Everton in the Community’s Premier League 4 Sports (PL4S) programme is now in its second year, making a real difference to the lives of young people in Liverpool and Knowsley.
In the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games, the PL4S programme is developing opportunities for young people to develop their skills in the four underrepresented Olympic sports of judo, badminton, volleyball and table tennis.
To date, Everton in the Community has established 16 brand new opportunities for young people of all ages and abilities to take part in judo, badminton, volleyball and table tennis.
Excitingly, through the dedication and hard work coaching staff, Everton has was the first Club in Premier League to exceed its aim of engaging with 2,500 youngsters. This target was achieved a year early than planned!
PL4S also has strong links with the governing bodies of the four sports used in the programme and this had led to opportunities for local coaches to develop their skills and for young sports leaders in schools who are involved in the programme to receive sport specific leadership training.
In December 2010, the PL4S programme received a National Coaching Intervention Award at the Sports Coach UK.
Jackie Twort, PL4S coordinator for Everton in the Community said: “Through PL4S, there have been a number of opportunities for our participants to take part in regional and national competitions, including the recent Fred Perry table tennis tournament in London. Currently, participants are currently taking part in a virtual table tennis competition nationally which has so far engaged over 300 young people from the clubs.”
Pictured: John Heitinga shows his talents with a table tennis bat against Darius Knight, British table tennis Olympian.
