West Wales golfer Andrea Martin has received the Wales Golf Lifetime Achievement to Golf Development Award in recognition of remarkable success with Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. Ashburnham’s Martin, the Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire Junior Organiser, has helped players coming through the system from those who go on to play for Wales to those just playing for social enjoyment. The award is recognition for a volunteer who has given an incredible amount of time, hard work and dedication over more than a decade towards the growth and success of girls golf within the two counties.

Welsh sailors Hannah Mills and Chris Grube have had their selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games re-confirmed for next year’s re-arranged event. The British Olympic Association and the Royal Yachting Association have announced that the 15 sailors already named to represent Team GB in Japan will remain the same for the rescheduled Games between 23 July and 8 August in 2021. It was the view of the RYA’s Olympic selection committee that the sailors selected in all 10 Olympic classes remain the best choices to maximise Team GB’s medal-winning potential at the sailing competition venue in Enoshima.

Sam L’Homme’s triumph in the DAIsolate Cup was his first in an online FIFA competition – but it may not be his last. The 24-year-old gamer, who became the winner of the Wales-wide tournament for clubs starved of real action, picked up the first prize on behalf of Trebanog FC. More importantly, Sam helped raise £2,000 for charities supporting the NHS and local food banks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ashley Sweet is to leave Ebbw Vale after a decade of loyal service and could move to rivals Pontypool. The Steelmen’s skipper has chosen to move on, along with back row forward Cameron Regan and prop Rhys Francis. Joe Franchi has already been confiirmed as the Premiership club’s new captain for next season, with the remainder of the current campaign already shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Remember elite European football in the early 1990s? There were dreadlocked Dutchmen, dubious hair-styled Germans, and three blokes from Wales who all played for Norwich. Owen Morgan can still see them all. Watching the re-run of Wales’ historic 1991 win over world champions Germany the other day brought back many fond memories from that fantastic night. Ian Rush’s unforgettable winner, big Neville’s Southall’s stunning saves and the cacophony of whistles in the final few minutes imploring the referee to blow up, were just a few of the more obvious ones.

Easter wouldn’t have been Easter in Wales without the traditional Barbarians tour throughout the 20th century. The tourists played Penarth on Good Friday, Cardiff on East Saturday, held their golf day at Glamorganshire Golf Club in Penarth on Easter Sunday and then rounded off their trip with consecutive games against Swansea and Newport. The Baa-Baas first played in Wales on 31 March, 1891 against Cardiff. They faced Newport for the first time and year later and then turned their Easter jaunt into a full-blown, four-match tour in 1901, when they added Penarth and Swansea.

Ryland James is, like every other sports person in Wales, waiting patiently for his 2020 season to get back on track. But when it does, unlike everyone else, this year will mark the seventh decade in which he’s been competing as he tells Paul Evans. To be still going strong in a sport he began […]

Former Welsh rugby star Ben John has a message for anyone worried that lockdown means meltdown when it comes to health and fitness. “It needn’t be because you don’t need fancy equipment or even that much space in order to look after yourself,” says John, now a personal fitness trainer and head coach at London gym, Manor. John – who played professionally for the Ospreys for a decade before injury forced his retirement – has been busier than most during this period of isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rhys Jones was sprinting towards his third Paralympics when the finishing line was suddenly moved 12 months further down the track. But as he tells Owen Morgan, he’s now managing to adjust to the long haul. Described as a “hopeless case” by doctors when he was just two years old, Rhys Jones has spent his life overcoming obstacles and proving people wrong. So, the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics is just another challenge to be tackled by the sprinter diagnosed with viral encephalitis as a toddler.

Wales and Scarlets hooker Ryan Elias is desperate to recapture the thrill of springtime 2017 – when he broke through for both region and country. In fact, the highs Elias experienced three years ago as he clinched a Guinness Pro14 champions’ medal and won his first Welsh cap on the summer tour are firmly in mind as he strives to stay fit during the current rugby lockdown. The Scarlets’ final triumph over Munster – a classic which is being repeated in full by S4C on Saturday at 5.45pm – is a cherished memory for the 13-times capped 25-year-old.

