IT'S here at last! More than 7,200 youngsters received their starters' orders this morning in the final of the BAA Millennium Youth Games.

Coaches carrying the 52 teams of 11-15-year-olds poured into the city yesterday from all over the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The youngsters, who are staying in halls of residence in Southampton, will compete over the next three days in sports at eight venues around the area.

The main focus for the competition is Southampton's Outdoor Sports Centre, where tonight Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will officially open the games at a spectacular welcoming ceremony.

Rehearsals for the ceremony, involving 1,200 young performers, have been taking place at the Sports Centre since July 20.

The all-ticket event has been masterminded by the same creative team who designed the farewell ceremony to Hong Kong, the opening of the World Student Games and the Rugby World Cup.

Competitors and guests should marvel at different acts including parachutists from the RAF Falcons, an international display of gymnastics and martial arts, the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Portsmouth, and dance group JUCA who performed for the opening of the Millennium Dome.

The ceremony will also feature hundreds of young people from schools and performing groups throughout Southampton, including Maybush dance group Belinda's Babes, the Team Phoenix cheerleaders from Shirley, the Southampton Area Gym Club. Schools taking part include Sholing Girls', Redbridge, Bitterne and Wyvern. The 52 regional teams will also enter the arena during the ceremony, each carrying a piece of the millennium shield which will be fitted together before the audience.

The ceremony, which begins at 7.30pm, will reach a dramatic climax with a spectacular fireworks display.

Southampton team manager Chris Benning said her youngsters - representing almost every secondary school in the area - were fired up and ready to go.

"This is a very exciting time for the team - it's going to be a fantastic sporting event. My team have been training very hard and are now eager to start."

There are no tickets left for the ceremony, but spectators are welcome to watch the competitions in hockey, netball, and athletics at the sports centre today and tomorrow between 9.30am and 5pm.

There is no spectator access to the other venues: Fleming Park Leisure Centre, Eastleigh, St Swithun's School, Winch-ester, The Quays swimming and diving complex, Winchester Tennis Club, River Park, King Edward VI School, and HMS Temeraire/HMS Nelson in Portsmouth.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.