Two of the major sporting organisations in Britain preparing for Rio 2016 have signed long term sponsors that will assist in the preparation of athletes and the promotion of the sports.
British Paralympics is working with Sainsburys and the Youth Sports Trust to introduce the sports of Boccia, Goalball, sitting Volleyball and athletics to 2.5 million schoolchildren over the next six months.
“Sainsbury’s Active Kids Paralympic Challenge aims to increase awareness, and challenge perceptions of disability among young people. It will encourage them to be more active through exciting inclusive sports challenges designed to engage disabled and non-disabled young people together.
Imagination
“At the Youth Sport Trust we know how powerful major sports events can be at capturing the imagination of young people and inspiring them to be active,” said Ali Oliver, CEO of the Youth Sports Trust.
“We hope Sainsbury’s Active Kids Paralympic Challenge will build on the success of our support of London 2012 and the recent Rugby World Cup.”
This combination of sport, business and schools is one which could and should be echoed here in Ireland, creating the right kind of role models for young people, the right message on inclusion when it comes to sport and a better experience in schools…
In another positive development UK Athletics has signed a five year deal with Grant Thornton to help prepare for performing on the field and especially off it.
Workplace teams
The firm is already involved in Irish Athletics through the Grant Thornton Corporate Challenges that take place encouraging workplace teams to run 5K through city centres.
The UK deal is aimed at bolstering UK Athletics as it prepares to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.
“This partnership with Grant Thornton is about building dynamic teams who can create events and environments that encourage peak performance throughout the organisation,” said UK Athletics Director Niels de Vos.
“Grant Thornton will provide quality individuals and resources that will provide additional support and critical thinking to the governing body above and beyond our usual means.”
Ideas
“If British Athletics is going to be the best we can be we need to look outside our sport and get ideas from sources where perhaps other governing bodies wouldn’t look.”
“This is what a business would do; they look at a whole series of things and compare themselves with competitors. Good businesses will then go way outside their sector in an effort to improve and innovate, which is what we are doing by collaborating with Grant Thornton.”
Grant Thorntons engagement is based on developing its own personnel and teams as well as assisting in the management of the sport.
“We believe that partnering with UK Athletics will help us on our journey to becoming a high-performance coaching organisation,” said Kylie Roberts, director of leadership development at the firm.
“We have a vision to create a shared enterprise way of working and to do that our leaders need to be exceptional coaches and enablers. We are partnering with UKA to work with us on coaching excellence and likewise we work with them to create high performing teams and a high performing organisation.”
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Sport for Business is a community of sporting and business leaders. 
