celtic Dragons Super League coach, Melissa Hyndman about what they think makes Wales such a great sporting nation.

Michaela Breeze MBE

“The passion and sense of belonging for me is what makes Wales a great sporting nation.  No matter who the athlete, or what the team, when Welsh Athletes compete, the country gets behind them fully. There is a real pride that is shared across the nation and it is this that I believe fuels the desire of athletes to achieve great results.

“Before there can be athletes, there must be coaches and other individuals who inspire and dedicate their lives to helping others achieve success. These people often go unheralded but actually they are critical to many sporting triumphs and success stories. My coach and mentor, and one of Britain and Wales's most successful lifters, Andrew Davies gave generously of his time to help guide and nurture me through the highs and lows of being an elite athlete. The likes of Ray Williams (National Weightlifting Coach), who himself was a great Welsh lifter, now inspires youngsters to take up the sport and will be heavily involved in the future success of this great sporting nation.

“While representing Team Wales at the last three Commonwealth Games, the support that I received from all the support staff, not just during Games time but in the months and even years building up to it, was fantastic.  Everyone from the physios and massage therapists, to media staff and the Chef de Mission were fully behind me. Without their support and belief, through the highs and lows, achieving the results I did would have been so much harder.  In particular, the support from Welsh Weightlifting has been amazing."

Melissa Hyndman

"I have been in this beautiful country now for two years (Melissa is originally from New Zealand) and  I knew it was going to be a big change for me and my very big family (seven children in total but only five children are here with my very supportive hubby and I). 

"This country is very similar to my NZ, in so many ways in terms of family, sport and culture. All three are very instrumental to Welsh people and also to Kiwi’s. Maybe that's the connection that attracts so many international coaches, from not just netball but also rugby, to Wales. 

"I consider myself 100% adoptive Welsh. In fact back home I’m known as a ‘Westie’ - as I live in West Auckland - so it seems politically correct to call myself a ‘Welshy’ now.

"Since I have been in Cardiff, I have meet the most amazing people with so much pride and passion for this country. It is something that overwhelms me and keeps me so focused on what I have to do while I’m here as the National Netball Coach because I have that pride and passion running through my veins. I am so excited about the talent in this country and what we are going to do to develop and nurture it. It’s a privilege to be a part of it at this integral stage.

"Wales is a high achieving sporting nation and netball is one sport that is climbing fast on the international ladder. This sport has some inspiring women at the helm who embody all that is good for Welsh sport.  These will be successful role models for our young up and coming sporting future."

Find out more about our great sporting nation and test your Welsh sporting knowledge with wales.com's interactive quiz.

World Class Welsh Sport: Laura McAllister's View

As we pin on the daffodils and celebrate all things Welsh this week, culminating in the St David's Day celebrations on Thursday (1 March), we spoke to some of Wales' most respected voices in Welsh sport and policy to find out why they think Wales is such a great sporting nation.

In this first installment we hear from Wales' top sporting administrator, Chair of Sport Wales, Professor Laura McAllister.

“Sport matters to us in Wales it’s a part of our national identity. When our elite athletes and national teams do well at the weekend we’re all talking about it the following week and the feel-good factor is noticeable.

“We have a world class rugby team who were the talk of the Rugby World Cup and now the current Six Nations campaign. We expect great things of our talented young national football side under the stewardship of new manager Chris Coleman. Cardiff City also did extremely well to reach the final of the Carling Cup to fly the flag for Welsh football. And Swansea City have looked every bit a Premiership team in their debut season in the top flight.

“We should also of course celebrate our world champions in Dai Greene, Nathan Stephens, Chaz Davies, Helen Jenkins and Nathan Cleverly. Other world class athletes who are owning the podium at major events include Jade Jones, Mark Colbourne, Hannah Mills and Steven Thomas. With London 2012 racing ever nearer Wales can proudly lay claim to several Olympic champions in Nicole Cooke, Tom James and Geraint Thomas. We also claimed 25% of GB’s Paralympic medal success in Beijing thanks to the likes of David Roberts, Simon Richardson and Liz Johnson.

“In all, Welsh athletes have brought home in excess of 1,000 medals at significant Games since the turn of the new millennium. We should be immensely proud of those successes and of the people behind our athletes’ success; our sports science and medicine teams, coaches, governing body and administrative staff. We have great people in Wales, with a winning mentality, that are driving us towards being a nation of champions. That’s true across the board; from the elite to the grassroots levels of sport.

