Sport Unlimited: Street Cheer

Sport Unlimited is an innovative youth sports programme which cascades funding to local communities via the county sports partnerships network.

Partners involved

• Cheney School
• Thame and Oxford School Sports Partnership
• Oxfordshire Sports Partnership Core Team
• British Gymnastics

Success Factors

• Good targeting
• Promotion
• Keeping a momentum
• Staff member with an interest in dance

The Street Cheer project at Cheney School is a great example of how the Sport Unlimited programme targets semi-sporty children and offers them an alternative to the regular sports on offer.

The story began when Cheney were successful in gaining funding from the Sport Unlimited pot with a plan to run an after school Street Cheer club. The money received allowed teacher Jodie Bradley to be trained as a Street Cheer coach. Other funds were available to purchase equipment including pom-poms and music.

Success Factors

The project was successful for several reasons. Firstly the demand was clearly there for the project and the right young people were targeted to take part. Cheney also had a teacher with a passion for dance who was willing to take the project on. The project was well promoted and the training was kept regular so those involved in the project kept a momentum.

Challenges Faced

Although the project was a success there were still some challenges the Street Cheer team faced. This included Street Cheer training clashing with a performing arts annual event called Rock Challenge and not having access to suitable music software. Also getting boys to get involved with Street Cheer was a challenge but one Cheney overcame.

What Does the Future Hold?

The project was a huge success and during the last year at least 40 young people have taken part. The project has become sustainable and ran for several terms after its 10 week taster had finished. What’s even more impressive is that 2 of the year 10 students have started to become involved in running the project.

Jodie Bradley believes that the project will continue to run and in the future would like to see a countywide exhibition day to provide an opportunity for the pupils to show off their skills and promote Street Cheer to other schools.

Cheney School is a great example of how using Sport Unlimited funds can help target semi-sporty young people and offer them something new and exciting. If you would like to know more about Sport Unlimited please contact us.