Seven Isle of Man athletes will be taking part in the Commonwealth Youth Games in the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

The international event gets underway tomorrow (Friday) and continues until next Friday, August 11.

The Isle of Man team athletes will compete across three different sports at the Games. This includes recent Island Games medallist, Regan Corrin, in the athletics events alongside Shropshire-based Jack Kinrade who was ranked number one in the under-17 boys UK 800m standings last year.

Flying the flag in the cycling will be Tyler Annis and Ruby Oakes, while Ella Justice, Magnus Kelly and Connor Mealin will be competing in the swimming events.

The Manx representatives will be among more than 1,000 athletes and para-athletes competing between the ages of 14-18 from 71 nations and territories across the Commonwealth. The Games showcase seven sports, managed by over 500 officials.

Acting as an invaluable springboard for the sporting stars of tomorrow, the Commonwealth Youth Games - of which Trinidad and Tobago are hosting the seventh - contributes to the further development of youth sport throughout the Commonwealth.

The Games have traditionally taken place every four years, with the first event being hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2000. The Isle of Man hosted the event in September 2011.

Trinidad and Tobago were intended to host the 2021 Games, which they were awarded in June 2019, but the event was postponed because of the impact of the Covid pandemic on the international sporting calendar - meaning there has not been a Youth Games since 2017, when the Bahamas hosted.

Included in the programme is a mixture of seven different sports, including aquatics (swimming), athletics and para-athletics, beach volleyball, cycling (road and track), FAST5 netball, rugby sevens and triathlon.

The sports will take place across Trinidad and Tobago, bringing a diverse perspective of the twin island country to the competing nations, as well as showcasing a festival of the country’s activities.

Trinidad will host a few of the events in Couva, including swimming and para-swimming at the National Aquatic Centre and track cycling at the National Cycling Velodrome, along with the cycling road race and time trial on the roads of Trinidad.

Athletics and para-athletics will be held in the island’s capital at Port of Spain’s Hasely Crawford Stadium, named after the Trinidad and Tobago sprinter who in 1976 became his country’s first Olympic champion.

Tobago will welcome beach volleyball at Pigeon Point Beach and FAST5 netball at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex and Rugby Sevens in the same place. The triathlon will also be held in Tobago at Buccoo Beach Facility.

FAST5 netball is included on the Games programme for the first time, taking place in Tobago’s capital of Scarborough at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex. Each side only has five players on the court, compared to the normal seven. There are no stoppages in play and each team can nominate a ‘power play’ quarter in which each goal they score counts for double points.

The Isle of Man enjoyed double success in the cycling events at the 2017 Games in the Bahamas when Thomas Bostock won gold in the men’s road race and Tara Ferguson clinched silver in the women’s equivalent.