http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/news/sport/26152 600 children take part in Jump2it basketball tournament/ [return]

Youths from East End of Glasgow and South Lanarkshire are part of project which involves Glasgow Rocks.

Around six hundred primary school children from Glasgow’s East End and South Lanarkshire took part in a basketball tournament in the city’s Kelvin Hall.

The tournament, which was held on Tuesday, was the culmination of the Jump2it programme involving the Glasgow Rocks. The 17 primary schools got the chance to take part in the programme thanks to support from Clyde Gateway, Hovis, St Andrews First Aid, and the Scottish Government’s Cash Back for Communities scheme.

As well as encouraging children to get active by introducing them to basketball, the Jump2it road-show focuses on the importance of fitness, healthy eating and the dangers of smoking, drug and alcohol abuse.

The scheme aims to widen opportunities for sustained participation in sport by establishing new basketball clubs. This enhances existing club and league structures throughout Glasgow, while motivating youngsters to become more involved in sports.

Niki Spence, Project Manager of the Clyde Gateway, said: "Our partnership with Scottish Sports Futures has been hugely successful in attracting many more youngsters to play basketball both inside and outside of school. Such work is part of our efforts to improve the health and well-being of local people and to give them, in the fullness of time, the best opportunities to make the most out of their lives."

Glasgow Rocks Player Coach Sterling Davis added: "It is great to see the kids having fun playing basketball at our home arena and to offer them encouragement and advice. This is the third year that we have worked with these schools; the relationship with them has only been possible due to the continued support of Clyde Gateway and the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities funding."

Scottish Sports Futures Chief Executive Ian Reid OBE said: "We thank Clyde Gateway for their continued support, they share the same vision as we do, believing that if you invest in young people and inspire them at an early age you really can make a difference to their lives and to those in the communities in which they live.

"Clyde Gateway started funding for our work Glasgow’s East End and South Lanarkshire three years ago since then over 8,500 young people in the area have benefited from the Jump2it programme. We thank them along with our other partners in the area; Cashback for Communities, Hovis, St Andrews First Aid and sportscotland."

The schools who took part are Burgh Primary, St Anne’s Primary, St Michael’s Primary, Dalmarnock Primary, St Columbkilles Primary, Torylen Primary, Sacred Heart Primary, St Francis Primary, Wellshot Primary, St Joachims Primary, Oakwood Primary, Thorntree Primary, St Benedict’s Primary, Eastbank Primary, St Maria Goretti Primary, Royston Primary and Aultmore Park Primary.

Posted on 31 January, 2012