School 'Olympics' face growth spurt

An increase from five to eight sports and a possible visit from Gordon Brown will further raise the bar of the second United Kingdom School Games when the four-day event opens in Coventry on Aug 23.

The Prime Minister, one of the event's most powerful supporters, first announced the Games in his 2006 Budget speech - he referred to it then as the 'Schools Olympics'. He is believed to be committed to pushing on with school sport development and grassroots sport investment for the next decade.

The sports programme for Coventry, in the wake of the inaugural event in Glasgow last September which was heralded as a great success, has seen an increase in sports. Badminton, volleyball and judo are added this year to swimming, athletics, table tennis, gymnastics and fencing. Table tennis joins athletics and swimming on the disability sport programme in Coventry.

Next year the UK School Games could branch out even further and add sports that do not feature in the Olympic, Commonwealth and Paralympic Games. There are many supporters of 'lifestyle' sports which are popular with youngsters. Arguments that skateboarding and BMX bike riding are not mainstream enough are facile: BMX has been included for the 2008 Games in Beijing and skateboarding is also being talked up as a possibility, too, for London in 2012.

Critics once said the same of snowboarding, but on vert ramps these days we are watching the scintillating skills of athletes in baggy clothes. Skateboarding is now one of the most visually spectacular events, both for television viewers and live spectators, at the Winter Olympic Games.

Street sports are already being organised in schools. Action Sports In Schools (ASIS), a non-profit sports coaching programme, has already been growing in schools over the past year. Just as dance and aerobics has become a popular activity for many teenage girls, so 'street sports' should also be included under the school sports umbrella.

The Youth Sport Trust, who run the Games on government funding, have established core themes underpinning the aims of the event and potential career pathways for teenagers in sport. They include developing the integration of Olympic and Paralympic themes, both with athletes and organisers; the experience of opening and closing ceremonies and life in an athlete village (this year at the Warwick University campus); volunteer training towards 2012 and beyond, and a change in the content, structure and presentation of competitive sporting opportunities.

All athletes will be accommodated on the campus, where they will experience the atmosphere of an Olympic village. The British Olympic Foundation are partners in the delivery of the Games, and are to provide first-hand experience of the Olympics to re-create a 'hub' which will become the 'melting pot' for 1,500 schoolchildren. Athletes will mix and learn about other sports. This year, 11 'athlete ambassadors', former and current Olympians, will live alongside the athletes.

Steve Grainger, the chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: "Within England the UK School Games forms the apex of a pyramid of competitive sporting opportunities being promoted through school sport. The government announcement of July 13 committed additional funds to complete the roll-out of competition managers across all school sport partnerships from 2008.

"These competition managers will be key to implementing this enhanced competitive offer for young people. They will work closely with national governing bodies and local school sports federations to create pathways from high-quality intra-school competition." £2.3 million in National Lottery funding has been awarded to the Youth Sport Trust through the Big Lottery Fund to develop the UK School Games until 2011 and for the 2007 Games in Coventry.

• Visa is the presenting sponsor of the 2007 Games, which are also being supported by Coventry City Council.

• Tickets are available by phone on 0871 230 1080 or at www.ukschoolgames.com.

From www.telegraph.co.uk