Latest news with #youthsport
Reuters
5 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Kremlev says Olympics will be just for kids if IBA stays excluded
LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Olympic boxing will become just a youth tournament if the International Boxing Association stays excluded as a governing body, IBA president Umar Kremlev said on Monday. The Russian told Reuters through a translator that the IBA, suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2019 and stripped of recognition in 2023, was heading into a 'golden era' of its own. "For the boxers it will be important to participate in the world championships and the IBA tournaments. The Olympics will be for the children. It's children's sport," he said via a Zoom call. "It's like football and the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. "The Olympic games are not developing the sport itself while the International Federation does. "The most important tournaments should be IBA tournaments including world championships as a pinnacle and Olympic tournaments should be in parallel just for the youth generation, for kids." Speaking on the day former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took the helm of the IOC from Thomas Bach, Kremlev spoke of the German in derogatory terms and offered no conciliatory words to either. He said future IOC presidents should be elected by countries rather than individual IOC members and Coventry should "leave no trace of Bach". Kremlev has history in attacking the IOC and Bach, doing so at the Paris Games in a long and rambling press conference last August that drew a withering response from the Olympic organisation. "If you ever needed any evidence at all that the IBA is unfit to run boxing just look at the key members of the IBA who took part in that travesty," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at the time. Kremlev also repeated a call for Olympic athletes to be paid prize money. Kremlev heaped scorn on World Boxing, the body created in 2023 that now has more than 100 members and is set to organise the 2028 tournament after the last two were run by the IOC. "Nobody should compare this particular organization with the IBA because the IBA is a huge elephant and this organization is a fly, a small insect who doesn't live," said the Russian. The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games was run by the IOC after it stripped the IBA of recognition for failing to implement reforms on governance and finance. The IBA decided anyway to award prize money to boxers competing in Paris. Kremlev said more details about the IBA's future plans would come at a press conference in Istanbul on July 2. He also gave an update on legal action, threatened in February, against the IOC for allowing Algerian gold medallist Imane Khelif to compete in the women's tournament at the Paris Games in a gender-eligibility row. Kremlev said the IBA's legal team was still looking into the matter but would be taking it to civil courts and not the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
School headmaster hails the importance of sport for children
By Laura Howard, Sportsbeat A headmaster from Sunderland emphasised the importance of activity for children after his school launched the Youth Sport Trust's National School Sports Week on Monday. Iain Williamson has embedded a culture of activity at Dame Dorothy Primary School and celebration was in full swing as pupils at the school got involved in a range of sports to kick off the week. Advertisement The Youth Sport Trust's annual campaign promotes the importance of daily physical activity by encouraging schools, families, and communities to engage in 60 minutes of PE, sport, and play and there was no better place to witness its impact than Dame Dorothy where activity is at the core of their ethos. 'We think activity is absolutely imperative. It's what we do all the time. Just because it's the National School Sports Week this week, it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen in other weeks. It should be happening all the time,' said Williamson. 'It's wonderful to see today. We pride ourselves at Dame Dorothy on being a very active school. We wear active uniform, and we have daily activities from breakfast club right the way through the school day. 'Because that's what children should be. Children should be active.' Advertisement The Sunderland primary school were donning their 'Always Active uniform' which removes barriers to participation in activity throughout the school day. It means children feel comfortable to move and do not have to have the discomfort of getting changed with their peers so teachers can utilise activity when they feel it is needed. 'We realised that we wanted our children to be active all the time. We looked at some of the barriers like inappropriate footwear, the uniform didn't lend itself to being active as well,' explained Williamson. 'By 2024, we launched our active uniform, which has reduced the number of children who miss out on PE sessions because you can dress for PE, you can dress for activity and there's no reason why you can't take part. Advertisement 'You can see children are more attentive. It allows teachers to take the children outside, have a quick run around the field for five minutes so they can refocus for the next lesson.' The pupils put their active uniform to good use on Monday as they took part in a day full of activity. There were Girls Active sessions where older pupils delivered coaching and encouragement to the younger years followed by PE sessions using National School Sports Week resources. The children also received a visit and the opportunity for a Q&A with world Thai boxing champion, British boxing champion and Youth Sport Trust Athlete Mentor Rachael Mackenzie. Advertisement It is activity and awareness that is needed more than ever in young people with less than a third of teachers and parents currently aware that children and young people should be active for 60 minutes a day. 'It's never been more important than it is now. In schools we have got to show them that being active is not just good for their physical health but it's really important for their mental health and their well-being too,' added Williamson. 'There is a national obesity crisis. Many of the children, certainly in the city of Sunderland, are what's described as being overweight or obese. That trend is rising, and we need to do something to address that.' National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures. This year, powered by Sports Direct x Under Armour, marks the 30th anniversary of the Youth Sport Trust, who is a UK leading children's charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. Visit
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rachael Mackenzie launches Youth Sport Trust's National School Sports Week
