Each year until 2012, School Sport Partnerships across England will recruit two young people to take on the role of Young Ambassador for two years. In their first year, they work in their local communities championing sport and the ethos and values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement. In the second year they take on a mentoring role with the new Young Ambassador intake.
By the time the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games reach these shores in 2012, more than 5,000 young people from across the UK will have been through the Young Ambassador programme, which is managed by the Youth Sport Trust on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Half of all the Young Ambassadors, which this year will total 898, are selected due to their sporting talent, while the other half are chosen due to their outstanding commitment and ability as young leaders or volunteers.
Young Ambassadors over the last year
Over the first year of the Young Ambassador programme there has been much to celebrate. Young Ambassadors from 422 School Sport Partnerships have increased participation, supported learning through the Olympic and Paralympic values and provided inspiration for other young people to ‘choose sport’.
Some of the Young Ambassadors have extended their impact beyond their School Sport Partnership to a regional, national and even international stage (for example: working with the 2012 Regional Development Agencies, taking part in a keynote at the Sports College Conference with Dame Kelly Holmes, undertaking oversees visits to South Africa and Malaysia and speaking at LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) events and much more.
For an overview of Young Ambassadors 2007-8 please click here.
Young Ambassador Conferences 2007
Six conferences were held over three weeks, attended by nearly 1,000 young people and 13 Olympic and Paralympic champions, including athletics legends Dame Kelly Holmes and Darren Campbell, who united to champion sport and celebrate London’s hosting of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Young Ambassador logo
Young Ambassadors were asked to choose from six winning logo's from each of the conferences. The winning logo will be given to a professional design team to enhance and will be used as the official logo for the Young Officials Programme for 2007/08.
Voting is now closed, the winning logo will be announced shortly.