Half a million young people who don’t ordinarily play
sport outside of school lessons have made a change and completed
10-week Sport Unlimited courses in their own time.
Encouragingly, researchers who looked at the programme 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 sport a bigger part of 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.
“Sport Unlimited is going from strength to strength, encouraging
hundreds of thousands of young people to try sport,” said the
Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson MP. “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.
“Finding your sport and developing a love for it at a young age
is an important step towards continuing participation when you’re
older,” said Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis. “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.”
Sport Unlimited is co-ordinated by the 49 county sports
partnerships which cover England.
To find out more about Sport Unlimited and the sporting
opportunities available local to you, visit your
county sports partnership’s website
Read the full press release in our media
centre