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 Our kids deserve the chance to excel... Don't They?
Of course they do!
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With 2012 looming ever closer, Britain has never had such a golden opportunity to inspire our youngsters to take up some form of sport or physical activity - yet we are bombarded with talk about childhood obesity, weight related diabetes and falling participation within many areas of competitive sport. Some blame the sale of school playing fields and a packed curriculum, others the perfusion of games consoles and computers in general, whilst many point to parental concerns as to child safety within our streets, parks and natural play areas. Whatever the truth may be, we owe it to our collective offspring to act now. We must capitalise on the enormous effort that was expended in bringing the world's most prestigious sporting event to Britain. Of course sport is not just about personal fitness and well being, it can save youngsters from a wasted life - a life of crime. To put it crudely - Sport or Court - You Decide! Sport-4-You is a radical multi-media approach to inspire youngsters from every sector of society to become more active. It is based on the premise that there is a sport or activity out there to suit every individual, regardless of their physical stature and natural inclination to participate. The challenge of course is to maintain their interest whilst introducing the plethora of alternatives (see logo above for a tiny sample) and invoke every inspirational and motivational trick in the book to trigger the desired response. The fact that right is firmly on our side is sufficient cause to warrant playing dirty! Sport-4-You has already been trialled to interested parties and a pilot edition covered sports from several categories, such as Mainstream: football, rugby and cricket; Minority: rock climbing, luge and caving; Exotic: snowboarding and downhill skiing; and Urban: BMX, inline skating and vert. The publication was very well received and constructive feedback brought the decision to employ more youngsters within the editorial team to give the magazine a distinct 'street' edge. A youthful editorial team will have the benefit of an editor in chief with a lifetimes experience in the running of regional and national newspapers and magazines. This staff will be complemented by 64 part time journalists who will operate on a regional footing and gain invaluable work experience within the Stepping Stone Apprenticeship programme. In fact in line with the policy decision to use the publication to extol all youth endeavour and success, the magazine will naturally cover the activities of the apprentices within our scheme! A typical issue might contain motivational stories such as how a young David Beckham worked his way to the dizzy heights of super stardom and inspirational articles such as 'My sport is the best in the world because...' and 'My club is the best in the world because...' - which in the words of one youngster to another would explain their passion for their sport or the personal buzz that belonging to an organisation can bring. Peer to peer works, adult preaching does not! It would also hammer home the point that a Personal Best is a Personal Best, whether you are running in a world championship event or on the school field. It will also seek to reassure young girls that young ladies compete at every level of sport, it is not a requirement that they look like a 1980's East German shot putter after ten years on anabolic steroids! Equally of course it has to be said that sports ladies do not have to compete for fashion headlines with the latest Eastern European tennis pinup! A balance has to be struck, on court and off! Plans are afoot to have a young chef as a regular contributor to introduce fun ways to prepare healthy food; again preaching is not an option, so we have to connect in other ways in order to inform, and as a consequence, influence. The objective would be to encourage the consumption of a more balanced diet and to generate a genuine appreciation that good food does not have to come out of a packet or a restaurant and it does not cost more than many convenience foods. On a similar vein, interviews and articles with young role models can be used to explore opinions on drug taking, smoking, binge drinking and race, gender and religious issues. Open conversation on these matters can explore the attitude of sports and TV heroes and at the very least get young people contemplating the pros, the cons and the human issues involved. Of course including role models is all part and parcel of Sport-4-You's policy to shout loud and clear about the achievements of our youngsters; these will not be limited to sport, but to any avenue of activity including commercial and social endeavours. Furthermore, effort should also be applauded, success rarely comes quickly and more often results from repeated - so-called failures - that are required to point a determined, resourceful character in the right direction. When Edison revealed that it took 1000 prototypes before he discovered how to make the light bulb, an observer summarised that he had failed 999 times. Edison retorted that more correctly he had discovered 999 ways how not to make a light bulb - which then allowed him to quite literally change the course of history. With 1093 patents to his name, Edison is the sort of failure Britain could do with at the moment, so let's encourage our youngsters to try - trying always precedes success.
Having role models like David, Jonny and Lewis is fantastic, providing fans can see stepping-stones that can take them from their current position to the top of the rostrum - otherwise the motivational effect is lost. No Olympic Champion ever won their gold medal without being able to visualise the act of winning, time and time again on the training ground. The long dark winter nights, the endless, punishing training schedules, injuries and setbacks; to endure the commitment needed to become the best in the world the athlete must have inner belief and rock solid determination. The same applies as they come up to the line against the world's elite. Such self belief, the act of visualising success, usually has its foundation in wanting to emulate a hero, your role model. So, we need role models, yet we also need a pathway to replicate their rise to stardom, to copy their success. Thus Sport-4-You will be the only publication to have international, national, regional, local and school sports reports side by side, so that our budding hero can see their contemporaries and peers rubbing shoulders with the good and the great; getting equal treatment and adulation. It is a vital component in the motivational toolbox that youngsters can associate themselves directly with the success of those they admire and see a step by step route to achieving success themselves. Schools play a crucial role in our personal development, in addition to imparting knowledge they are a major influence in forming our characters. So, packed curriculum or not, stretched funding or not, they can and ought to encourage young people to get physical. Sport-4-You will, through the 64 regional young journalists, form strong bonds with enthusiastic sports teachers across the land to offer support and publicity where there are tales to be told. We are also ideally placed to bring schools, sports clubs, sports authorities and our Personal Potential Partners together where those parties see the advantage of being involved in introducing pupils to new activities, whether it be attending events or witnessing the behind the scenes action associated with sporting occasions. Without doubt the most exciting development from a communications point of view is Sport-4-You's associated website and e-zine. The website aims to be the ultimate sports resource and will provide an archive facility for the articles, features and reports carried in the magazine. It will host live sports news via links with international news agencies and be a mouth piece for sports clubs and official bodies. The e-zine will provide the facility to publish focused content specifically relevant to age groups and groups of sports and activities and will complement the magazine perfectly. However the real prize will be providing youngsters with the location and means to create their own environment from which to invite friends and fellow sports nuts. This will enable someone passionate about a particular activity, school team, club or region to associate with like minded people and communicate via forums and blogs. It would also enable an enthusiastic school teacher to post photographs and a brief report before youngsters could get home to get their parents to log on! Technology is a marvelous thing when put to good purpose!
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Of course they do!
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