Sporty kids put others on track (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Sporty kids put others on track

Sky Sports filming at the County Ground athletics track, pictured is Sian Griffiths Ref: 99095-19SWINDON...AND PROUD OF IT: YOUNGSTERS from Swindon are helping to encourage others across the country to get active.

They spent the last week taking part in the Star Track Scheme, which is run by the Wiltshire and Swindon Activities partnership and Swindon Council, at the County Ground Athletics club.

And on Friday, a film crew from Sky Sports came to film them for Sky's You Can Do It programmes.

The programmes are designed to encourage children to be more active and to get them interested in different sports.

The programmes are being screened Fridays and Saturdays before major sporting events.

Dominique Oughton, one of the organisers, said: "A lot of these children had never done any athletics before they came along this week.

"Everyone has learnt at least one new skill, if not three or four.

"They all loved having the television cameras around and can't wait to see themselves on the television ."

Top sports men and women like Dame Kelly Holmes, Nassar Hussein and boxer Amir Khan have all taken part in the series, explaining how they got involved.

One young athlete, Callum Brown, 10, said he'd had a brilliant week. "I enjoyed the javelin the best," he said.

"I threw it 13.2 metres and that was the longest throw I've ever done."

Sian Griffiths, 12, said she really enjoyed the sprint.

"We had a go at everything- triple jump, high jump, javelin and sprinting," she said.

"Having the cameras around was scary at first but I started to forget they were there after a while."

And both youngsters say they want to keep up with the athletics training at school.

On this weekend's programmes, Tim Henman and Andrew Murray serve up reasons why tennis could be the perfect sport.

It is thought the Swindon you Can Do It will be screened at the end of September.

Stephanie Tye