The London Borough of Enfield have won the gold medal in the angling at this year’s London Youth Games. Enfield won the award after catching 229lbs 4oz of fish at the event at Tylers Common Fishery near Romford, on Saturday 29 May, 2010.
The team’s most prolific individual was Matt Oliver who reeled in a whopping 167lbs 12oz of fish on the day, a junior record for the Ash Lake at the venue. Oliver also took the overall individual prize on the day. Hillingdon were silver medallists with 136lbs 2oz and Greenwich took bronze with 102lb 6oz.
The event, supported by the Environment Agency, was an excellent opportunity for children of all ages to compete at angling. Fisheries staff were at the Games to see first hand the achievements of the youngsters from all across the capital as they fished for carp, roach, bream, tench, rudd and perch.
The London Youth Games provide a great chance for children to take part in the sport, even if they lack suitable angling and coaching facilities in their home boroughs. In total 44 young anglers representing 18 London boroughs competed in the final.
Each mixed team comprises up to 3 anglers from each borough aged between 7 and 18, with one junior Year 9 and under and two seniors Year 12 and under. The seniors tackled the venue’s Horseshoe Lake, whilst the juniors fished the Ash Lake. The London Youth Games is Europe’s largest annual youth sports event. In 2009 around 47,000 kids took part in 30 sports from all 33 London boroughs.
As befits the ambitious angler, individual winner Matt Oliver spoke about ‘the one that got away’, he said: “I caught lots around the edge. My favourite catch was an 8lb common carp and I lost one that was about 15lb. It’s important for me to win because I really enjoy fishing. I like representing the borough. It’s good to show I do something for the community.”
Enfield Team Manager Carl Whitman said: “They did well last year and it was their first real year of finding a bit of success. Again this year, they fished really nice and tight. The secret is down to practicing, lots of practice.
“They put in a lot of hard work to make sure everything is prepared and today they did what they needed to do. They are very quiet, but extremely talented. They are all capable of fishing in any river, canal or lake. You could put them in any venue and they’d be more than comfortable.
Steve Tanner, Team Manager of silver medallists Hillingdon said: “We thought if the bottom lake (Horseshoe) would have fished better, we could have won. But our junior Matthew (Chipping) did really well on the top lake and he kept us in it and we took third and fifth on the other lake so that was good.
“We got silver last year too, so they are consistent. We have some good youngsters who are willing to listen, willing to learn and they are enthusiastic. The London Youth Games is a real morale-booster. It gives them inspiration and the opportunity to show other people what they can do in their sport.”
For Greenwich, junior angler Alfie Homewood was key to their success, with the second biggest haul of the day, reeling in 90lbs 15oz. Greenwich Team Manager Del Etherington was quick to pay tribute, he said: “It’s all about enjoying it. They’re all good kids. The plaudits should go to Alfe. He’s not been fishing for very long, but he did brilliantly.”
Emma Barton, a fisheries officer from the Environment Agency said: “We are always keen to introduce more young people to angling and the London Youth Games is a great opportunity to see young people interacting with the sport. We are really pleased to have been a part of this very impressive event and hope that it will encourage many more young people to take up angling and enjoy their local fisheries and waterways.”
“The London borough of Enfield performed brilliantly on the day, and it was particularly exciting to see such high standards during the competition. We look forward to meeting more young anglers down at the river bank or at fisheries in the future.”
Angling provides young people with the opportunity to engage with their local environment in a positive way. The Environment Agency works in partnership with local authorities to develop sustainable fisheries and open up the sport to youngsters from a wide range of backgrounds by providing advice and assistance with funding and coaching. The Environment Agency actively encourages young people to participate in angling and is involved in a number of projects to promote the sport, for example organising events at urban lakes and providing free coaching. The Environment Agency also supports professional coaching schemes such as the Catch 21 London angling programme run by the environment charity Thames21, which particularly focuses on deprived areas.
For more information, please visit http://www.londonyouthgames.org/
Matt Oliver
Tom McElevey
