Once such athlete is Thomas Royles who is competing for Wales in the Judo events. 16 year old Thomas, who is from Abergele will be competing in the Sainsbury's UK School Games for his second year but has practiced Judo for nearly ten years. In that time Thomas has become both the Welsh champion and a British Bronze medalist. The teen, who attends Ysgol y Creuddyn School, will be a name to watch out for on the mats at the Gateshead International Stadium when the Judo competition commences on Friday 3 September at 11:00am.

Another young athlete gearing up for the Games this weekend in North East England is 15 year old Irish athletics star, Emma Willis. Emma, from Portadown, Armagh, will be competing in the 4 x 100m Relay events for the Belfast team. The athletics competition takes place alongside Judo as well as Badminton at the Gateshead International Stadium and commences on Friday 3 September at 5:00pm.

Emma who attends Portadown College will be attending the Games for the first time in 2010 but she is no stranger to competition. Emma was voted as 'County Armagh's Junior Girl Sports Personality of the Year' in 2009 and she is currently the 100m Ulster outdoor champion. At her school, Emma has broken three athletics records this year in the 100m, 200m and triple jump events.

Tomorrow evening the Gateshead International Stadium will be a hive of activity as before hosting both the Judo and Athletics competitions, the spectacular Sainsbury's UK School Games opening ceremony will be taking place there. The opening ceremony officially declares the 2010 Games open at 8:30pm tomorrow evening.