Mission unveiled to build a new team of Young Leaders for Glasgow 2014 and for Scotland
Published by Anne Marie Hughes on Sat 09 Jun 12 @ 22:11
Over 1,000 pupils and students the length and breadth of Scotland are gearing up to be part of the ground-breaking Lead 2014 youth leadership and volunteering campaign ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The programme, launched today at the University of Stirling - Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence, will inspire hundreds of secondary school pupils and university students to use sport as the springboard to hone and develop their leadership skills. It will also provide an opportunity for children across Scotland to engage with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Lead 2014 - a partnership between sportscotland, Youth Sport Trust and Glasgow 2014, - will see pupils from 137 Scottish secondary schools gather during February and March at one of seven day-long conferences hosted by the Lead 2014 partner university in their area.
The pupils will be mentored by university student volunteers in how to plan, organise and manage a Commonwealth Games themed sports festival. The pupils then take their new skills and knowledge back to their communities to organise a sports festival for their local primary schools.
Using Glasgow 2014 as the catalyst, Lead 2014 will capture young people's energy and enthusiasm for sport and enable them to become leadership ambassadors among their peers. It will also help to motivate them to play a significant part in the huge volunteering effort around the Commonwealth Games
Today's launch saw two of Scotland's young aspiring athletes lead the way by inspiring young people to rise to the leadership challenge. Triathlete Grant Sheldon and swimmer Cameron Brodie - who are aiming to be part of Team Scotland at Glasgow 2014 - staged a sports festival for a group of Stirling school pupils and university students to illustrate the end product of the Lead 2014 campaign.
This is the second year of the campaign and will be a key element in the build-up to Glasgow 2014. In 2011, 900 pupils from 94 secondary schools attended the six university conferences across the country. This year's programme has been extended to seven universities and has attracted interest from over 1,000 pupils all over Scotland.
David Grevemberg, Glasgow 2014's Chief Executive, said: "This is such a powerful way of inspiring and motivating our young people through sport to become the leaders and volunteers of tomorrow. Lead 2014 will capture the energy of the students to create a positive sporting legacy through empowerment and education in the run up to the Games. We hope we will see some of this year's participants as volunteers at Glasgow 2014 and other future sporting events."
Hazel Williamson, Development Manager for the Youth Sport Trust in Scotland, said: "The Youth Sport Trust believes that sport changes lives and the Lead 2014 programme is an excellent way to motivate and inspire young people in Scotland. This initiative is a strong example of how sport can be used to develop a whole range of skills and benefit thousands of young people in so many different ways."
Louise Martin, Chair of sportscotland, commented: "Lead 2014 is a fantastic opportunity to motivate and inspire young people to get involved with sport through volunteering and leadership. It has never been so crucial to engage young people in sport with major home Games on the horizon, and Lead 2014 can create a legacy of young people enthused about volunteering and the benefits it can bring to their lives."
Professor David Lavallee, Head of the School of Sport at the University of Stirling, said: "The University of Stirling is delighted to be a part of Lead 2014, which is an integral part of our extensive volunteering pathway. We are proud to have been pioneers of the programme and value the power of sport in developing the skills young people will use throughout their lives."
In addition to pupil and student education, the campaign also offers an information workshop for secondary school PE teachers and Active Schools Coordinators. This helps them build and make the most of their sports leadership developments which are taking place in their schools, and makes sure they appreciate the support they can provide to their pupils in running the festivals for the primary children.
