The UK’s first sports hackathon finished last week, seeing teams from around the country battle it out to create an app to inspire England’s youth to become more active.
The Hackathon, which was created in partnership by Sport England and the Sports Technology Awards, asked coders to combat the traditional barriers which stop young people, aged between 16 and 25 doing more sport.
The Hackathon took place over 24 hours from 2 to 3 October with teams – which had to include a woman - presenting their concepts to a panel of industry judges, including Yves di Maria UK Country Manager, Under Armour Connected Fitness and former Sony board member and CEO and Founder of WOOOBA, Dan Lane.
From the event, three concepts will be shortlisted with the winning team - which will receive a £10,000 bursary from Sport England to bring their app to market - being announced on 15 April 2016 at the Sports Technology Awards in London.
Tanya Joseph, Sport England’s director of business partnerships, said “Increasingly, mobile technology and apps are becoming a critical part of people's lives and play a big role in how they chose to spend their time. Playing sport might not necessarily be at the top of people's lists of priorities, but with the right encouragement and support, it can be something we do and enjoy more often. Our hackathon has brought together some really inventive thinkers to tackle the challenge of getting larger numbers of young people getting up and being active. I'm looking forward to seeing the winning team unveiled in April and the app making an impact.”
Rebecca Hopkins, Managing Director of the Sports Technology Awards, added “We are delighted to work with Sport England on this initiative. As the first hack in sport, it is a ground-breaking activity in the sector and, from both our organisations point of view, we are doing something with a lot of meaning and value. The concepts presented were as diverse as they were original”.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance and the physical activity sector have published an open letter to the Government on the impact of Pathways to Work on disabled people and activity levels across the UK.
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