Softball making strides in schools through Matalan
Thu 29 Mar 2012
Softball is making progress in secondary schools across England through its inclusion in the Matalan Sporting Promise programme, a partnership between the clothing retailer Matalan, the Youth Sport Trust and 11 National Governing Bodies of sport.
The initiative concentrates on secondary schools and on young people who may not want to take up traditional mainstream sports. Working in school clusters, BaseballSoftballUK is now supporting softball in over 50 schools through the Matalan yOUR Activity programme, which targets students between 14 and 16 years of age.
So far, schools in Somerset, Manchester, Lancashire, South Shropshire and Cheshire have signed up to develop softball over the coming months.
Celebration
BSUK development staff were recently involved in a
celebration event in Trafalgar Square involving five time Olympic Gold Medallist Sir Stephen Redgrave and Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of the Youth Sport Trust.
Sir Stephen said: “Matalan Sporting Promise is all about encouraging children to take part in a variety of activities – not just the traditional sports – so it was fantastic for them to demonstrate what they’ve learned at Trafalgar Square today. Sport is such an important part of children’s well-being, so it’s vital we continue to support the teachers who are running PE lessons across the country.”
Baroness Campbell said: “We are really pleased to be celebrating the huge success of Matalan Sporting Promise and the impact it has had on young people across the nation. We know that sport changes lives and through our partnership with Matalan, we can reach thousands of young people and encourage them to get involved in sport in a fun and energetic way.”
More information
More information on the Matalan Sporting Promise programme is available in Matalan stores and online.
Matalan and the Youth Sport Trust are now planning the 2013 programme, and teachers and parents who would like to register their interest in having the Matalan Sporting Promise at their school should visit www.sportingpromise.co.uk.
For further information on BaseballSoftballUK's involvement in the programme please contact National Development Manager .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
