Thousands flock to a spectacular sporting Sunday
Date Published: 24/06/2009
Enjoying a spot of cricket
Instead of being a couch-potato in front of the TV, thousands of families opted for bouncing, jumping, climbing, skipping, throwing and dancing their way through over 40 activities at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Sunday 21 June.
Sporting Futures, the biggest free sport and physical activity event in North London, gave the local and regional community the opportunity to have a go and watch a whole range of different activities and to try something new.
The young and the old together enjoyed activities such as cup stacking, hula hooping, Nordic walking, kangoo jumping, circus skills, indoor rowing and trampolining as well as more conventional sports including rugby, tennis, netball, table tennis and cycling.
The ‘Extreme Zone’, a new addition to this year’s event, saw families competing against each other on the military assault course as well as testing their agility on the climbing wall, with over 350 people trying their best to reach the summit. The new and popular parkour activity was also a huge hit with the youngsters, testing their skill and balance in this free running style sport.
The dance stage drew crowds throughout the day with a full packed programme of demonstrations and workshops from groups across the region including Waltham Forest Dance and Platinum Performing Arts.
Jade Shaw, on behalf of Step into Dance, a Jack Petchy Foundation and Royal Academy of Dance Partnership Project said: “Thank you for the opportunity to work with the wonderful residents of Edmonton and Enfield. We had some lovely participants of all ages. There should definitely be more sporting events like this to raise participation in sports and dance.”
With the health and fitness of the nation high on the Government agenda, the national campaign Change4Life were also on hand with their brand new roadshow, challenging people to make a change for a more active and healthier lifestyle.
Carol Kelly, the Roadshow Manager said: ‘’We wanted today to tell people about the Change4Life programme as well as promoting families to get fit and healthy together. We definitely reached our goal of promoting health as well as having a great day!
The event hosted and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and Pro-Active North London showcased the variety of sport and physicalactivity opportunitiesavailable in North London with the aim to inspire and motivate the communities of North London to get active and lead healthier lifestyles.
Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority said ‘’We have had the most fantastic day today, and it’s great to see so many people using every inch of space that this award winning venue has to offer.’’.
Adrian Ledbury, Director Pro-Active North London added ‘’The aim of today was to inspire the communities of North London to get more active and to lead healthier lifestyles – without a doubt, we have certainly given people the opportunity to learn about and experience some of the best activities available in the region, with the hope that they continue to enjoy these in the future.’’