Sir Steve Redgrave visits Southfields - News - Wandsworth School Games

Sir Steve Redgrave visits Southfields

Sir Steve Redgrave visited the Southfields Academy to celebrate the huge success of the Sporting Promise programme, an initiative encouraging more young people to take part in PE and school sport.

Sir Steve was joined by Maggie Alphonsi, one of England's top female rugby players for a game of dodgeball with the students and a chance to chat about plans for the next three years. They were joined by pupils from Hotham Primary School for some multi-sport activities designed to get young people more active.

Sir Steve took a break from the action and explained why he is so pleased to be involved with the programme:

"If we are to become a healthier, more active nation then we must encourage and inspire school children to develop an interest in PE and sport. The support of brands like Sporting Pro and Matalan to fund these programmes is vital to ensure we deliver the legacy ambitions of the 2012 Games."

The Sporting Promise is an award-winning grass roots sports initiative that has already impacted over two million young people in the first three years of the programme. It is a partnership between the Youth Sport Trust, Matalan and Sporting Pro that ensures children across the country have vital access to sports activity in school.

Maggie Alphonsi, who is preparing for a match against Wales on Friday in the Six Nations tournament, was impressed to see everyone enjoying themselves:

"It's great to see so many young people getting involved in sports activities that they may not have tried before. For some, traditional sports might not be for them, so introducing a range of alternative sports, like dodgeball and parkour, can really inspire them to enjoy taking part in sport and being physically active."

Jackie Valin, Headteacher at Southfields Academy said:

"We're really excited about having Sir Steve; a true sporting legend, visit our school as part of the Sporting Promise. We know that sport has an amazing ability to improve all areas of young people's lives, so it's a fantastic opportunity for all students to try something new and feel inspired to be physically active."

To find out more about Sporting Promise please go to:

http://www.youthsporttrust.org/news-media/news/2014/march/sir-steve-redgrave-and-maggie-alphonsi-urge-kids-to-get-more-involved-in-sport.aspx

Edit Article