Sport: a level playing field for Welsh
Being a sports fanatic and a Welsh speaker, two worlds united on Tuesday, writes DELYTH LEWIS who is currently on secondment with Sport Wales.
A conference was held at Sport Wales on Tuesday 18 March to look at how the sport sector in Wales embraces the unique challenge of providing sporting opportunities bilingually.
From the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to Kung Fu in Wrexham, it showcased some truly inspiring examples of how a bit of creativity and goodwill can create sporting opportunities that embrace the community - and provide natural opportunities for people to get involved in sport in the language of their choice.
Examples of individuals and organisations who have embraced the world of bilingual sport include Pol Wong, a Chinese Kung Fu teacher in Wrexham who has learnt Welsh and teaches the majority of his classes through the medium of Welsh. For those who don’t speak the language he asks one of the children to translate and he’s seen an increase in the number of young people who not only participate in his classes, but who pick up the language as well.
Another great example of those doing their bit is Guto Davies, Media Officer for Pontypridd RFC, who voluntarily translates the club’s website and identifies Welsh speakers within the squad to maximise bilingual media opportunities, reaching a much wider audience.
The Urdd provides sporting opportunities through the medium of Welsh right across Wales and have done so since 1922, creating a natural bilingual habitat for competitors, coaches, volunteers and parents alike where the focus is on encouraging the participation of young people in sport.
Last Summer Sport Wales greed a landmark £250,000 investment into the Welsh language youth organisation, to ensure thousands more children and young people get hooked on sport for life through the Welsh language.
The overarching message was that the love of both sport and our language should go hand in hand. And although steps need to be taken by the main providers of sport in Wales to address some core elements, such as providing bilingual websites, the potential in Wales is huge.
There is no better example of uniting both language and sport than the upcoming Commonwealth Games in 2014 where Wales is represented as a nation in its own right, and the only nation to have bilingual branding at that!
Go Team Wales, show the world what we can do and that we are unique in our sporting greatness and in our language.
For advice and support on how your community group or governing body can help create bilingual opportunities you can:
- Register for training on 8 May 2014 13.30 – 19.30
- Register for Welsh Sports Association Welsh lessons
- Attend Welsh language events to raise your profile
Contact the Welsh Language Commissioner office for further details on 0845 6033 221 or thirdsector@welshlanguagecommissioner.org
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