School sports legacy increasingly at risk as Olympics draw near | Owen Gibson | Sport | guardian.co.uk

School sports legacy increasingly at risk as Olympics draw near | Owen Gibson | Sport | guardian.co.uk:

School sports legacy increasingly at risk as Olympics draw near

Lord Coe vowed the London Olympics would connect young people with the inspirational power of the Games, but there are now real fears this goal will not be realised

Students protest in 2010 against cuts to school sports funding. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Around two and a half months before the cream of the world's athletes parade around the track at the opening ceremony of the London Games, a rather more low-key event will mark a new phase in the battle to secure an Olympic legacy – or at least the perception of one.

The School Games, the brainchild of the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is – depending on who you ask and their political persuasion – either a bold attempt to reinvigorate competitive school sport using London 2012 as a catalyst or a desperate attempt to distract from deep spending cuts that risk putting any hope for a meaningful legacy at risk.