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The Olympic borough of
Newham hosted a County Athlete Assessment Day as part of the Playground
to Podium initiative at Newham Leisure Centre on Monday 4 April.
Playground to Podium,
which is led by Sport England, is a dedicated initiative designed
to identify and nurture disabled young people and disabled adults
with the potential to be elite athletes.
It comes following a consultation
with landscape partners Youth Sport Trust, Paralympics GB, UK
Sport and a review of existing programmes and initiatives.
The scheme focuses on Athletics,
Boccia, Football, Swimming, Table tennis and Wheelchair basketball.
The scheme identifies at least 15 young disabled people a year per
school sport partnership who demonstrate a high ability in
generic skills. They are invited to attend the County Athlete
Assessment coordinated by English Federation of Disability Sport
and development centres.
The latest talent identification
day saw the Olympic sport of judo make a firm impression with
the young players.
British Judo’s Nicole Nunn,
East London Development Coach took the session alongside her colleague
Steve Fraser, the London Technical Officer.
“We took two sessions that
included players who had a visual or hearing impairment as well
as a learning disability,” said Nicole.
“The sessions were a great
success and everyone had a great time and gained some basic Judo
skills. The day was well run and the participants had great exposure
to lots of different sports.”
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