SIX months of preparation and training paid off as Team St Albans finished second at the 16th Hertfordshire Youth Games that took place last weekend. The weekend again proved to be a huge success, with Team St Albans having another excellent year with g

SIX months of preparation and training paid off as Team St Albans finished second at the 16th Hertfordshire Youth Games that took place last weekend.

The weekend again proved to be a huge success, with Team St Albans having another excellent year with great finishing positions from all the teams including first placed finishes from them in two ages groups in the Aquathlon and a first place in the girls' Kwik Cricket.

The combined points from the individual event successes meant that Team St Albans finished second overall out of the 10 districts.

This is a fantastic result considering all the teams entered were competing in their sports for the first time, with St Albans only just missing out on first place by six points.

This year almost 800 youngsters from across the district expressed interest in attending the free training sessions hoping to represent the district at the Games. The training was delivered by coaches from within the districts' sports clubs at venues across St Albans, and in March 180 young people aged between seven and 19 were selected to represent the city and district over the two-day event.

St Albans Sport Development officer and St Albans Team co-ordinator Clare Baker said: "What a fantastic weekend. All the St Albans competitors were amazing and put in maximum effort while enjoying themselves.

"As a coordinator I can't ask for anything more than that - I am incredibly proud of all of them.

"This year we had more children than ever before interested in taking part and I hope all of them continue to participate in the sport they tried out with us and join the clubs that they have trained with over the last three months.

"I would like to thank all the athletes, team managers, teachers, parents and volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

"I am very impressed with the way that all the youngsters acted responsibly and showed great sportsmanship towards each other and the other districts.