A nationwide scheme designed to help young sports fans train as journalists is to be officially launched tomorrow.
Supporter to Reporter (S2R) aims to give young people the opportunity to work with professional journalists from the BBC, Sky and ITV and report from local and national sports events.
S2R has been piloted in the North West and now, with the backing of The Football Foundation, the project will roll out nationally.
Already, young S2R sports journalists have interviewed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Olympic medal-winning British track cyclist Chris Hoy and reported from Champions League matches and the Tour of Britain.
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Steve Futter, senior development manager for education and lifelong learning at The Football Foundation, said: “Having been lucky enough to see a team of young reporters in action at the Guinness Premier final at Twickenham earlier this year, I was deeply impressed by the professionalism, confidence and skills of all the young people involved.
“Any project that can have such a significant impact on a group of young people from challenging backgrounds has to be worthy of the foundation’s support.”
S2R is run by Radiowaves, a social networking platform designed for students.
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Its founder and director, Tim Riches, said: “Over the next three years we’ll be training hundreds of young journalists ready to report from the London Olympic Games in 2012.
“By taking part, our reporters can gain journalism and literacy skills and develop their self-confidence and motivation. We will be able to identify and nurture the best new sports journalism talent from across the country.”
S2R is supported by The Football Foundation and Trafford’s and Northampton’s Children and Young People’s Services.
The launch event will take place on Wednesday from 7pm to 8.30pm at the FA headquarters in Soho Square, London.
Olympic swimming medallist Steve Parry has been invited to launch the scheme on Wednesday at the Football Association’s headquarters in Soho Square, central London.
Hosted by BBC radio journalist Rob Nothman, the event will also include the announcement of the new National Young Sports Reporter of the Year Awards and details of how schools and young people can become involved.
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