FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 15, 2007

City of Kitchener Team to Compete in International Children's Games Again

KITCHENER – On  Tuesday, June 19, Kitchener will send off a contingent of 12 youth athletes and two coaches who will compete in  the 41 st International Children's Games (ICG) to be held in  Reykjavik, Iceland from June 19-25.

In late February, the City of Kitchener was invited by the Mayor of Reykjavik to participate in the Games. Kitchener was one of 100 applicant cities from around the world – only 64 cities were selected to compete.

Among the Kitchener athletes will be seven members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Track and Field Association and  five J udokas from the Asahi Judo Club. John Cooper, co-ordinator of athletics for the City of Kitchener , is the head of the delegation.

The athletes will leave Kitchener City Hall at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19 for Pearson International Airport . After an overnight flight to Boston , they will fly on to Keflavik International Airport , Iceland , landing on the morning of June 20.

“No matter what their accomplishments in Iceland , we've already got plenty of reason to be very proud of the members of Kitchener 's International Children's Games team for 2007,” said Mayor Carl Zehr. “This is a great experience for our youth. They have the opportunity to not only compete in the sports they have worked so hard in, but they will also be able to experience new cultures and maybe even form lifelong friendships with fellow athletes from around the world.”

The Kitchener ICG team website : http://kitchenericg.com  will be updated daily with results.  You can also visit the official  Games site: www.icgreykjavik.is for results and to view photos of the games.

Background:

Now the world's largest international multi-sport youth games, the ICG promotes peace and friendship through sports to the world's youth.

This  year marks the fourth time that Kitchener has sent a team to the games. In past years, Kitchener athletes have competed in Hamilton (2000), Cleveland , Ohio (2004) and Coventry , England (2005).

There will be 1,300 guests at the Reykjavik Games, including 950 children from ages 12 to 15, participating in Athletics (track and field), Swimming, Judo, Football (soccer), Handball, Badminton, and Golf.