Get involved in fitness for kids through School Games

Date: 28/03/2011 / Category: Indoor play for schools and groups

Schools are being encouraged to get involved in fitness for kids, perhaps with activity classes for children, in preparation for the Sport England School Games.

More than £35 million is being invested by the organisation in the School Games up to 2015, with the intention of inspiring primary and secondary school pupils to pit their skills against other schools and in regional competitions.

The overall aim is to build on existing efforts by schools and parents, who are running activity classes for children in a bid to inspire greater involvement in sport from a young age.

Participation is being encouraged across the full spectrum of abilities and experience and has been billed as a "once in a lifetime chance" for children by the culture, olympics, media and sport secretary Jeremy Hunt.

He added: "The School Games is designed to help schools build on and complement the successful work they have been doing - and help put competitive sport at the core of a truly rounded education for all young people."

Sport England chair Richard Lewis also underlined what a great opportunity the School Games will offer its participants.

"We want every young person to have the chance to enjoy competitive sport at the right level for them in a wide range of sports," he explained.

There will be an added incentive for schools to get involved too, with participation providing them with access to 100,000 tickets to the Olympics through the London 2012 Get Set Network.

The events could also pave the way for budding athletes to compete in a major national multi-sport event, hosted in 2012 at the Olympic Park in London.

This news comes just shortly after Sport England devoted a further £10 million to tackle the gender gap in sport, by targeting parents and other groups that lack the facilities or the time to get involved.

Posted by Michael PaigeADNFCR-2594-ID-800478018-ADNFCR

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