For the first time ever UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport (EIS) are collaborating with Team GB, ParalympicsGB and 19 Olympic and Paralympic sports to launch its latest search for the athletes of the future – From Home 2 The Games.

The search is the 17th to be run nationally since 2007 by UK Sport, in partnership with the EIS and the UK’s Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community, with From Home 2 The Games the first to leverage the power of both Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

From Home 2 The Games has been specifically designed to engage and encourage young people from all communities in the UK to explore their possibilities in Olympic and Paralympic sports that they may never have thought about getting involved with before, and consequently, discover untapped potential.

It is seeking to reach and engage 11-23-year-olds who are sporting or physically active to participate in Olympic sport and 15-34-year-olds with an impairment that makes them eligible to participate in Paralympic sport.

Officially launched today at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, potential athletes can now join From Home 2 The Games by completing three simple challenges and submitting their results at www.FromHome2TheGames.com. The challenges are:

• For Olympic sport, potential athletes need to complete a 20m sprint, a broad jump and an open skill challenge.
• For Paralympic sport, potential athletes need to complete a 20m push or sprint, a pick-up and throw and an open skill challenge.

As part of the process, potential athletes will be encouraged to upload their scores and fill in a short form about themselves and their sporting background. Submissions will close at midnight of Monday 6 September and then be reviewed by a team of expert sport scientists and coaches.

A select number of potential athletes will be invited to progress to the next stage of the process in the autumn with sessions held to further explore their opportunity to be a future Olympian or Paralympian and the possibility that a number will be selected to join National Governing Body development programmes.

Dame Katherine Grainger, Chair of UK Sport, said: “Our hope is that every young person that gets involved with From Home 2 The Games will have a fantastic, positive experience of sport and, wherever it might lead, will be better for having engaged with it. We are committed to discovering the nation’s exceptional sporting talent of tomorrow and building a more inclusive and diverse Olympic and Paralympic family.

“From Home 2 The Games is a brilliant example of the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community coming together to give young people a chance that they may never have had otherwise. We want to get to a place where the only barrier to sporting success is potential, and so I would encourage people from all backgrounds and all corners of the UK to give this a go and have fun with it.”

From Home 2 The Games is digitally driven and working with seven athlete ambassadors who will utilise their channels to tell their own personal stories of engaging with sport, where their journey has taken them and some of the challenges they have faced along the way.

The seven athlete ambassadors are Adam Peaty, Ali Jawad, Bianca Walkden, Laura Muir, Kadeena Cox, Kye Whyte and Tegan Vincent-Cooke. Cox herself first engaged with UK Sport and the EIS as a potential athlete during the 2014 campaign.

Irrespective of any progression and selection towards National Governing Body development programmes, all of the young people who engage with From Home 2 The Games will be signposted as to how they might get involved with Olympic and Paralympic sport in their local areas and communities.

Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth champion Adam Peaty said: “To any young adult out there – what have you got to lose? That is exactly what I said to myself. You will learn so many things through sport that you don’t even know because you don’t know yourself yet. If you’ve had that struggle of not having enough money, not being able to do it, I think it makes that journey a little bit better. I got addicted to swimming straightaway. It was a fishhook – it grabbed me and pulled me in. It wasn’t until I started to race that the love really started to flourish.”

Para-dressage rider and multiple national champion Tegan Vincent-Cooke said: “I started riding when I was four-years-old and competing when I was eight or nine but it didn’t really click that I could take it further. It wasn’t until the London 2012 Paralympic Games, when I was in my mid-teens, and seeing people like me that I thought I could get there. The main reason why I didn’t see myself having a career in the sport from a young age was because there was no one out there like me that I could see. Now that I am currently working towards that goal, I do want to create a pathway so that people of all races and colours can join with me and enjoy the sport for what it is.”

Since 2007 UK Sport has worked in partnership with the English Institute of Sport and over 22 sports within the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community to run 16 national searches for the athletes of the future, engaging more than 11,000 young people.

Among those athletes to have successfully made their way through a recruitment campaign and onto National Lottery-funded World Class Programmes are a number of Olympic and Paralympic champions and medallists including Lizzy Yarnold, Helen Glover, Lutalo Muhammad, Laura Deas, Jon-Allan Butterworth, Joanna Butterfield as well as Kadeena Cox.

