Playground to Podium 2011 - News - Plymouth SSP

Playground to Podium 2011

Over 140 students from across 26 different schools in Plymouth took part in the Playground to Podium Event at the Devonshire on the 19th January.  The day opened with an inspiration speech by Ellen Keen and Lauren Steadman both Paralympic Swimmers. Lauren was born without her right arm below the elbow joint and talked not only of her sport, but her educational achievements and her grit and determination not to let her disability stand in her way of her aims for the future. Lauren was selected for the GB Paralympics Swimming Team that competed in Beijing in 2008, has broken the1500m Front crawl S9 British record by 2 minutes and is winner of a European bronze and gold medal.

The Playground to Podium event was designed to bring groups of students together who have a range of different physical, auditory and visual needs to take part in a range of sporting tests to identify talent for the Paralympics. A small proportion of students from the event will be invited to the county assessment day where representatives from a range of national governing bodies of sport will be represented to allow students to try a range of sports.

The day for Plymouth was not however just about finding talent but giving students the opportunity to come away from school to concentrate on what they can achieve, rather the barriers they face daily in their normal lives. All students were given information about local clubs that they could join to carry on with sport on a regular basis within Plymouth.

My thanks must go to the army of volunteers from 4 different secondary schools / colleges, the team of SSCos from across both partnerships, the sports development unit and the County Sports Partnership for making the day run so smoothly.

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