“Our communities are full of motivators, often unpaid volunteers, whose sheer passion for sport is helping children to get hooked on sport for life and giving them positive first experiences that should give them a lifetime of enjoyment in sport. Our ambition is to double our current number of volunteers, to galvanise 10% of the population to pitch in to help their local club.

“The future for sport in Wales looks very bright indeed and we will continue to work hard to make sure that we have even more reasons to celebrate Welsh sport next St David’s Day and beyond.”

Find out more about our great sporting nation and test your Welsh sporting knowledge with wales.com's interactive quiz.

Wie viele vegane Sadisten kennst Du?....

After watching the new PETA-commercial I did not only realize that there really is an antifeminist backlash but also what world view this animal rights group seems to have:
-Bunnies and other cute animals - all other (not so beautiful) animals - vergans - men - fruits - vegetables - cereals - water - women
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TRIGGER WARNING because of belittlement/ glorification of sexual violence.
TRIGGER WARNUNG: Verharmlosung/Verherrlichung von sexualisierter Gewalt.

watch the video

Bling Bling -Teddies

Fashion-prognosis
Hey! so many nice trends from the 80s came back. Why not also this trend?
Stuffed animals ornamented with jewellery! Do it for the teddies!
...But some trends can certainly stay where they got lost in the 90s....

200 days to go until the London 2012 Paralympics

It's 200 days to go until the London 2012 Paralympics and to celebrate this milestone the Minister for Sport, Huw Lewis AM, talks about Wales' success in developing world class disability sport. 

Sport matters. It does not just reflect the world we live in, it has the power to change it too. And on no stage is this more true than the Paralympics Games. During recent Games, Wales has been inspired by many stories of courage, defeating the odds and of our athletes beating the best in achieving glory for ParalympicsGB.  Already London 2012 promises us more of the same and with it being so much closer to home, the build-up promises to be even more intense.

With just 200 days to go until the start of the Games, the excitement is building by the day - and now is a good time to say congratulations to those Welsh athletes who have already made it into ParalympicsGB . Steve Thomas, from Bridgend, has been selected for sailing and nearly half of the Table Tennis team announced so far is made up of Welsh athletes. They are Sara Head, Paul Davies, Paul Karabardak and Rob Davies. They are coached by Neil Robinson, from Bridgend. 

Neil Robinson

Wales’ record in producing top Paralympic athletes is outstanding. In Beijing, Welsh athletes won a quarter of ParalympicsGB’s gold medal haul, a stunning achievement. I remain very proud of the fact that Wales remains at the forefront of disability sport at all levels - this success is testament to the work of Disability Sport Wales, its officers and its army of volunteers and of course the sheer commitment of athletes and coaches. It is this success, along with our world class facilities, that has helped to attract Paralympic Pre-Games Training Camps to Wales.

This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for our athletes to compete on home soil and I’m sure they will do Wales, and ParalympicsGB proud. 

200 diwrnod i fynd tan y Gemau Paralympaidd Llundain 2012

Mae hi'n 200 diwrnod i fynd tan y Gemau Paralympaidd Llundain 2012 ag i dddathlu'r cam yma mae'r Gweinidog Chwaraeon, Huw Lewis AC, yn siarad am llwyddiant Cymru yn datblygu chwaraeon anabledd gorau'r byd.

Mae chwaraeon yn bwysig. Maen nhw’n gwneud llawer iawn mwy na dim ond adlewyrchu’r byd yr ydym yn byw ynddo. Mae ganddyn nhw’r pŵer i’w newid hefyd. Ac nid yw hynny’n fwy gwir yn unman nag yn achos y Gemau Paralympaidd. Yn ystod Gemau a gynhaliwyd yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf, cafodd Cymru ei hysbrydoli ar ôl clywed hanesion lu am ddewrder pobl ac am eu llwyddiant yn wyneb anfanteision. Fe’i hysbrydolwyd hefyd ar ôl gweld ein hathletwyr yn cyrraedd y brig ac yn dod â bri i Dîm Paralympaidd Prydain Fawr. Mae Llundain 2012 yn argoeli’n dda eisoes, a chan y bydd y Gemau yn gymaint nes adref, mae’n debyg mai cynyddu a wnaiff y brwdfrydedd wrth iddyn nhw nesáu.