British boxing champion Rachael Mackenzie highlighted the transformational power of sport as she helped to launch the Youth Sport Trust's National School Sports Week on Monday. The Thai boxing world champion was attending a day full of activity at Dame Dorothy Primary School in Sunderland as part of the campaign promoting the importance of daily physical activity by encouraging schools, families, and communities to engage in 60 minutes of PE, sport, and play. Advertisement Mackenzie took part in a Q&A with pupils and got stuck into activities, including hockey sessions led by the pupils, knowing firsthand the power sport has to positively impact lives. 'Sport for me as an individual was transformational. I was a fairly inactive teenager, and I found my sport of Thai boxing at 18 years of age having come through some really significant mental health problems,' she explained. 'It was actually finding sport and learning to thrive in that environment that taught me how to manage my own mental health because sport's a great place for children to learn to fail but also to learn their strengths. 'Personally, it was sport that gave me that robustness and resilience to be able to cope with life really and to cope with everything that life throws at you.' Advertisement Now, Mackenzie is passing on that impact of sport as a Youth Sport Trust Athlete Mentor with the need for the awareness of the positive impact of sport greater than ever. Research shows that less than a third of teachers and parents are currently aware that children and young people should be active for 60 minutes a day. 'It's really important for kids to remain active over the course of the day because it's one of the foundations of normal brain development,' said Mackenzie. 'Active children have happier, healthier, bigger brains, brains that are primed for learning. We see in brain imaging but also in results for young people that those children who are active outperform those inactive young people. Advertisement 'So young people who meet those recommended daily 60 minutes actually perform better academically. We see that those children are more productive and, most importantly for me, those children are happier.' Dame Dorothy Primary School are setting the standard for schools looking to incorporate more movement into their school day with an 'always active uniform' that allows children to move freely throughout the day and a perimeter path for children to go on runs at school. 'It's a real joy to be here at Dame Dorothy for the start of National School Sports Week,' added Mackenzie. 'The opportunities for the children here are absolutely outstanding but what I have loved more than anything is the energy and the enthusiasm of the young people themselves.' National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures. This year, powered by Sports Direct x Under Armour, marks the 30th anniversary of the Youth Sport Trust, who is a UK leading children's charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. Visit
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ali Oliver highlights importance of keeping children active
National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures. By Laura Howard Youth Sport Trust CEO Ali Oliver MBE hopes to create awareness of the need for children to be active as she helped to launch National School Sports Week on Monday. Oliver was at Dame Dorothy Primary School in Sunderland for a day packed with sport and activity as they kicked off the campaign which promotes the importance of daily physical activity by encouraging schools, families, and communities to engage in 60 minutes of PE, sport, and play. Advertisement Pupils were involved in a Girls Active session where leaders from the student body taught sessions to younger years and PE classes using National School Sports Week resources. It marked the start of a week dedicated to bringing attention to the need for children to spend 60 minutes active each day. 'National School Sports Week is an opportunity to shine a light on why it's important children are active and get those important messages across about not just physical health, but social wellbeing in the digital age,' said Oliver. 'Playing together physically is really important for the cognitive benefits, because sadly lots of adults will judge physical education on their own experiences. Advertisement 'Today's generation is a much more sedentary generation, and it's really important that the school day compensates for some of the time that young people are more sedentary in the rest of their lives.' The annual campaign highlights and aims to change worrying statistics that indicate children are less active than ever. Research shows that fewer than half (47%) of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officers' guidelines of engaging in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity daily. In Sunderland, where the week was launched 25% of children in reception are overweight or obese - and over 40% by Year 6. Advertisement But the Youth Sport Trust are on a mission to change the direction of travel and transform the lives of young people through sport. '[We want] to equip educators and empower young people so together they can create brighter futures through the power of play and sport,' explained Oliver. 'We have a wonderful vision, which is a future where every child enjoys the life-changing benefits of PE and sport. 'We also deliver a number of products and services which schools can use to help them think more creatively, whether it's about how they use their playground, or how they make their maths lessons more active.' National School Sports Week is an annual campaign by the Youth Sport Trust, dedicated to celebrating the power of PE, sport, and play to build brighter futures. This year, powered by Sports Direct x Under Armour, marks the 30th anniversary of the Youth Sport Trust, who is a UK leading children's charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. Visit
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Troubling decline' in secondary school PE lessons
A "troubling decline" in the number of hours England's secondary school pupils spend doing physical education (PE) "should be a wake-up call to society", according to children's exercise charity the Youth Sport Trust (YST). The organisation says figures show "nearly 4,000 PE hours lost in the last year alone" in state-funded schools, and calls for "urgent action to protect and prioritise" the subject. The YST also claims that since the London 2012 Olympics "almost 45,000 PE hours have disappeared from secondary school timetables", and that the number of PE teachers in England has also dropped by 7%. In response, the government said it is "determined to break down barriers to accessing PE and school sports for young people". In its annual report, the YST says that 2.2 million children in England are now doing less than 30 minutes of activity a day, and less than half (48%) are meeting the UK's Chief Medical Officers' recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. It says the steepest decline has hit 11-14-year-olds, with more than 2,800 hours cut and 347 teachers lost for this age group in the past year, at a time of rising childhood obesity rates. YST also adds that girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and those from disadvantaged backgrounds "continue to face the greatest barriers to being active". However, the study also found that 93% of young people believe PE is important, 71% want to be more active at school, and 96% of teachers agree that sport and play benefit mental wellbeing. While PE is a mandatory subject in schools, the recommended amount of two hours a week is not enforced. YST chief executive Ali Oliver said: "Our children are moving less, feeling unhappier, and losing access to the transformative power of PE, contributing to stagnant physical activity levels. "The fall in PE hours is sadly an exacerbation of a longer-term trend and should be a wake-up call to society, from policymakers to schools and parents. "Unless we take action to reverse these damaging trends and increase activity levels to improve wellbeing, we risk failing a generation." In a statement, the government said: "These figures highlight the government's dire inheritance, but we're determined to break down barriers to accessing PE and school sports for young people through our Plan for Change, helping to improve their mental and physical wellbeing. "We are working across the government and with our partners including Youth Sport Trust and Sport England to boost participation and have already invested £100m to upgrade sports facilities and launched a programme to improve access to sports for pupils with special education needs and disabilities. "Our ongoing curriculum and assessment review seeks to deliver a broader curriculum, so that children do not miss out on subjects including PE and sport."
