Inclusive sport the goal as Coventry schools kick off Paris Olympics project
Primary school pupils in Coventry have joined forces with Coventry United FC to kick start a new project aiming to help children be more active.
A group of 40 primary school pupils from four Coventry schools gathered at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, part of the Romero Catholic Academy, to launch a project that is helping youngsters host sporting activities in their schools and communities in the build-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The schools, which recently completed a year-long engagement project in the build-up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, are once again teaming up to help boost participation in sports across all backgrounds and abilities.
Groups of 10 pupils from Finham Park 2, Earlsdon Primary School, Riverbank Academy and Corpus Christi got off the mark with a special session around ball sports hosted by top women’s football stars from Coventry United.
Harry Clark, PE Teacher at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, said that the success of the Commonwealth Connections programme ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games had inspired the schools to launch their own project.
As well as activities led by Coventry United midfielder Anna Wilcox, the session also included dance activities led by Dance Works Coventry. The project is set to culminate in a Road to Paris sports festival this summer.
Harry said: “It was great to regroup with staff and pupils who we had worked with on the Commonwealth Connections project, using the inspiration from the Commonwealth Games to start our own engagement project.
“I’d like to thank our guests from Coventry United and Elite Dance Academy for leading some engaging sessions that showed how we can cater to a range of abilities – which is a huge motivation for the Road to Paris project.
“We look forward to seeing what we can achieve in the coming months in the hope that we can make a lasting difference to sports and leisure engagement across the city.”
