To mark the two-year countdown to the opening of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games the University of Ulster is bringing its pioneering ‘Sport Comes 2 Town’ festival to its Jordanstown campus.
 
The one-day sports extravaganza on Saturday 24 July will bring together 15 sports for young people of the Newtownabbey area to enjoy.
 
The free family fun event follows on from the successful ‘Sport Comes 2 Town’ pilot project in Portadown last month, which saw over 10,000 people attend the event.
 
This time, the Ulster Sports Academy will host the festival of sport at its multi-million pound sports facilities at the Jordanstown campus.
 
The £20 million high performance centre will host a children’s mini-Olympics and sports ranging from archery and boxing, to cheerleading and basketball.
 
Events throughout the weekend are taking place across the UK to mark the countdown to the Olympics opening ceremony on 27 July 2012, and Dr Nigel Dobson Co-Director of the Ulster Sports Academy says that Northern Ireland should not feel detached from the events leading up to the main event in the English capital.
 
Dr Dobson said: “The London 2012 family fun day is a great opportunity for everyone to come along and take part in sports that they have not experienced before. The Olympics will leave a sporting legacy throughout the UK and getting involved in sport and active lifestyles will be a result of this.
 
“The University of Ulster is committed to bringing sport to our communities and encouraging and inspiring the sports stars of the future. The family fun event on the Jordanstown campus this Saturday will sow the seeds of a lifetime of involvement in sport for the children who take part.”
 
The world-class sports facilities at Ulster’s Jordanstown campus are one of the venues designated by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games as a pre-Olympic and Paralympic training camp for the 2012 spectacle.
 
Sports activities for Saturday 24 July are for all ages to try out and a full list of sports and times are on www.sportsulster.com