Mixed Nationality Teams for Mini Olympics – Where did the competition go?

Amber Valley is to host this year’s Mini Olympics.  Youngsters from Amber Valley, Poland, France and Sweden will form multi-nationality teams to take part in a wide range of sports and other events as part of the Mini Olympics.

Of course the handful of youngsters involved will no doubt enjoy themselves and this event will obviously provide the positive propaganda photo’s for councillors to pose in bandying about their failed ideology.  But is the approach of mixing-up the youngsters into multi-nationality teams giving them the best message for future life? 

In my opinion this rather gooey and sloppy approach misses the point.  It fails to put fire in the belly’s of our next generation of community leaders, sporting heroes and business entrepreneurs. 

Surly it would be far better to use the opportunity of the Mini Olympics to teach young people how compete and be winners, but how can any one from the four countries competing win the trophy, hold it up and most importantly be the champions if the teams are mixed?

Our political leaders, and councillors are frightened to death of the concept of competition, but why?  Now, in the midst of recession should certainly be better time than any to instil the concept that British people can compete, can do well and can win in all our endeavours.

It’s not wrong to challenge Amber Valleys young people to be the best, to put a taste in their little mouths for success and nurture an attitude that breeds further success.  Maybe if we taught young people to compete and gave them the drive to become winners then that message would naturally go with them into their adult lives.

Maybe if we drilled into young people a different attitude to the PC norm, more of us will be driving genuinely British made cars, instead of a French Citroen or Peugeot’s maybe we’ll even compete with the likes of German Audi and BMW.  In future Amber Valley’s youngsters might set-up a big metal Warehouse, painted boldly in Red, White and Blue selling competitively priced, well made British furniture to compete with Sweden’s equivalent IKEA.  Perhaps in the near future we’ll see young British entrepreneurs setting-up their own car-wash businesses to compete with all the Polish set-up’s all over the borough.

Eight young people from, Glogów in Poland and from Laholm in Sweden will join eight students from Amber Valley to take part in the Mini Olympics, which the three countries traditionally take in turns to host. This year, through Ripley’s twinning association, a group of eight young people from Chateau Renault in France will also be taking part.

The eight-day Mini Olympics is being organised by the School Sports Partnership in conjunction with Amber Valley Borough Council. It opens with a welcoming reception on Thursday 28 June, hosted by The Mayor of Amber Valley, and will include events such as cycling, archery, orienteering and football.  The Mini Olympics programme will also take in the Olympic Torch Relay as it travels through Derbyshire and a visit to the London Olympic Park.

It’s such a shame that an opportunity for our young people to get a measure of their future business and sporting competitors will be structured in such a soppy and useless manner.  Nevertheless I hope everyone involved enjoys themselves and makes some lasting friendships.  Other than that, there’s little to be gained or for the youngsters to learn that will leave them in good stead.