42nd Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships begin in Brandon, Manitoba

Under 16 and under 18 categories

OTTAWA, Aug. 10, 2018 /CNW/ - The 2018 Royal Canadian Legion's National Youth Track and Field Championships are a underway in Brandon, Manitoba as 650 athletes from across Canada gather for several days of competition.

The young athletes will compete from August 10-12 in the country's only track and field championships for  youth and midget categories. "Athletes have trained hard, and we're looking forward to several days of intense competition," says Angus Stanfield, Sports Committee Chairman and the Legion's Dominion Vice President. "We wish all the athletes the very best!"

This is the 42nd year for the event organized by the Legion. The competition grew from Legionnaires' support and promotion of youth sports as a healthy activity to help children whose fathers or mothers were serving abroad, or had served in the Armed Forces. The Legion later developed local, provincial and national youth athletic programs, which now culminate in the games.

The theme of this year's championship is Armistice 100, which marks one hundred years since the treaty to end the First World War.  "We hope the heroism of the veterans of that war will help inspire all the athletes as they compete," says Dave Flannigan, Dominion President. "These games are about strength and resilience, but also, fun and comradeship ? the opportunity to compete like this would not have been possible without the sacrifices of our veterans."

The Legion's Dominion Command sponsors over 300 competitors each year, with the support of branches and provincial and territorial commands from across the country. Another 300 youth join as open athletes. Over the years, many Legion alumni have gone on to compete at the international level including as part of the Commonwealth, Pan Am and Olympic games.

Results will be available throughout the competition as described below.

Competition results:
Follow daily: http://athleticsmanitoba.com/events/RealTimeResults/Legions2018/
Watch on Facebook live: http://www.athleticscanada.tv/

Learn more:
www.legionnationals.ca

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LegionNationals/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legionnationals/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LegionNationals

About The Royal Canadian Legion

Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada's largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. With more than 275,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.

Legion.ca
Facebook.com/CanadianLegion
Twitter.com/RoyalCdnLegion
Instagram.com/royalcanadianlegion
youtube.com/user/RCLDominionCommand

SOURCE The Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command