Sportsister caught up with Youth Sport Trust and UK Sport Chairwomen Sue Campbell at the recent Sainsbury’s UK School Games to talk about inspiring a nation’s youth.
The Sainsbury’s UK School Games were held in Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland last week (September 2-5, 2010). Since the events launch five years ago it has developed into a multi-sport event for the UK’s elite school-age athletes that this nation can be proud of.
Emulating the format of events such as the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and now also the Youth Olympics, the organisers hope that by creating an inspirational and motivational setting, our young athletes will not only be better prepared should they progress to one of the aforementioned events, but also that other youngsters will also get inspired to take part in sport.
Thanks to an athlete’s village, opening and closing ceremonies, medal podiums and great facilities the 1600 athletes that took part this year did indeed get a taste of what competing at the top level is like.
Sportsister spoke to Sue Campbell about the event and what it means to the nation’s youngsters.
Sportsister: Why is this event so special to you?
Sue Campbell: What we are trying to create through this event is an experience for young people which is very similar to the Olympic Games. One of the big challenges in the elite sports world is athletes get overwhelmed when they go to their first Olympics.
There’s the Olympic village to adjust to and there’s also lots of down time when they don’t know what to do. We want to give them that experience at this point so that when they do hopefully go on to the Commonwealth or Olympic games, the village has a real familiarity to it.
On a broader level, I am passionate about sport as a tool to shape lives. The way the village has been set up, the way we work with the youngsters and the way we help them think through not just how they’re performing but how they’re managing their lives, it is a marvellous growing opportunity in every respect. It is a super showcase for a lot of the things we believe in.
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SS: Do you think that an event like this can help inspire youngsters that aren’t already doing sport?
SC: Any elite sport’s excellence can help inspire, but it tends to be the sporty kids who are inspired by it. If you think of Seb Coe who remembers watching his PE teacher winning a medal on the TV - that was the moment he decided he wanted to be an Olympic champion.
Over the years we’ve learnt that if you want to engage people who aren’t already into sport, elite sport is not the way to do it. You need to find another way to do this, for example with girls that can often mean something less competitive such as dance as it appeals much more to their sense of femininity. This event will without a doubt inspire children but you need something else too for kids that look at an event like this and think ‘that’s great but it’s not for me’
SS: So that must be the greatest challenge, to get those types of youngsters into sport?
SC: The inspiration is two-fold. You look at the Paralympics and see athletes, like Ellie Simmonds, who have overcome all sorts of challenges in life to achieve what they want to do.
There are two messages from the Olympics: Firstly that you can be the best you want to be, not just in sport, but in anything you want to do in life. Secondly, that the athletes are ordinary people. That’s what’s inspiring, we mustn’t confuse the word inspiration with the idea that everyone wants to be an Olympian.
Watching ordinary people becoming the best in the world at something, who started just like everyone else with no great knowledge of what the journey would be like and come out of it being the best in the world. I think that’s inspiring in itself.
I hope that’s what the inspiration is about, helping kids on that journey through life, not just in sport. If we could aspire to live by the values of the Olympics and Paralympics then the world would be a much better place.
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
For more information about the Sainsbury’s UK School Games please visit www.ukschoolgames.com
