The City of Tampere will host the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) from 18-25 July. There are nine summer sports in the programme. All 49 member countries of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) will send a team to participate in the games. The number of accredited team members is already over 3,300.

The games will be organised by the City of Tampere, Finnish Olympic Committee and the sports organisation Hämeen Liikunta ja Urheilu (HLU). The programmes will be organised by local sports teams. The programme in Tampere will be broader than in any previous EYOF games so far. The Tampere games will mark the tenth anniversary of the EYOF festival, since the games have been arranged biennially since 1991.

The best young athletes from Europe

The sports in the EYOF 2009 are judo, basketball, handball, volleyball, cycling, tennis, swimming, gymnastics and athletics. Each sport has a quota for the maximum number of participants.

In team sports, an eight-team tournament will be played in both boys’ and girls’ series. For the first time in the EYOF history, the Tampere games will include boys’ artistic gymnastics.

The participants’ ages have been limited to two birth years. As a result, every youngster has only one chance to participate in the EYOF games. The participating athletes are 13-18 years old, depending on the sport.

Olympic protocol in practice

The EYOF games provide the young an opportunity to experience a high-class athletic event and to meet other cultures. The EYOF is the first multi-sport event for the young athletes, and therefore a significant experience along their way to top athletic performance and fame.

The games are also an opportunity to educate the participating young athletes about the Olympic spirit, since the games adhere to the Olympic protocol. The ceremonies include opening celebration (Sunday evening, 19 July 2009), parade of the participants, the Olympic flame, the Olympic flag and national anthems and emblems.

The ceremonies and arrangements of the EYOF games at Tampere will display Tampere’s unique qualities and emphasise the principle “from youth to youth”. The values driving the games are sportsmanship, sustainable development, ecological responsibility and economy.

Athletes’ village at Hervanta

The centre of the games will be at Hervanta, where the Athletes’ village will be constructed in the premises of Police College of Finland, Pirkan Opiskelija-asunnot Oy, The Tampere Student Housing Foundation and Tampere University of Technology. The services at the Hervanta area are widely employed by the games.

Local sports teams as programme organisers

Local sports teams are responsible for organising the programmes. The teams’ officials have considerable experience from many national and international games, and will be a significant factor in ensuring the success of the programmes.

The Ratina stadium, beautifully renovated for the 2008 Kaleva Games, will be the arena for athletics at the EYOF games. The handball, volleyball and gymnastics competitions will be held at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre.

Three sports in a single location will make Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre one of the most interesting venues in the games, with plenty of sports to watch during the entire week.

What is EYOF?

In 1990, the European Olympic Committees launched the European Youth Olympic Days (EYOD) which has since become known as the EYOF, the only multisport event taking place in Europe.

The idea of organising the European Games (launched before the association had been constituted but then abandoned) was thus taken up again. The EYOFs, including the winter and summer editions, are organised every two years. The first summer edition was organised in 1991 in Brussels, Belgium.

History

In 1990, thanks to the initiative of Jacques Rogge’s, the European Olympic Committee launched the European Youth Olympic Days, nowadays known as the EYOF, the only multi-sport event on this continent.

The idea of organising European Games (launched before the constitution of the association and then dropped) had been taken up again. The EYOFs, that have a Summer and a Winter edition, take place every year with an odd number. Since they were launched they have taken place in:

1991 in Brussels (Belgium);

1993 in Aosta (Italy) and in Valkenswaard (Netherlands)

1995 in Andorra-La Vella (Andorra) and in Bath (Great Britain)

1997 in Sundsvall (Sweden) and in Lisbon (Portugal)

1999 in Poprad Tatry (Slovakia) and in Esbjerg (Denmark)

2001 in Vuokatti (Finland) and in Murcia (Spain)

2003 in Bled (Slovenia) and in Paris (France)

2005 in Monthey (Switzerland) and in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy)

2007 in Jaca (Spain) and in Belgrad (Serbia)

2009 in Slask Beskidy (Poland) an in Tampere (Finland)

2011 in Liberec (the Czech Republic) and in Trabzon (Turkey)

Starting with the EYOF held in Esbjerg, the European Olympic Committee (EOC) has organised a seminar on the Olympic Movement for young sports journalists, during the summer edition.

