500 Leeds students sign up to be Sport Makers
Published on: 13th January 2012
With less than 200 days to go till the Olympic opening ceremony, Sport England and West Yorkshire Sport trained 500 students from Leeds City College to be Sport Makers - a National Lottery funded programme for people who’d like to make sport happen in their local community.
West Yorkshire Sport have now signed up 1,000 Sport Makers to deliver at least 10 hours of grassroots sport either with friends, family and colleagues or help clubs and events attract more people.
The students gathered at John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds to attend a day of workshops, meet clubs and governing bodies and have a go at a range of sports.
Open to anyone aged 16 and over, Sport Makers aims to inspire over 1,700 people in West Yorkshire to get involved and make sport happen for their friends, neighbours or colleagues, with each of them spending at least 10 hours organising or leading sporting activities.
500 students from across the College’s five campuses turned up to be inspired by top level athletes; swimmer Adam Whitehead (Sydney 2000), runner Daniel Caines (World Silver Medalist 400m) and diver Oliver Dingley (European Junior Championships 1m Springboard 2010 GOLD).
The Sport Maker ambassadors supported them as they gained skills on how to deliver sporting opportunities through a series of informal and interactive workshops. The Deployment Depot gave the Sport Makers a chance to meet governing bodies of 11 sports, clubs, volunteer centres and facilities and find out how they can boost grassroots sport.
Nigel Harrison, Director of West Yorkshire Sport said: “This is your chance to get involved with the Olympics. Do something special in this most exciting of years by encouraging others to take up more sport. Make this a memorable year - be part of something truly global.”
Sport Makers is a vital part in building a legacy of sport following the Games and will make real contributions to sport across the five districts. This convention was will the biggest convention of its kind in the country.
Sport Makers is part of the Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country.
Every Sport Maker is invited to an informal and interactive workshop where they’ll gain the skills and opportunities to get involved in sport. Sport Makers will be introduced to organisations that need their help, and join forces with others who want to make sport happen locally. There’ll also be opportunities to meet top athletes and plenty of incentives to stay involved.
For more information – go to sportmakers.co.uk
