“I’ve been really impressed with the
early stages of the project and really encouraged by the number of
people who have already signed up to Sport Makers."
Sir Steve Redgrave
Five-time Olympic Gold medallist, Sir
Steve Redgrave has seen first hand how a new batch of sporting
heroes are helping get more people active.
Making a special visit to Middlesex University
and Brunel University, Sir Steve met some of the country’s first
official Sport Makers –a growing band of people who are
making sport happen in their local community as part of the Olympic
and Paralympic legacy.
Sir Steve, our greatest Olympian, joined
forces with Sport England in October to launch Sport
Makers, a programme for everyone who wants to get their
friends, neighbours or colleagues out there enjoying sport.
Sir Steve Redgrave said:
“I’ve been really impressed with the
early stages of the project and really encouraged by the number of
people who have already signed up to Sport
Makers.
“It goes to show you don’t need medals
to become a sporting hero. The people I’ve met have shown
that by helping people you know to get involved in sport you can do
something amazing for them as well as having fun at the same
time.”
Sport Makers is aiming to
inspire 40,000 people to get involved, with each of them spending
at least 10 hours organising and leading sporting
activities.
During the visits, Sir Steve saw
Sport Maker led sessions and talked to Sport
Makers, including Adam Stapleton, who has already completed
his ten hours of organising and leading sporting activities.
Adam, a Tottenham local who found out
about Sport Makers through the work he did with the
Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, said:
“I was born in Tottenham and have always lived
there. I also work in the community so it is great to give back and
share my love of sport with other people in the area.
“I run football coaching sessions for 16- to
19-year-olds. I’ve got my friends and family to play sport
more. It’s really good to think that I might be helping other
people play sport and introducing people to something they might
not have tried before.
“I’m definitely going to keep being a
Sport Maker. In the spring I want to expand my football
coaching as then we’ll be able to go to the park and play outside
so there will be more room for people to join in.
“With the Olympics coming to my area lots of
people will be talking about sport and hopefully going and playing
more.”
Sir Steve also met Sajeda Kazemi, an
18-year-old Middlesex University student who has formed links
between the University’s Dance and Islamic societies to run women
only sports sessions.
Sajeda said:
“I’ve been playing sport since primary school
and it has really helped make me more confident and I want other
people to discover that sport can help them too.”
“I’ve found that a lot of ladies stop playing
sport after primary school so I am trying to get more girls,
especially Muslim girls, involved in sport. I am working with the
University’s Dance and Islamic societies to create women-only
sessions and I’m encouraging girls to try coming along. By coming
to the classes they can have fun, get fit, meet new people and gain
some confidence. We’re a multi-cultural country so sport should be
multi-cultural too.”
While at Middlesex University, where
staff and students have been delivering sports sessions in and
around the campus, Sir Steve saw RUSH hockey, Rounders, Muay Thai,
Football and Real Tennis sessions. He even showed his
sporting prowess by scoring a rounder and taking part in a game of
Real Tennis.
At Brunel, who hosted one of the pilot
conventions in October, he spoke to four Sport Maker
jogging activators about their work before firing the starters’ gun
to get their evening jogging groups underway.
Sir Steve then sat down with a group of
Sport Maker Makers who’ve been working hard to help
promote and recruit other students and Hillingdon residents to the
programme.
Backed
by the British Olympic Association and £4 million of
National Lottery funding, Sport
Makers is part of the Places People Play
legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and
Paralympic Games into communities across the country.
In the weeks since the launch, over 2, 500
people have already attended Sport Maker events and are starting to
do their 10 hours of local sports volunteering – and around
6,000 people have signed up to take part at http://www.sportmakers.co.uk/