Half a million young people who don’t normally
play sport outside of school lessons have made a change and
completed 10-week sports courses in their own time, new figures
released today reveal.
Encouragingly, researchers found that two in
five youngsters are continuing to play sport afterwards – in clubs
and with their friends.
The courses, which are part of Sport England’s Sport Unlimited
programme, have been completed by 498,889 young people in only two
years - demonstrating how Sport England is helping youngsters to
make a positive change in their lives.
With London 2012 now just two years away,
Sport England is urging more youngsters not to miss out and to sign
up for the next round of courses starting in September. Anyone
interested can visit www.sportengland.org to find
their local county sports partnership for more details.
The Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh
Robertson MP, said:
“Sport Unlimited is going from strength to
strength, encouraging hundreds of thousands of young people to try
sport.
“One of my top priorities is to ensure that we
deliver a sporting legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic
Games. This scheme is part of that, inspiring a new generation
of children to get out there and take part, no matter what their
age or ability.”
Sport Unlimited is aimed at youngsters who are
not yet playing regular sport in the community and is boosting
participation by giving them the freedom to choose the sports on
offer. The most popular sports for boys include boxing, midnight
basketball and free running. For girls, it’s fencing, gymnastics
and badminton.
Thanks to this approach being taken by Sport
England, the programme is proving a success in tackling the gender
divide in sport. Fewer than two in five adults playing sport are
women, but with Sport Unlimited, the split is almost 50/50.
Sport Unlimited is playing a key role in
delivering a lasting participation legacy from the Games. The Sport
Unlimited programme has been awarded the Inspire Mark by London
2012 – recognising the impact it is having on young people.
Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair,
said:
“Finding your sport and developing a love for
it at a young age is an important step towards continuing
participation when you’re older. Through Sport Unlimited, Sport
England is making sport appeal to more young people by giving them
the freedom to choose the sports they play. London 2012 is just
around the corner so there has never been a better time to get out
and get active.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sport Unlimited
Sport Unlimited is a programme run by Sport England. Its key aims
are:
- Getting 900,000 young people choosing from a
vast range of activities including traditional and less well known
sports and successfully attending a 10-week course
- Helping 300,000 of them to continue their
participation regularly
- Young person driven – they determine which
sports are provided.
Sport Unlimited is co-ordinated by the 49
county sports partnerships which cover England. Participants
complete their Sport Unlimited courses by attending at least six
out of the 10 weeks.
Sport England
Sport England invests National Lottery and
Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and
sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities
for people to excel at their chosen sport.
Sport England is committed to creating a
world-leading community sport environment, and has set specific and
measurable targets to achieve by 2012/13:
- One million people doing more sport
- A 25% reduction in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds who drop
out of at least five key sports
- Improved talent development systems in at least 25 sports
- A measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their
experience of sport
- A major contribution to the delivery of the five hour
sports offer for children and young people.