Dim ond 200 diwrnod sydd i fynd tan ddechrau’r Gemau, a chynyddu mae’r cyffro hefyd. Mae’n amser da, felly, i ni longyfarch yr athletwyr hynny o Gymru sydd wedi cael eu dewis eisoes ar gyfer Tîm Paralympaidd Prydain Fawr. Mae Steve Thomas, o Ben-y-bont ar Ogwr, wedi’i ddewis ar gyfer y tîm hwylio, ac mae bron hanner aelodau’r tîm Tennis Bwrdd a gyhoeddwyd hyd yma yn athletwyr o Gymru. Bydd Sara Head, Paul Davies, Paul Karabardak a Rob Davies yn cael eu hyfforddi gan Neil Robinson, o Ben-y-bont ar Ogwr.

Mae gan Gymru hanes rhagorol fel meithrinfa ar gyfer athletwyr Paralympaidd o’r radd flaenaf. Yn Beijing, enillodd athletwyr o Gymru chwarter y medalau aur a enillwyd gan Dîm Paralympaidd Prydain Fawr, sy’n dipyn o gamp. Dw i’n ymfalchïo’n fawr yn y ffaith bod Cymru ar flaen y gad ym maes chwaraeon i bobl anabl, a hynny ar bob lefel. Mae hyn yn tystio i’r gwaith sy’n cael ei wneud gan Chwaraeon Anabledd Cymru, ei swyddogion a’i lu o wirfoddolwyr, ac yn tystio hefyd i ymroddiad llwyr yr athletwyr a’r hyfforddwyr. Y llwyddiant hwn, ynghyd â’r cyfleusterau o safon byd eang sydd gennym yma yng Nghymru, sydd wedi helpu i ddenu timau Paralympaidd i sefydlu Gwersylloedd Hyfforddi yma cyn y Gemau.

Mae hwn yn gyfle heb ei ail i’n hathletwyr gael cystadlu gartref, a dw i’n ffyddiog y bydd gan Gymru, a Thîm Paralympaidd Prydain Fawr, le i ymfalchïo ynddyn nhw. 

Skizze für eine Short-Story an der ich gerade arbeite. Diese beiden Kerlchen sind zwei typische Vertreter der Alpha-Avantgarde! Leider haben sie noch keine Hauptrolle, deshalb hängen sie jetzt mal auf dem Blog ab.
Sketch for a short-story that I'm currently working on. Those little fellows are typical examples of the Alpha-Avantgarde.

12 things you might not know about Pre Games Training Camps in Wales

David Evans of the Welsh Government's Major Events team outlines 12 things you might not know about London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camps

• Wales is hosting Olympic and Paralympic teams from at least 19 countries and involving around 1,000 athletes and support staff utilising our world class facilities and high performance sport infrastructure in the run up to the Games
• Many high profile athletes will be preparing for the Games in Wales including Oscar 'Blade Runner' Pistorius (Paralympic champion and world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 metres in the T44 class from South Africa), Valerie Adams (reigning Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion from New Zealand - shot put), Richard Thompson (Olympic silver medalist in the 100m from Trinidad and Tobago), Amantle Montsho (World Champion in the women's 400m) and the highly successful British Track Cycling Team
• Olympic athletes from Trinidad and Tobago,  New Zealand, Botswana, Team GB, Ireland, Lesotho and many boxing nations from all five continents will prepare for the Games in Wales
• Paralympic athletes from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Team GB, USA, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Liberia and Mexico will prepare for the Games in Wales
• PGT Camps will provide a benefit to the Welsh economy running into millions of pounds
• PGT Camps provide opportunities to develop sporting, educational and cultural exchanges with countries that come to Wales and provide opportunities for children and local communities to get involved, resulting in a positive Games legacy for Wales
• Welsh athletes, coaches and schoolchildren will have the opportunity to interact and learn from international athletes and coaches
• Commonwealth countries have deliberately been targeted with the 2014 Commonwealth Games being staged in Glasgow and the potential for repeat business
• Some nations are already considering using Wales as a long term training base for athletes in preparation for European events post 2012
• PGT Camps will help raise Wales’ international profile on the sporting and major events stage.
• PGT Camps provide opportunities to capitalise on these strengthened sporting links to build wider cooperation withthese countries, such as the First Minister’s recent successful visit to New Zealand where he was guest of honour at an event celebrating International Paralympics Day and used the visit to promote Welsh tourism, cultural and business interests
• Many Olympic athletes will compete in events in Wales leading into the Games including the Canoe Slalom World Cup to be held at Cardiff International White Water 8-10 June and discussions are ongoing regarding a track and field event on 18 July

 based in Wales

...mit natürlichem Grapefruit-Öl...

soap against kitchen-rumors.. ; ) ..obviously a word-play that doesn't work in english..

New This Week!