Four high school athletes from Latvia, as well as their coaches, are to receive awards Aug. 27 from Latvian sports enthusiasts in Australia.

The students and coaches will receive the awards from the Latvian Sports Board of Australia, according to Talivaldis Kronbergs, project coordinator for the Latvian Sports School Federation.

The students earned the Pep Award. The award, which has been presented sinced 1995, was initiated by Latvian-Australian Gunārs Bērzzariņš.

The most recent recipients of the award are Kalvis Kunings, a canoeist at the Jelgava City Sports School; Gatis Smukulis, a cyclist at the Valka Region Sports School; Liene Karsuma, a track and field athlete at the Track and Field School of Rīga, and Mārcis Klempermanis, a track and field athlete at the Tukums Region Sports School.

The students’ coaches—Lelde Laura, Jānis Akmentiņš, Mārīte Ārente and Aldis Čākurs—will receive the Jānis Tilibs Memorial Fund award. Tilibs was a longtime supporter of Australian Latvian youth sports.

The 14th West Coast Latvian Song Festival in San Francisco, which includes presentation of two musicals as well as a concert by the post-folkloric group Iļģi, begins Aug. 28 and runs through the Labor Day weekend.

This is the third time the festival has been held in San Francisco. The first West Coast festival was in 1962 in Seattle, Wash.

While the festival mainly draws visitors from Latvian communities in California, Oregon and Washington, visitors and participants are expected from throughout North America, as well as from Lativa.

Among highlights of the festival will be two musicals, “Gudrais padomiņš” and “Tobago.”

“Gudrais padomiņš,” a one-act musical, was created by children and parents of the Los Angeles Latvian School. The play was written by Andra Berkolda, lyrics by Andris Ritmanis and music Lolita Ritmane. The musical premiered in June in Los Angeles and will be presented in San Francisco on Aug. 29.

“Tobago,” a musical penned by poet Māra Zālīte, is based on historical events during the 17th century colonization of the Caribbean island by the Dutchy of Courland. The musical, already shown in Latvia, will be performed by actors from the Daile Theatre of Rīga and the Little Theatre of San Francisco. The performance is Aug. 30.

Iļģi, on tour in the western and eastern United States during August and September, is scheduled to perform Aug. 29 during the song festival. This is the band’s second tour of the United States. The band recently released a new album, Kaza kāpa debesīs.

Further information about events is available on the song festival Web site.

A corporal in the Latvian armed forces has been injured in a traffic accident near Kirkuk, Iraq. He is the first soldier from the small Latvian contigent to be hurt while serving in Iraq.

The corporal was injured Aug. 10 on a military base at Kirkuk, according to an announcement from the Latvian Ministry of Defense in Rīga. The injuries were described as slight.

The soldier was treated for his injuries and then transferred to the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Kuwait. He was expected to return to Latvia on Aug. 18.

The traffic accident is under investigation.

A total of 38 Latvian troops, including six unexploded munitions experts, were deployed to Iraq in May. Another 105, mostly infantry, were deployed this month, according to the Ministry of Defense.