Stars out to save Welsh athletics
Baulch is trying to attract sponsors to save the WSAA
Colin Jackson and Jamie Baulch have joined the fight to save the body which helped make them world champions.
The Welsh Schools’ Athletic Association is on the verge of extinction because of a funding shortfall which means this year’s championships could be the last.
Former Olympic silver medallist Baulch told BBC Sport: "To lose Welsh Schools Athletics would be terrible, especially with the London Olympics coming up.
“If it wasn’t for the Welsh Schools, I may not have won an Olympic medal.”
The WSAA is celebrating its 60th year at the heart of developing future Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champions.
But after losing its main sponsor in 1997, the WSAA has been struggling to get by on nominal grants from public bodies.
My Olympic medal as in a par with my Welsh Schools medal
Jamie Baulch
The well is now almost dry, and the WSAA warns Wales could never again produce any world-class athletes unless a new sponsor to comes forward.
“We spend £50,000 a year and we’ve only got £12,000 in the bank. It’s simple arithmetic,” WSAA international secretary Mike Walters told BBC Wales Sport.
"We produced a 20-page sponsorship document 12 months ago and we sent it to 50 different companies. Sadly only four replied and they all said no.
“We’re very disappointed with the lack of response, particularly after we’ve learned that the English and Scottish Schools have recently picked up huge sponsorship deals which will take them up to 2012.”
Of the 21 athletes representing Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March, nine past Welsh Schools champions.
And 32-year-old Baulch, another former Wales champion, says the competitions organised by the WSAA are a crucial learning curve for young athletes.
“It’s very important when you’re a kid to get involved in competitions such as the British Schools - it enables you to see what it takes to be one of the best,” said Baulch, who raced against Olympic champion Darren Campbell at the British Schools’ Championships.
"I don’t say this jokingly, but my Olympic medal as in a par with my Welsh Schools medal.
There could be someone sitting behind his desk at school this morning who could be the next Colin Jackson
WSAA’s Mike Walters
"If I didn’t have the Welsh Schools medal then I maybe wouldn’t have had the Olympic medal. They mean the same to me, which people find a bit strange. "
The WSAA has already been forced pull out of three Under-21 international competitions and four coaching courses held every April.
British Olympic chief Lord Moynihan says funding for sport must increase now if Britain is to meet its goal of coming fourth in the 2012 medals table.
But Walters fears that Welsh athletes - let alone successful Welsh athletes - will be few and far between in the British team in six years time unless someone steps in with more cash.
“When Lord Coe says the Games will leave a legacy for the whole of the UK, well I can’t see that coming to Wales at the moment,” Walters added.
"It’s a very sad state of affairs, but hopefully by making our situation public there’ll be a company out there willing to help us.
"There could be someone sitting behind his desk at school this morning who could be the next Colin Jackson or Hayley Tullett.
“All we are asking is that they are given the chance to try to make the GB team for 2012 and beyond.”