British sailing star Harriette Trumble told students to get active to succeed.
The 20-year-old Olympic sailor visited the University of Portsmouth in support of a drive to create a new generation of sporting leaders.
Harriette, who is going for gold at the London 2012 Olympics as part of Team GB, told an audience of 14 to 16-
year-olds how they can lead the field in bringing sports to young people with the Youth Sport Trust's TOP Link scheme.
Pupils from 33 local secondary schools were at the event.
The TOP Link scheme aims to recruit and train children as sports organisers, so they can take on the role of planning local sporting events in schools, clubs and communities.
Youth Sport Trust chief executive Steve Grainger said: 'In this Olympic and Paralympic year we're aiming to use the power of sport to give thousands of young people across the country training, skills and experience which will be invaluable for them in later life.
'We want these young people to start a life-long involvement in leadership and volunteering in sport either as volunteers, players, coaches, officials or administrators.'
Since the Top Link scheme began, more than 5,000 young volunteers have helped to organise more than 1,000 sports events for primary schoolchildren across the country.
- For more information about the conference, visit www.youthsporttrust.org.
- For information about athletes involved in the scheme, including Harriette Trumble, visit : www.sportingchampions.org.uk.
The full article contains 249 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
