Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Lisa Blacow, Senior Competition Manager, tells us about the role her team have played in the UK School Games and the importance of school sport.
What has your team’s role been in respect of the Bristol and Bath UK School Games?
As the Wesport School Competition Management team, working across the whole of the West of England, we have worked with schools, national governing bodies and the HE/FE sector to raise the profile of all our Multi-Sport events as part of our UK School Games Community Development Programme. Working closely with Jason Gardener, in his role as ambassador for the Games we have been able to engage more children than ever before, make school sport a priority in the West of England and build on the excellent work that has taken place over a number of years.
Why was it important for Bristol and Bath to host the UK School Games in 2008?
It is a great opportunity for us to host such a high profile event. Many of the competing athletes come from the South West and we anticipate a lot of young people from this area coming along as spectators.
The UK School Games has also provided much needed media exposure for the excellent work of our existing network including School Sports Partnerships, HE/FE establishments, Local Authorities and sports clubs.
What would a normal day for you entail?
Usually racing around the West, supporting and organising school sports festivals. Working very closely with both schools and National Governing bodies of sport we are in constant dialogue to ensure there are opportunities for all pupils to access school based competition. We have been able to get some new competitions going in a few sports, which have already increased the number of young people having access to inter-school competition.
Did you and your team play sport at school?
We all did a variety of sports whilst at school, specialising in one or more outside in a club environment. This is our advice to young people out there – enjoy a variety of sports at school, as you can learn different things from them all.
We currently play badminton once a month, with others from our County Sports Partnership office – as you can imagine it gets quite competitive!
What sports are you looking forward to watching at the UK School Games?
All of them – we’ll spread our team across the four venues and mix a bit of work and play.
What message would you give to the competitors at the UK School Games and the young people in the West of England about school competition?
School competition is where it can start, UK School Games is on the road to a career as a performance athlete and the Olympics is probably the pinnacle of success. None of it is worth it without a bit of fun along the way. Work hard but enjoy your sport. There are plenty of opportunities out there in hundreds of sports if you look hard enough.