Britain to inject 3.8 mln pounds into Olympic sports for youth

Britain to inject 3.8 mln pounds into Olympic sports for youth

LONDON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The British government has teamed up with 20 Premier League clubs in a 3.8-million-pound (one pound equals to about 1.5 U.S. dollars) partnership to offer thousands of young people the chance to get involved in four Olympic sports.

The Premier League 4 Sport initiative is part of the government's 140-million-pound Legacy Action Plan, which was announced in June last year and aims to get two million people more active by 2012.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown helped launch the scheme on Friday during a visit to Tottenham Hotspur's training ground in Chigwell, Essex, in east England along with Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore, Tottenham Hotspur Manager Harry Redknapp and Spurs players Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Jermaine Jenas.

Brown said: "This initiative is great news for young people and communities and will help get thousands more teenagers participating in sports over the next few years, building on our goal to get young people doing five hours of sport a week."

The Youth Sport Trust, Sport England and Premier League clubs will work with community sports clubs and the governing bodies for badminton, judo, table tennis and volleyball to get 30,000 young people, aged between 11 and 16, involved in the four sports during the three-year scheme.