According to Pierre de Coubertin’s Olympic Charter, the purpose of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to the building of a better and more peaceful world by educating youngs through sport, without discrimination of any kind, within the Olympic Ideal, that calls for reciprocal understanding and spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

“Olympism is a philosophy of life, which exalts in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to be the creator of a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and on respect for universal fundamental ethical principle”

Olympic Charter, Fundamental Principles, paragraph 2.

The Opening Ceremony will start the festival week on Sunday evening. Athlete’s parade and charming programme will offer a great start for the week. The opening Ceremony will be held in the Tampere Ice Stadium on Sunday 19 July at 8pm.

The Closing Ceremony will finish the great week of events. Festival programme and cheerful atmosphere is worth seeing! Come along and enjoy the Olympism! This will take place in the Tampere Stadium Ratina on Friday 24 July at 8pm.

Tampere

The host city Tampere provides excellent frame and venues for the EYOF 2009.

Tampere is a city with a rich industrial heritage as well as wide cultural services. With its over 210 000 inhabitants Tampere is the third biggest city in Finland and the largest inland city in Scandinavia. Although a large city by Finnish standards Tampere still manages to feel like a small town.

Tampere is located in the heart of a lake labyrinth, some 170 kilometres north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Tampere is situated between two lakes on a narrow strip of land. Important elements of the landscape include the lakes as well as the Tammerkoski rapids with its banks right in the city centre. In the city centre the services and facilities are all located within the walking distance.

The versatile nature is ideal for spending time outdoors. The natural beauty of the city provides a wide range of excellent opportunities for recreational activities both in summer and wintertime.

Finland’s climate is temperate. Summer in Finland is warm, bright, and exhilarating. Most important, the air is fresh, clean, pure and invigorating at all times of the year. The average temperature in Finland during summer time is approx. 20 °C.

The Maltese Olympic Committee will be represented at these games.

The MOC has participated in all editions except for the first edition in Belgium. In next week’s pages, more details will be given regarding TEAM Malta at these games.

US team to wear Polo again at Olympic ceremonies

EDDIE PELLS

AP National Writer

The US Olympic team will stay with the Polo look for the opening and closing ceremonies in Vancouver and London.

The US Olympic Committee announced it was renewing its apparel deal with Ralph Lauren. The 2010 uniforms will be unveiled later this year.

The federation said the uniforms will “celebrate the rich history of the Olympic Games with a nod to the Lake Placid Games of 1932,” with a classic uniform of red, white and blue.

This is not a cash deal for the USOC, which is trying hard to keep sponsors signed up through the 2012 Games and beyond. But the federation will get royalties from any retail sales of the items, and there is a bigger push at the USOC to sell parts of the uniform to the general public.

The hope is that Ralph Lauren will produce some piece of clothing that catches fire, much like the Roots berets did at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.

“If you hit, you hit it really big,” said Peter Zeytoonjian, the USOC’s new managing director of consumer products. “We’re hoping some of the stuff that’s coming out from Ralph will actually resonate well with the costumers.”

The uniforms worn at the Beijing Olympics got mixed reviews. Some thought the blue blazers, white berets and red, white and blue ties were a timeless look that added an air of sophistication to the athletes; others thought they should be drinking lemonade in the Hamptons while wearing those outfits.

They were available online and to visitors to the USOC’s visitor and family centre in Beijing. The goal over the next few years is to increase availability of all USOC-licensed products, as the federation tries to make more money selling Olympic-related items.

Zeytoonjian came to the USOC this summer after spending 10½ years at the NFL’s consumer products group.

“In terms of what you see for merchandise, it is underplayed,” he said. “We want to build consumer appetite for these products around the time of the games and at other key periods,” such as during Olympic trials.

The USOC has recently lost General Motors and Home Depot as key sponsors and is trying to renew deals with Bank of America and AT&T. Ralph Lauren joins Acer, Adecco, Deloitte in reaching smaller deals with the USOC.