[18 JAN 10] CRUSADER NEWS

Hoops 4 Health Update

By Adam Manning

Coventry Crusaders’ Hoops 4 Health primary school initiative will be gathering pace over the next two months in the aftermath of it being revealed by the NHS that 64% of Coventry’s year six school children are over weight.

A further nine schools have been booked in over January and February for year six pupils to receive health work sessions from a senior Crusaders basketball player. The sessions integrate lessons on the risks of smoking, healthy eating and cardiovascular health alongside practical basketball sessions.

Speaking in November on the reasoning for the NHS’s £2.5 million “Get Up & Go” campaign which will see 20 new sporting initiatives in the city, Dr Caron Grainger, the Joint Director of Public Health at NHS Coventry and Coventry City Council, said: “Statistics show that around 28 per cent of adults in Coventry are estimated to be obese and around 64 per cent of year six children are overweight. We want to address this which is why we are launching this campaign.

And Crusader Foundation Director Scott Neely believes the Hoops 4 Health project is a typical way of lowering the level of obesity by offering opportunities for the increasingly independent youngsters to stay active.

He said that the “Hoops 4 Health” would make a difference “By encouraging as well as challenging Year 6 students to consider the choices they make regarding what they eat, how much they exercise, and making them aware of the health risks of smoking”.

“This is a key time as they move into their teenage years and have more freedom to make their own choices. We will also sign-post young people to community based basketball clubs as well as other physical activity initiatives  in hopes of keeping them engaged in regular exercise” Neely added.

Since the introduction of the programme last January, Crusaders have delivered sessions to twelve schools in total, and Neely said that getting the sessions right is something the club’s trying to improve all of the time to achieve a lasting impression.

“We receive evaluations from each school and take this into consideration with each new delivery. We hope to provide information in a way that the students retain and will hopefully serve them well in the future” he said.

Crusaders captain John Olinger, Kane Hudson, Dan Taylor and Dave Edden are expected to be the Crusaders players at the forefront of delivering the programme to the following primary schools from 11^th January 2010 onwards: Templars, Potters Green, Sir Frank Whittle, Aldermans Green, Our Lady of Assumption, Leigh C of E, Charter primary, Cannon Park, St.John Vianney.

 

  Main Menu | News | Hoops 4 Health Update  18 JAN 2010