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Olympic sports honour for duo

25/ 7/2008

TWO sport-mad students have been appointed as North West ambassadors for the Olympics.

From September, Lauren Hindle, 16, of George Street, Rishton, and Rebecca Kemp, 16, of Causeway, Great Harwood, will go into primary schools to motivate youngsters to take part in sports and tell them more about the Olympic Games – which will be held next month.

The girls, who will represent Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, will also attend meetings with other school representatives at conferences around the country.

To become an ambassador the girls had to apply in writing before having an interview with the selection panel.

Lauren, who has just finished her GCSEs at Norden High School and Sports College and is looking forward to starting her A-levels at Clitheroe Grammar School, was first introduced to the role of young ambassador when she attended a national sports conference in Telford as a reward for performing well at school.

She said: "I have been doing a sports leadership course in school, where I work with primary schools, and I applied to become an ambassador because I thought it would be good to help motivate younger people to be part of the Olympics.

"My parents are thrilled because it’s such a big role."

Lauren has represented her high school and Hyndburn in netball, but due to injury she cannot play as much as she would like.

She said: "The Olympics is a huge event and when it’s on all my family sit and watch it. It brings people together. It’s more about enjoying sport rather than just playing it."

Rebecca, who has just completed her GCSEs at St Augustine’s High School in Billington, was put forward for the role because of her volunteer coaching with a disabled football team.

She said: "I’m looking forward to getting more involved in the community and getting more people involved in sport."