Youth Sport Trust calls on schools to inspire future Olympians
Janaki Mahadevan
Friday, August 3, 2012
A generation of young people risk losing out on the benefits of sport unless major improvements are made to the quality of sports teaching in primary schools, the Youth Sport Trust has warned.
The concern was raised after the chairman of the British Olympic Association Lord Moynihan criticised the proportion of medal winners at the Beijing Olympics who were privately educated.
John Steele, chief executive at the Youth Sport Trust, said cuts to school sport funding have had a major impact on the ability of schools to inspire young people to take up sports.
“The cuts to school sport funding has meant that schools have less money to spend on sport and PE, and less dedicated staff to run lessons - both in and out of school hours,” he said.
“The Youth Sport Trust believes that we need to inspire a generation from a young age and improve the quality of PE teaching in primary schools to ensure all children get the best possible sporting start in life.
“If we do not build on the momentum from the Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire young people, we face the very real risk of creating a generation of young people who will not understand or appreciate the benefits of sport.”
Steele added that the government's School Games initiative is going some way to help children and young people access competitive sports.
“The aim is to improve the depth and breadth of competitive school sport offered to all young people and so far over 14,000 schools are signed up, which is hugely encouraging,” he said.
