Sport England unveils £36m school initiative
By Pete Hayman
Sport England has announced its new 'Sport Unlimited' initiative, designed to increase the number of young people taking part in sport.
The funding body is investing £36m in the scheme, which aims to enable 900,000 more 11-19 year olds to choose from a range of sports over the next three years, including less traditional ones like dodgeball, snowboarding and American Football. Sport Unlimited will be available from the beginning of the new school term, and will offer 4,000 nationwide taster sessions in a number of sports. Once the 10-week programme ends, Sport England hopes that 300,000 of those taking part will go onto join clubs and continue with their chosen sport. The initiative is being run in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and County Sports Partnerships, and has already been successfully trialled in 12 areas, including the 'Sail of the Century' project in South London. Sport England's chief executive, Jennie Price, said: "This announcement demonstrates our determination to do everything we can to get more people regularly taking part in sport. The sports on offer through this initiative will be driven and determined by young people themselves." Funding for the Sport Unlimited scheme is part of a £100m commitment announced by Gordon Brown last year to give young people the opportunity to do five hours of PE a week at school. It takes the government's investment in school sport to £780m over the next three years. Culture and sport secretary, Andy Burnham, voiced his support for the scheme, saying: "There has been a dramatic and unparalleled transformation of school sport that emulates the transformation of elite sport in Britain. This announcement by Sport England is future proof of that and builds on our Olympic medal success." "By the time the Olympics start in 2012, I'm confident our school sport system will lead the world."
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Sport England has announced its new 'Sport Unlimited' initiative, designed to increase the number of young people taking part in sport.
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