![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sporting Legacy
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 02:58 pmA text from my sister asking about the subject prompted me to think about something that I have tried to track unsuccessfully for a number of years. I mentioned it back at the beginning of April on this very forum; clearly I am entering in the age for wistful remembrances. Anyway, to save you the trouble of mooching back to 2 April on here (as if you would; I know you!), here is a recap with additions.
Thirty years ago this summer, I was working for Oswestry Borough Council –now defunct, post reorganisation – where I was employed with the rather grander than it deserved title of ‘Organising Secretary’. The job was one of those lowly paid starter jobs that governments sometimes co-fund in an attempt to get people into work. I have to say it worked for me: after graduating with a degree in (yawn) Business Studies in the summer of 1981, I applied for x number of jobs, where x was, to quote our old maths master Spock>sup>1, a very large positive integer. All to no avail, until the local dole office pointed me at the pretend jobs.
But I digress.
Typical of its type, the post was an amalgam of two jobs the council found itself in the position of having to cover, but without the requisite enthusiasm to do much about it. Fifty percent of my time was supposed to be spent conducting an anti litter campaign at the prompting of the Tidy Britain Group, the other half was to act as Secretary to the Shropshire Mini Olympics and this is the bit that I was reminded about this morning as the Paralympics fire up for the next fortnight.
I can’t find any mention of the Shropshire Mini Olympics on the web after what was admittedly a very cursory search (I may try again later), which makes me think that it has long since gone the way of all flesh.
And that would be a pity. The Mini Olympics were the brain child of the late Benny Foster, OBE who had at some point been part of the main British Olympics Committee, I believe. He was a splendid chap and very passionate about promoting local sports, particularly for the young on one hand and for the disabled on the other. And he was an early advocate of bringing the two together on as level a playing field as could be devised.
The games were held annually around the county and hosted in turn by each district council (hence my involvement) and teams from the whole county attended at various events across the summer.
I have sent a message to the local paper, the Shropshire Star just on the off chance. I doubt that I shall hear anything back, but you never know. I believe that one of the largest groups who attended, the Shropshire Sharks (Maybe the Shrewsbury Sharks) swim team, I think they were, are still going strong so there is some sort of legacy continuing on that front. It would be good to think something wider was still continuing.
Thirty years ago this summer, I was working for Oswestry Borough Council –now defunct, post reorganisation – where I was employed with the rather grander than it deserved title of ‘Organising Secretary’. The job was one of those lowly paid starter jobs that governments sometimes co-fund in an attempt to get people into work. I have to say it worked for me: after graduating with a degree in (yawn) Business Studies in the summer of 1981, I applied for x number of jobs, where x was, to quote our old maths master Spock>sup>1, a very large positive integer. All to no avail, until the local dole office pointed me at the pretend jobs.
But I digress.
Typical of its type, the post was an amalgam of two jobs the council found itself in the position of having to cover, but without the requisite enthusiasm to do much about it. Fifty percent of my time was supposed to be spent conducting an anti litter campaign at the prompting of the Tidy Britain Group, the other half was to act as Secretary to the Shropshire Mini Olympics and this is the bit that I was reminded about this morning as the Paralympics fire up for the next fortnight.
I can’t find any mention of the Shropshire Mini Olympics on the web after what was admittedly a very cursory search (I may try again later), which makes me think that it has long since gone the way of all flesh.
And that would be a pity. The Mini Olympics were the brain child of the late Benny Foster, OBE who had at some point been part of the main British Olympics Committee, I believe. He was a splendid chap and very passionate about promoting local sports, particularly for the young on one hand and for the disabled on the other. And he was an early advocate of bringing the two together on as level a playing field as could be devised.
The games were held annually around the county and hosted in turn by each district council (hence my involvement) and teams from the whole county attended at various events across the summer.
I have sent a message to the local paper, the Shropshire Star just on the off chance. I doubt that I shall hear anything back, but you never know. I believe that one of the largest groups who attended, the Shropshire Sharks (Maybe the Shrewsbury Sharks) swim team, I think they were, are still going strong so there is some sort of legacy continuing on that front. It would be good to think something wider was still continuing.