Sport.Cardiff, together with the Welsh Assembly Government and Sports Council for Wales held the Cardiff launch of the 5x60 school sports programme on January 16th 2007 at the Millennium Stadium.
The 5x60 initiative - introduced to continue the momentum started by the Sports Council for Wales Dragon Sport scheme - is aimed at getting young people in Wales more active and taking part in 60 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. Pupils will decide upon the type of activities in which they want to participate and activities will comprise of a mixture of competitive, team and individual sports as well as recreational activities from climbing to dance to judo and cycling.
The Rt. Hon Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Gareth Neale launched the scheme and then children from local secondary schools took part in their chosen activities such as street dancing and climbing at the Millennium Stadium. Cardiff Blues players Rhys Williams and Ton Shanklin were also on hand to encourage the youngsters and take part in the activities!
The 5x60 scheme is part of a national scheme funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, administered by the Sports Council for Wales and delivered by Sport.Cardiff. The intention is to ensure that every secondary school in Wales is part of this new and exciting initiative by 2009 along with actively deploying a coordinator in all 20 secondary schools.
Councillor Nigel Howells, Chief Executive for Culture, Leisure and Parks said,
The 5 x 60 launch was a huge success and all the children involved enjoyed themselves immensely. This type of programme is wonderful for encouraging the kids to simply enjoy being fit and healthy from an early age and having the support of the world renowned Millennium Stadium only succeeds to encourage the young people of Cardiff.