Children from across the Isle of Man will compete in the annual Manx Youth Games on Saturday (May 7).
Primary and secondary school pupils will take part in 13 different sports representing their region.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the island’s biggest sporting event for children and guest of honour will be former international rugby player Gavin Hastings OBE.
Gavin, who won 61 caps for Scotland and six for the British and Irish Lions, will be at the games’ opening ceremony at the National Sports Centre on Saturday.
He will also help to run a training session and answer questions for up-and-coming rugby players who discovered the sport through the games tomorrow (Friday).
Tim Crookall MLC, Minister for Education and Children, which is responsible for sport, said: ‘Having Gavin, who reached the pinnacle of his sport, with us will give the 15th anniversary games an added sparkle.’
‘The games allow children to participate in sport for fun and hopefully inspire them to stay involved in sport, whether as a hobby or competitively, with the resulting benefits to their health and wellbeing.
Youngsters can take part in a variety of sports which include basketball, cricket, hockey, netball and tennis.
The Minister also praised the many people who had contributed to ensuring the games would go on despite the NSC being badly damaged by flooding in December.
‘With many of our facilities out of use, it has been a real team effort between MSR staff, other venues and many volunteers to ensure the games take place,’ he said.
The games’ first ever mascot will also be unveiled at the event on Saturday. Odin the Raven was chosen from hundreds of designs submitted by primary school pupils in a competition.
It was designed by eight-year-old Grace Cooper, a pupil at St Mary’s RC Primary School.
Kevin Cartledge, senior manager of HSBC Isle of Man which has sponsored the sporting event since its inception, said: ‘Since the start of the games in 2002, we have seen thousands of young people take part in many different sports and the success stories are amazing. Some have even gone on to be very successful at both national and international level.’