The 19 National Governing Bodies involved in From Home 2 the Games are:

• Archery GB
• Badminton England
• GB Boccia
• GB Snowsport
• British Athletics
• British Canoeing
• British Cycling
• British Disability Fencing
• British Diving
• British Gymnastics
• British Para Table Tennis
• British Rowing
• British Shooting
• British Skeleton
• British Swimming
• British Triathlon
• British Weightlifting
• Lawn Tennis Association
• Pentathlon GB

Penny Briscoe, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission at Tokyo 2020, said: “We hope this bold new initiative can tap into communities that we have not managed to regularly reach to unearth more talented Paralympic athletes of the future.

“Working in partnership with UK Sport, National Governing Bodies and the English Institute of Sport, we are confident this initiative can be a crucial first step in people fulfilling their dreams of competing at a Paralympic Games and ensure ParalympicsGB is truly representative of the whole nation.

“ParalympicsGB believe passionately in equality and inclusion and we recognise that we need to ensure that there are opportunities for all aspiring athletes throughout the UK, so please sign up and begin your Paralympic journey.”

John Alder, Head of Performance Pathways at UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport, said: “From Home 2 the Games represents an exciting chance for us to connect the next generation of sporting talent with an opportunity in Olympic and Paralympic sport.

“The campaign is about finding a connection from home, where many young people have had to spend a lot of time over the past year, to the Games, which are now just around the corner.

“This will be our first digitally led athlete engagement opportunity and we hope this will allow young people of all backgrounds to enter, creating the opportunity for future athletes from right across the UK to maybe one day compete at the very highest level.”

Are you an athlete, coach, volunteer,  someone that’s keen to get involved in disability sport or has an interest in disability sport?  Come along to the first in the series of the Young Start Branch Spotlights which is all about Forth Valley Disability Sport.  You will be given the chance to listen to three fantastic FVDS members while also being able to ask them questions about their experiences in disability sport.  This is a great opportunity to get an insight into everything involved within FVDS.

The session will take place on Thursday 10^th June from 6:30pm-7:30pm – We hope to see you there!

The session will take place on Zoom and you can register here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqceiupz0iHdfOMUhaSiEzNLla-OQU1Yvf

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The Scottish Youth Parliament, YouthLink Scotland and Young Scot want to find out more about your thoughts and feelings as lockdown restrictions begin to ease. You are invited to complete a survey below. Please note your response will be anonymous. Take a look at the information in the link to see how your responses will be used. You can also click here to find out more about how your data will be stored.

Young Scot Lockdown Lowdown Survey

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) are proud to work with many key partners, driving the development of disability sport while also influencing and supporting inclusive practice across the country. An example of this collaborative approach is the relationship SDS holds with Edinburgh Active Schools where inclusion and opportunities for participants with disabilities runs through the ethos of the organisation.

The relationship between SDS and Edinburgh Active Schools is historic and dates back several years, a highlight being the establishment of the East Para Sport Festival (formerly known as the Paralympic Experience Event) in 2012 which welcomed school aged young people with a physical, visual, or hearing impairment to try a range of sports delivered by local community clubs. This flagship event continues to be a collaborative priority, attracting children & young people with disabilities from across the city while gaining the full support of the Active Schools team on the day and in the weeks leading up to the event. This investment is key as Active Schools have established relationships with schools and therefore have the increased ability to engage and interact with individuals who may be interested in accessing the event.

Additionally, both organisations work closely to support pupils in the educational environment through advice and guidance, equipment, sharing resources etc while also developing and delivering sport specific opportunities like Boccia and Goalball to schools and pupils across the city. Furthermore, SDS, Active Schools and local branch Lothian Disability Sport work hard to support participants with disabilities with the transition into the community, often via a club or a session. This work is essential, providing an opportunity for individuals to engage with sport and physical activity over a prolonged period of time and encourages lifelong participation.

