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Teams and individuals representing the county's 10 local authorities who qualified from the Greater Manchester Youth Games go to Southampton in August month for the national final.

At least 7,000 children and young people are expected to take part in the Millennium Youth Games between August 17 and 20 making it bigger than the Commonwealth Games.

During the Greater Manchester Youth Games over the weekend of June 17 and 18, when sportsreport.co.uk was launched, the county's most promising talent fought for places in the event.

Events will include athletics, tennis, hockey, netball, swimming, basketball, rugby and football for u13s and u15s with disabled competitors taking part in swimming and football.

The county will be banking on some of our most outstanding squads and individuals to come home with a clutch of medals.

Former 400m hurdles Olympic Gold Medallist Sally Gunnel will be among a host of celebrity athletes supporting the Millennium Youth Games.

Sally, who launched the project in 1997, said: "It's possible we'll discover a few stars of tomorrow, but what really matters is that they enjoy their sports and inspire other children to get involved."

The final will be the climax of a three-year programme of more than 80 regional youth games involving 250,000 competitors.