Thirty nine of the region’s most talented young sporting children and winners from the 2013 Active Games returned from the Belfast Active Games with memories that will inspire and drive them on to aspire to compete in a major games of their own one day.

The games in Belfast were part of the Glasgow Support 2^nd Team Initiative which linked Dumfries and Galloway with the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council which has been a huge success resulting in great friendships and relationships which will provide a number of equally beneficial outcomes.

The trip that was part funded by the Holywood Trust with support from Scottish Government included all 39 young athletes supported by Active School and Community Sport Officers and eight Young Sports Ambassadors from across the region. On arriving at the Mary Peter’s Track following a police escort through Belfast City Centre the children were welcomed by the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council along with Dame Mary Peters, the Queen’s Baton and Clyde, the Glasgow 2014 mascot. The organisers of the international sector of the Queen’s Baton Relay informed the children they were indeed the first Scottish children to be part of the Queen’s Baton Relay and to hold the baton itself which included laps of the track and filming for BBC TV before official photographs. The children were then fortunate to attend an evening function joined by former athletes and dignitaries and to be in such close quarters to witness the gem stone being released from the baton, the gift presented by the host nation to each competing nation the Queen’s Baton visits. Various official presentations were delivered including the young gymnastics team addressing the haggis before it being piped in for the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council.

The next day was followed with a morning of sporting competition across three sporting venues before the children returned to the Mary Peters track to record an official good luck video message for our 2nd team at the Glasgow 2014 Games.

Councillor Brian Collins, depute leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council said “I would like to thank the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council for their generous hospitality and for providing a memorable two days for our young athletes and, Professor Alastair Adair and the University of Ulster for the evening reception. Support a 2^nd Team has been an overwhelming success with sport being the vehicle to wider legacy agendas while friendships and relationships are being developed at every level. The Belfast Active Games has been an inspirational experience for our young people who I must commend for their impeccable performance on and off the field of play. They have been outstanding ambassadors for Dumfries and Galloway and Scotland in Northern Ireland.”