BOLTON WANDERERS has become the latest Barclays Premier League football club to offer young people the chance to get involved in Olympic sports and Wanderers duo Tamir Cohen and Gretar Steinsson went along to the local launch at Bolton Arena on Tuesday afternoon to find out more about the scheme.
All of the top-flight clubs are linking up with community sport clubs to help attract young people in their local areas to offer them the chance to get involved in badminton, judo, table tennis and volleyball.
It is part of an initiative between the Premier League and the Government to offer young people five hours of sport a week, as part of the Government's 2012 legacy plans.
It will also address the drop off in sports participation when young people leave secondary school.
Cohen and Steinsson's time was spend meeting secondary school pupils from across Bolton and participating in short games of the four sports which are being promoted through the three-year project.
Cohen said: "It's good that the Premier League and the government are doing all they can to get children involved in a wide range of sports."
Steinsson added: "It's important that people get involved with sports. It is an enjoyable and sociable way to stay fit and healthy, and campaigns like these shows how seriously the Premier League takes its commitment to sport all throughout the country."
Working with the sports governing bodies, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, Bolton Wanderers, along with the other Premier League clubs, aim to get 25,000 young people, aged between 11 and 16, to join local sport clubs in the four Olympic sports during the three-year scheme.
Premier League 4 Sport will build on the success of the Premier League's current community programme and aims to get children from all backgrounds involved in non-traditional, club-based sport.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore launched the 'Premier League 4 Sport' scheme earlier this year.
The Prime Minister said: "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 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."
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said: "Premier League clubs are at the heart of their communities, delivering quality projects that tackle a range of important issues. In fact, under the banner of our Creating Chances community initiative, over 1.4 million people took part in the many different activities run by our clubs last season.
"Premier League 4 Sport will build on this existing work, encouraging young people who love football to think about taking up another sport. With the pedigree that our clubs have in delivering projects I am confident it will be a huge success."
