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03/07/2019 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /

Athletes from all 8 School districts across Wales descend on Cardiff on Saturday 6^th July for the 72nd Welsh Schools Athletic Association Track & Field Championships. Once again the event will be part of Gemau Cymru, a multi-sport event that involves competitions in 11 different sports across Cardiff and the wider community, following on from events held in Bala last weekend.

With entries numbering over 600 across the age groups, competition for medals is sure to be tough with many of last year’s champions returning to defend titles or having the challenge of moving into a new age group

While the possible selection for SIAB will await many, for others it is about experiencing high level competition in a championship environment for the first time. We expect many personal bests to be set and Championship Best Performances to be broken, but also new friendships forged and personal goals achieved as our young athletes look to move up in performance levels.

The selection for the 2019 SIAB Track & Field will take place on Sunday 7^th July which this year is hosted by Welsh Schools and is at Swansea University on Saturday 20^th July. Middle age group champions are guaranteed a place in the teams with the second discretionary place going on performances on Saturday plus Power of 10 rankings. Top performing athletes in the Junior age groups also come into the reckoning for honours as well. There is also an incentive for our Senior athletes again this year with the acceptance of a Welsh Athletics invitation to field a Schools Team in the Welsh Athletics International at the end of the month. Selection will again take place this weekend with championship performances and Power of 10 standings taken into consideration. Senior athletes are reminded that a win on Saturday does not guarantee selection.

Cardiff & Vale will defend their overall team title from 2018 and will as usual face tough competition from the other traditional powerhouse of Dyfed. Afan Nedd Tawe broke the monopoly last year by taking both the Junior Boys and Middle Girls team titles, they will be looking to improve on this performance. Welsh Schools also present 6 Individual awards for outstanding performances on the day, these are decided by a panel on the day of the Championships and normally go to those achieving Championships best on the day, but again not exclusively.

Good luck to all those taking part this weekend not only in our Championships but across the other sports as well!