The relationship also encourages the coach & volunteer workforce to increase knowledge and understanding of disability sport through education opportunities (UK Disability Inclusion Training), creating positive environments for young people to access sport and physical activity.

Due to the current situation with COVID 19, Edinburgh Active Schools were required to alter their plans for the Coaching & Volunteering Awards for 2020. The awards recognise, celebrate, and showcase the Active Schools Workforce, partnerships and outstanding commitment to providing and developing physical activity opportunities for school aged young people across the capital. The delayed awards ceremony will be delivered virtually over a five-day period, between Monday 10th – Friday 14th May where all nominees and award winners will be recognised over social media (twitter) – @ActiveSchoolsEd #COVAWARDS.

SDS is thrilled to be selected as the Edinburgh Active Schools Governing Body of the Year for 2020 and this recognition illustrates the strong ongoing partnership between the two organisations, with creating and developing opportunities for participants with disabilities a significant priority moving forward.

Active Schools Coordinator and lead for Equality & Inclusion, Jill Coleman highlighted the collaborative approach, stating “The strong partnership working which has developed over the years with SDS hugely enhances and supports a range of areas of work within the Active Schools programme.

SDS approach their work with us with a huge level of professionalism, experience and breadth skills which in turn has helped Edinburgh Active Schools to engage with and support many young people with disabilities within Edinburgh to embark on their journey into sport.

Thankyou SDS!”

Scottish Disability Sport continues to follow the advice given by the Scottish Government and sportscotland on the return to sport process. The positive news is that we continue to head in the right direction currently as restrictions continue to lift however, we do not underestimate how challenging the last 15 months have been for many of our participants, athletes, officials, coaches and volunteers.

The position remains that the vast majority of all physical face-to-face national events including engagement days, para-sport festivals and national championships will recommence from 1 September 2021. All education and training sessions will continue to take place online until the end of August. As a multi-sport organisation advice from sportscotland, the sport-specific governing bodies, Active Scotland and the Scottish Government has been considered.

The exceptions to the above statement are as follows:

• A programme of non-residential regionalised outdoor activity days in August for young people aged 10-17 that will run in place of the typical residential SDS Summer Camp
• The CP Football squad will return to squad training outdoors on Sunday 13 June at Stenhousemuir
• Regional swimming squads have started to return from Thursday 6 May

A decision on the return of the National Boccia Squad will be made following the meeting of the Boccia Sub Group on Wednesday 27 May. All Scottish boccia clubs should follow the Return to Boccia guidance issued by SDS thus far. Further information for branches, clubs, officials, coaches and players on the return to boccia please watch the Return to Sport videos detailing the best practice before, during and after sessions.

 The return of further regional and national squad training will be considered on a case by case basis depending on the nature of the sport, the environment and the underlying health conditions of the athletes. Guidance and advice from sportscotland, the sport-specific governing bodies, Active Scotland and the Scottish Government will also be considered. SDS will provide ongoing support and guidance on the return to sport in Scotland. It is essential we continue to remain alert to the ever-changing environment and SDS will endeavour to keep you up to date throughout.

 Many thanks to all the participants, athletes, officials, coaches and volunteers for the support and patience you have all shown throughout this difficult period. SDS has organised a series of workshops to support the return to sport. Please find more information on the flyer attached.

Coming Back to Sport

Project Echo is launching a new social media campaign called #CaptureTheBarrier. We would like to hear from persons with disability and their allies. The campaign is part of a larger research project that aims to understand peoples’ experiences of participation in sport and physical activity. By bringing this conversation to mainstream platforms we aim to generate conversation about the many challenges of participation, but also discuss how people have navigated many of the barriers. Through participation in the campaign and subsequent participation in the research, you can help inform decision making and inform policy on the future of sport and physical activity, post-pandemic.

To join the campaign simply:

1. Follow our social media platforms for some inspiration
2. Capture a picture of a barrier to physical activity that you have seen or experienced
3. Tag @projectecho2020 (Facebook), @projectecho2020 (Twitter) or @proj.echo (Instagram)
4. Use the hashtag #projectecho and #CaptureTheBarrier 
5. Tag us and 3 other people you want to see complete this challenge
6. Join the conversation at theechoproject.org.