West Ham United are the latest club to get involved with the Premier League 4 Sport campaign.
The scheme encourages young people to participate in four Olympic Sports before the Games come to London in 2012, writes Stewart Coggin.
As part of West Ham's Places for Players programme midfielder Scott Parker and reserve team captain Bondz N'Gala went along to Eastbury School in Barking to participate in table tennis, volleyball, badminton and Judo.
Premier League 4 Sport is looking to increase the sports' profile across the country. The £3.8m partnership with the British government sees all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs link up with local sports clubs to help youngsters get involved in the four sports.
Fair Play
"I think it's brilliant the kids have an opportunity to come and do stuff other than go home or hang around on the streets," said Parker, who looked a dab hand at table tennis. "Fair play to the people who organised it and are running it. They took a lot of time out and I think it's brilliant.
"I think it can only do good, it can't do bad. You never know, you may find the next table tennis gold medallist and on the other hand you're giving kids the opportunity to come and do something good, which I think in this present day, with the way things are, can only be positive.
"I was impressed with the quality. I think some of the stuff the teachers were doing was really good. Some of the kids you could tell were of a higher quality than others. But whether it's to a degree that you can go on and compete I don't know."
The Premier League clubs, working with the grassroots sport delivery bodies, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, aim to get 25,000 young people, aged between 11 and 16, to join local sport clubs in the four Olympic sports during the two-and-a-half-year scheme.
Wide World
Kate Howey is the only British judoka to have competed at the Olympic Games and believes that the sport can play a role in teaching youngsters about discipline.
"I think depending on how far you want to go it can be a distraction but anything you stick to is going to help you when you go out into the big wide world," she said.
"I think the scheme is absolutely fantastic. It's an opportunity for people who are doing sport as a living but also for the youngsters and you'd hope it can filter through to some of the local clubs. It's money well spent and you never know, they could make a living out of it. 2012 is a bit too soon, but 2016, 2020, you never know."
Most of the schemes have now got off the ground, with Stoke City's the first up and running as early as April. Each Barclays Premier League club is linking to four community sport clubs in their local area which will work in partnership with the football club. The 80 community sport clubs will be linked to four secondary schools in the area, creating a total of 320 satellite clubs across the country.
Each Barclays Premier League club will appoint a project co-ordinator who will manage the scheme locally and work with clubs and school sport partnerships to maximise opportunities for young people. Premier League 4 Sport builds on the success of the Premier League's current community programme and aims to get children from all backgrounds involved in non-traditional, club-based sport.
Good Scheme
Parker and N'Gala knocked up with Badminton player Rajiv Ouseph, and both players were able to hold a long rally with England's number two.
"I think it's definitely a good scheme for the kids, with London 2012 around the corner," said 20-year-old defender N'Gala. "There is definitely talent out there that can be aided by the right coaching."
Rajiv added: "I think it's really good to get the kids involved with all the different sports and at a younger level. Getting the football club involved is a really good idea as it generates a lot of interest in the media. Involving high profile people and West Ham is a good thing "Some of the kids look good but they are very young.
You've just got to develop it from a young age."I think there is not enough media interest in these four sports, unlike football, tennis and cricket. I think if they are doing well at a high level, internationally, that will generate more interest."
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Everton and Liverpool back Premier League 4 Sport
