Premier League 4 Sport Launched at Spurs Training Ground

Even though there are reports of not only a national recession but also a global one, the British Government has decided to move ahead with their plans to invest £3.8m in community sports clubs via the Premier League 4 Sport project, which will be used to encourage young people to get involved with Olympic Sports. The investment is a joint venture with the Premier League Football Clubs and it is hoped that the ‘Premier League 4 Sport ‘project will help to attract young people to participate in at least 5 hours of sport each week.

The ‘Premier League 4 Sport ‘scheme was launched on the 16th January at Spurs training ground in Chigwell, by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Andy Burnham the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Richard Scudamore the Premier League Chief Executive and Harry Redknap the Spurs Manager who was accompanied by Spurs players Jonathan Woodgate, Luka Modric, Ledley King and Michael Dawson. The scheme will allow Local sports clubs through the extra funding to offer sports such as badminton, judo, volleyball and table tennis to young people and it is hoped that the scheme will attract 25,000 youngsters between the ages of 11 and 16 to join in. The aim is for each of the 20 top Premier League football clubs to link with 4 local community sports clubs. These 80 sports clubs will then link up with local secondary schools, creating 320 satellite sports clubs. There will be a nominated Premier League 4 Sport co-ordinator who will liaise with local clubs and schools to maximise participation from local youngsters. It is hoped to make sport available to all young people no matter what their background and for them to participate in sport during the 3 years that the scheme is running. It is also hoped that youngsters will continue with sporting activities once they have left school which at the moment is rarely the case.

The Prime Minister made the following statement at the Premier League 4 Sport launch:

“This initiative is great news for young people and communities and will help get thousands more teenagers participating in sports over the next few years, building on our goal to get young people doing five hours of sport a week.”

“The Premier League, under Richard Scudamore's leadership, has shown a continuing commitment to community sport and shown how the power of football and strong links with clubs can be used to engage young people and strengthen communities.”

“In the run up to 2012, we want to see more young people from all walks of life getting involved in sport. These new clubs are an excellent example of the how the Olympic legacy will benefit people right across the country for years to come and how the Games can be used to inspire more people to get active.”