Conservative Government Announce New Plans for Competitive School Sport
David Cameron has outlined plans to secure an Olympic legacy and boost competitive sport with an Olympics-style school sports competition.
The competition will begin with heats in 2011 and climax with a finals session held in the Olympic Stadium in 2012. It will see individual schools crowned as champions in a variety of different sports and age groups.
"We all know that it would be good to have more competitive sport in our schools", Cameron said. "I think sport is incredibly important for not just fitness, not just teamwork but also learning about winning and losing and taking part and being part of a team."
He said that a key reason for the School Olympics was so that it helped to make sure that the 2012 Olympics benefits the whole country, not just London.
Up to £10 million of lottery funding, distributed by Sport England, will create a new sports league structure for primary and secondary schools culminating in an inaugural national final to be held in the run up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
The school Olympics will not be a single event but rather a package of events to inspire a generation of young people to get involved in competitive school sport. The competition will run at four levels:
1. Intra-school competition
2. Inter-school competition (a series of leagues and tournaments)
3. County Festivals of Sport
4. National Event
The most talented young athletes will then be selected for the national finals. Schools will also be encouraged to host in-house Olympic-style sports days so that children of all abilities have the opportunity to compete. There will be a Paralympic element at every level of the competition for young people with disabilities.
Watch this space for more information…………