School Sport is going to leave a lasting Olympic legacy

With two years until the London 2012 Olympic Games, it is heavily speculated that the new coalition government will prioritise school sports competitions highly.  Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of the Youth Sport Trust, has shared her thoughts on how school sport is at the heart of delivering a lasting Olympic legacy.

“The countdown really is on to London 2012 and there could not be a more critical time to have the structure and expertise in place in our schools to support the delivery of an Olympic legacy for young people,” she said “The School Sport Coordinators, the Partnership Development Managers, the Competition Managers and everyone involved in School Sport Partnerships have a role to play in capturing the anticipation and Buy Cipro Online without prescription excitement of London 2012 and using it to motivate and inspire more young people to become involved in sport.”

Lasting sporting legacy

Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport has already expressed the government’s intention to introduce a School Sport Competition which will follow in the footsteps of Olympic and Paralympic events for young people across the UK. The competition is a key part of the Government’s plans to generate a lasting sporting legacy from in order to make sporting opportunities available to everyone.

£10 million of lottery funding

Initially, up to £10 million of lottery funding distributed by Sport England will help to create a new sports league structure for primary and secondary schools.  From 2011, schools will compete against each other in local leagues where winning athletes and teams qualify for up to 60 county finals.  The most talented young athletes will then be selected for the national finals.  The vision is that the national finals will be held in the run up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 and to continue long after.

In-house Olympic-style sports days

Schools will also be encouraged to host in-house Olympic-style sports days so that young people of all abilities will have the opportunity to compete.

There will be a Paralympic element at every level of the competition for young people with disabilities.

Jeremy Hunt said, “I want to give a real boost to competitive sport in schools using the power of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games to encourage young people – whatever age or ability – to take part in this new competition.”

The 2012 Olympic Games are no longer that far away- competitive sport for young people is being placed at the forefront of the agenda and the chance is there to encourage young people to grasp at the hands of opportunity: what will you do about it?