UKSG – an event for all

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

The Youth Sport Trust has commissioned a report to explore how the UK School Games can be more effective at increasing opportunities for young disabled people to take part in competitive school sport and can provide an improved experience to support talented young disabled athletes. 

The commission will reflect on the disability pathway leading to the UK School Games as well as the event itself and identify areas in which the Youth Sport Trust and the partners involved in the delivery of the Games should focus efforts in the future.  
Importantly, the commission will be tasked with identifying what needs to change to ensure the event can really make a difference to all young people including those who aspire to take part as well as those who actually compete.

Leading the commission will be multi-paralympic medallist swimmer Marc Woods and BBC commentator Paul Dickenson, who represented Great Britain in hammer at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

“During my career as a Paralympic athlete I have seen the provision and delivery of sport for people with disabilities change considerably,” said Marc. “In life it is critical that we seek to review and evolve and in the world of sport this is particularly the case. My hope is that through a process of consultation with all the stake holders this commission will help to further improve sporting opportunities for all young people.”

The commission will look to consult with a range of sporting and disability federations to gain a clearer insight into how the UK School Games can become more accessible to all.

Alison Oliver, Director of Sport for the Youth Sport Trust, said:

“The UK School Games is a fantastic multi-sport event for the UK’s elite young athletes of school age.  We have made some excellent progress in recent years to ensure that a disability programme is established at the UK School Games with swimming, athletics and table tennis all included last year. The findings of this commission will allow us to focus our efforts even further and ensure that the UK School Games leads to increased opportunities and improved provision for all young people.”

It is expected that the commission report, which is due to be published at the end of the spring term, will provide detailed and considered recommendations for the Youth Sport Trust and will address the rationale for the future inclusion of an extended disability programme within the UK School Games event.