Sportivate - Young people urged to give sport a go!
Published on: 14th June 2011
Teenagers and young adults in West Yorkshire got their first taste of Sportivate on Tuesday, June 14.
The young people enjoyed taster sessions in freestyle gymnastics (free running) and trampolining at Thornes Park, Wakefield.
The first range of Sportivate sessions will start across West Yorkshire on July 1, this national launch day is for County Sports Partnerships to raise awareness together across the country.
Nigel Harrison (Director of West Yorkshire Sport, the County Sports Partnership coordinating Sportivate across the county):
Playing regular sport is a great way to enjoy your free time and make new friends. With so many distractions and pressures on young people, sport is also a great way to let off steam and relax. With such a range of Sportivate sessions on offer - we hope thousands will give it a go, find an activity they really enjoy and make it part of their life.
To help inspire and motivate the participants, our Sporting Champions - a team of current and retired elite athletes - will visit Sportivate sessions to share theirexperiences and enthusiasm for sport. Sporting Champion Rachel MacKenzie attended the launch.
West Yorkshire Sport will work with local providers and sports clubs to help 14- to 25-year-olds in the county to continue playing sport long after they have completed the course.
A display of national level tumbling was also put on by Wakefield Gymnastics club.
Sportivate sessions can be found at www.westyorkshiresport.co.uk/sportivate
What people said about the launch:
Nigel Harrison, Director of West Yorkshire Sport said; "We want to be coaching kids who will hopefully encourage their mates their mates to have a go themselves. Its crucial that at the end of the coaching to have long term actvities they can move on to and enjoy for the rest of their life.
"Sportivate is aimed at a broad age range and people will want to do different things, what we do here at West Yorkshire Sport is tap into the local organisations who understand the motivations of different young people in different places.
"The crucial thing is that we put on the activities that the young people want to do, from traditional sports like football, basketball and cricket to less traditional sports like free running, zumba dance and snow sports. It has to be interesting to them, so we have to ask the young people in the first place what will motivate tem to play sport and some of the things that have put them off playing sport in the past.
"Its about, asking questions, finding out what they want and then giving them a chance to do something they will really enjoy.
-----------
Les Ford - development manager for West Yorkshire Sport said: "We have had young people from the Wakefield area coming to try trampolining and freestyle gymnastics under the guidance of world class athletes who have also been demonstrating their skills. Tumbling looks impressive in television, but when you see this up close its absolutely awesome.
"Its great to see the young people getting involved in something they probably wouldn’t have had a chance to have a go at.
"Check out our website, see what takes your fancy, give it a go.
"Sport is great, it gets you out of the house, enjoying yourself.
"So get stuck in and hopefully you will find something you love and can take with you for the rest of your life."
---------
Craig Lowther, National coach for tumbling (part of gymnastics) brought some of his athletes to the Sportivate launch to lead sessions in freestyle gymnastics and trampolining.
"The thing I like about Sportivate is that it targets teenagers and young adults. When you are active in sport you stay in, but if you aren’t into sport or haven't done it for a while, it can be quite hard to get back into - Sportivate will give them a great opportunity.
--------
Chris McGreevy and Jack Atherton Sports - Acrobatics EU Champion 2006 and Freestyle Gymnastics coaches were on hand to lead the young people through a free running session.
Chris McGreevy:
"What's really cool is that when kids come in from outside they see the blocks and other apparatus in completely creative ways we have not seen before.
Its a safe environment to try moves and learn key skills.
"We got into freestyle gymnastics as an emerging sport and started coaching recreational gymnastics. We saw a way to use the freestyle stuff to get more boys into gymnastics. The freestyle sessions are mainly boys, which is quite unusual, we have found that they don't want to learn splits, but they do want to do somersaults and flips."
Jack Atherton
"I started Gymnastics when I was 12. I got chucked in at the deep end and did my first national championships 8 months later. Its pretty hard work, but I have no regrets as my gymnastics career has been pretty successful so far and I now coach to pass on the skills to others.
"The taster session show what freestyle gymnastics is all about. Its great for them to come here as the whole floor is a sprung mat - quite unlike the congrete and grass outside. When they come here, they are pretty fearless so we have to be on our toes to make sure they are safe.
Free running has been a great boot for the sport, it gets everyone involved and they get what they want to do.
------
Participants Gina and Jess enjoyed the free running, trampolining, Jess said: "We learned some basic moves and i would like to find out more about the free running." Jess agreed: "Its been a good experience" said Jess.
--------
Rachel Mackenzie - world champion Thai boxer was on hand as s sporting champion to inspire the young people: "Sport is a great opportunity to meet people and experience new and exciting things.
"I was 18 when I started in my sport, and from that late start I have had such a wonderful time.
"I can still remember turning up to the gym for the first time at 18, and how nerve-wracking it was, but I can honestly say that walking through those doors for the first time was the best thing I have done in my life.
"You don't have to perform at elite level, your local clubs offer the same kind of benefits Whatever opportunity you are offered, embrace it and make the very best of it.
"Take advantage of the programme as it is a fantastic opportunity that could change your life.
----------
Majid Siddiq - a Wakefield Community Development Officer brought a group young people from Eastmoor to try trying out new activities.
"Gymnastics is really popular. Some come down here every week and this in turn gets back to other young people who are get interested.
"We are trialling 8-week sessions which then feed young people into the club based here on a Saturday.
"I would encourage young people to get into sport. As well as the heath benefits it also boosts social skills and they develop in themselves. There are also lot of qualifications and accreditations on offer. "
See the video and find out more at www.westyorkshire.co.uk/sportivate
Pictures by Simon Mooney - all rights reserved
