Jim Jefferies was on hand today at Longstone Primary School in Edinburgh to announce that during the first year of its flagship programme, the Tesco Bank Football Challenge, participating pupils took a combined total of 355,563,894 steps.
The 19,061 children involved took an average of 3,109 steps during each week of their six week, six hour block of coaching. The statistics were gathered by SFA football development officers using pedometers across a selection of children around the country. With the programme on target to reach 78,000 children, that will mean nearly 1.5 billion steps over the four years of the programme.
The Tesco Bank Football Challenge is a four-year community programme run in partnership with the SFA which introduces football to Primary 2 and Primary 3 children (six to eight years old) across Scotland to help get them engaged in a healthy and active lifestyle.
Ex-Hearts, Kilmarnock and Bradford City manager Jim Jefferies said: "We are really pleased to be able to announce this fantastic statistic. It underlines the fact that the children involved in the Tesco Bank Football Challenge are getting really active.
1.5 billion steps over four years might seem like a lot, but it’s what’s required to get kids fitter and more engaged." Shona Robison MSP, Minister for the Commonwealth Games and Sport, welcomed the news and said: "Football, Scotland’s national game, plays an important role in our communities across Scotland and can inspire people, young and old, to get involved in sport.
We want to see more people getting involved in sports and this Football Challenge is helping to provide more opportunities for young people in schools through a partnership between the Scottish FA and Tesco Bank. It supports our efforts to build a healthier and fitter nation by providing opportunities for children to get involved in sport."
Adele Mills, Community Investment Manager at Tesco Bank added: "Having fun is the cornerstone of the Tesco Bank Football Challenge but this remarkable statistic of over 350 million steps in the first year demonstrates what a wide ranging and active programme we are running in partnership with the Scottish FA.
We are delighted to see its continued success around the country and look forward to a strong end to the second year of the project." In the first year of the programme 479 schools across Scotland’s 32 local authorities participated in the programme, involving 19,061 boys and girls. There were 74 regional festivals and over 1,000 teachers and volunteers went through the SFA’s in-service programme.
Source: FOOTYMAD
