London 2012: UK school children given opportunity of Olympic proportion

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Hundreds of young athletes will have the rare and unique opportunity to take part in a competition which mirrors the Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted at four of the key Olympic Venues.

The 2012 School Games will see around 1,600 of the UK’s most talented young sport stars compete at the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and ExCel Centre to over 35,000 spectators.

Children can compete in twelve current and future Olympic and Paralympic sports including, fencing, rugby sevens, gymnastics, hockey, badminton, athletics, cycling, judo, swimming, table tennis, volleyball and wheelchair basketball.

Finals for the events will be held across all venues from May 6-9, 2012.

The event, which is run by the Youth Sport Trust with LOCOG and Fast Track, has been allocated £6million from the Government and National Lottery fundings.

Around 7,700 schools have already registered for the competition with schools entitled until the end of the year to get on board.

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt said, “The School Games will be a real sporting legacy for young people from London’s Olympics.

“The competition will use the inspiration of 2012 to transform competitive sport in schools and get more young people playing sport, long after next summer.

“The 2012 School Games finals will be the largest ever event of its kind in the UK. It will be an unprecedented opportunity for our young athletes to run on the Olympic track before Usain Bolt, cut through the pool before Michael Phelps, and feel the speed of the Velodrome before Victoria Pendleton.”

Richard Lewis, Chair of Sport England, said: “Competing in the Olympic Park venues will be an awe-inspiring experience for these talented young people – especially when they consider that their sporting heroes will be following in their footsteps just a few weeks later.

“The 2012 School Games finals will be an extraordinary chapter of the legacy story, one that will, I’m sure, never be forgotten by the young competitors, volunteers and officials taking part.”

Tickets for the 2012 School Games finals will be available free of charge for family members and schools groups - giving young people from across the country the opportunity to be inspired by both the Olympic and Paralympic facilities, and the very best school age sporting talent. Details of how schools can apply for tickets will be announced by the end of the year.

Erin Healey, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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