For no particular reason – in no particular order – Terry Phillips has begun an occasional series recalling some of his favourite Cardiff City characters. John Parkin had only a brief stay with the Bluebirds, but The Beast made his presence felt. Former Cardiff City striker Jon Parkin began his career with home town club […]

Glamorgan have put all their players and coaches on furlough until the end of May. With cricket’s start to the season having been delayed, the county have opted to take advantage of the government’s job retention scheme, which covers 80 per cent of wages up to £30,000-a-year. The County Championship was scheduled to start this weekend but the domestic season has been postponed until at least May 28 and there is the expectation of further delays.

Players’ union leader Barry Cawte has said he is proud of his members after they agreed to take a 25 per cent pay cut. As professional footballers continue talks over possible reductions due to the coronavirus pandemic, players at the four Welsh rugby regions have agreed to reduce their salaries by a quarter. The deal, brokered between the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association (WRPA) and Welsh rugby’s Professional Rugby Board (PRB) will be backdated to April 1 and last three months.

Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Williams are poised to leave Welsh rugby – a move that will bring down the curtain on their respective Wales careers. The pair are heading for lucrative moves to Japan after attempts to keep Parkes at the Scarlets and lure Williams from Gloucester to a Welsh region both failed. Instead, the two centres will follow the money trail to the far East and therefore be unavailable to Wales coach Wayne Pivac as they fail to meet the 60-cap threshold for overseas-based players.

Wales Rugby League’s international matches for the spring have all been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wales Wheelchair were due to face Scotland and Ireland in the annual Celtic Cup in Dundee this month, whilst Wales Students were to face the Royal Navy and England in Nelson. The first ever Wales Masters (over 35s) internationals against England and Ireland in Bethesda in May are also off for the time being.

One of Wales’s most successful ever amateur golfers, Hew Squirrell, has passed away aged 87. He won five Welsh Amateur titles, represented Wales 19 times in the Home Internationals in the 20 years between 1955 and 1975 including, in 1961, being part of the first Wales team to beat England. Squirrell is second in the Wales Golf history books for both Welsh Amateur titles won (behind Henry Howell, eight between 1920-32) and Home International appearances (behind Iestyn Tucker, 25 from 1949-79), having represented Cardiff golf club and been an honorary member of Royal Porthcawl.

Former Wales golfer Natasha Gobey has had such an impact in the 18 months she has been back as a club professional that she has now claimed the Wales Golf PGA Pro of the Year Award. The former Wales squad amateur turned professional after studying in America, then working at The James Andrews School of Golf for seven years and Tony Valentine Golf Centre for 6 months before returning home to Rhondda and then working at Bryn Meadows Golf Hotel and Spa. The 28-year-old has demonstrated outstanding success growing the game of golf and to becoming the best coach she can, increasing participation at any club she has been a part of.

Former Wales and Lions star Jamie Roberts has started working for the National Health Service to help the fight against coronavirus. Roberts – who qualified as a doctor seven years ago – has stepped in as a clinical innovation fellow, a role which will see him working in Cardiff in a motivational and communications capacity. With sport cancelled indefinitely, the 94-cap centre is back in Wales after a most recent spell playing in South Africa for the Stormers.

Wage cuts or deferrals for Cardiff City and Swansea City players have still to be agreed as EFL clubs continue talks with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA). The EFL is negotiating with the PFA for what is understood to be an even higher percentage of deferral than the 30 per cent the Premier League clubs are seeking. The Championship, League One and Two clubs claim they are being hit especially hard by the loss of match-day revenue due to the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Natalie Powell had hoped to be going for gold at the Olympic Games this summer. Instead, Wales’ leading judoka has turned her living room into a makeshift combat area and is trying to stay fit and healthy, as she tells Graham Thomas. Natalie Powell has re-set her goals and adapted her training as she gets used to a delayed Olympic Games. It’s a flexible approach that Wales’ top judo star believes can benefit everyone as they aim to stay fit and healthy during the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.