Youth athletics coaching success continues to impact on external events in the sport

The end of the Youth Summer Track League and its presentation coincided with the start of the summer school sports days across Gibraltar.
Already, the impact of some 200 young athletes this year participating in the Lourdians Athletics Club weekly coaching sessions has been felt beyond the GAAA-organised races.
From inter-school relay teams packed with Lourdians youth runners, to school records being broken in both track and field, the sessions have continued to add a competitive edge to the sport, bringing excitement and celebrations outside of official association events.
Records such as the 200m girls’ St Anne’s School record, which saw youngster Anaïs Bagleitto Ignacio break the school record while running in what was a B Final event, highlight the impact the youth coaching sessions have had on Gibraltar athletics. In the same sports day the winning girls interschool team primarily made from runners involved in the weekly programme. With the interhouse girls year six relay also made up from girls who have been participating in the coaching sessions this season.
The aim of the youth programme very much geared to develop youth athletics with the hope of filling the void created during the years in which the sport was affected by the use of the Victoria Stadium and later Covid, which left a gap between the more veteran ranks and the youth. Numbers beyond the age of 12 remain low in comparison to those moving through the ranks from age five upwards. The sport is pushing to increase its retention rate, although this has also been hampered by internal feuds within the sport, which recently saw the GAAA Coaching Council step down.
In the meantime, the sport will this week see the recently rescheduled Gibraltar Athletics Track and Field Championships 2026 return on June 30.
The event, which will include the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x100m mixed-gender relay, shot put and long jump at the Lathbury Sports Stadium, will provide a platform for some of those youth athletes to compete, with the minimum age capped at 15.
The end of the Summer Youth Track League also saw a presentation to athletes, with awards going to some beyond their results on the track.
Awards were given to the “Determined Athletes”, with Theo, Kaden, Dylan, Solomon, Scarlet, Ella, Kaitlynn, Paisley, Rhys and Appoline receiving their trophies and certificates.
There were also awards for Sportsmanship, with Sophie and Kyanne each receiving their awards.
Photos courtesy Roy Torres