 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Cricket stars Mark Ramprakash (right) and Jonathan Batty at Lords with the 1966 World Cup Final ball and the Ashes. |
 |
 |
National Football Museum launches Our Sporting Life for 2012
On 25 November 2008 at Lord's Cricket Ground, Lord Moynihan, as British Olympics Association Chairman, and Ann Cutcliffe, Deputy Chair of Paralympics GB, on behalf of the National Football Museum and the other members of the Sports Heritage Network launched the exciting Our Sporting Life initiative as an important contribution to the 2012 Olympics. The project has been awarded the coveted London 2012 Inspire Mark.
Asking the question “What does sport mean to you?” Our Sporting Life seeks to identify sporting moments, heroes, objects, photographs and experiences that have inspired the people of Britain . The public are asked to share their memories, via the Our Sporting Life website www.oursportinglife.co.uk and specially designed postcards. These public contributions are designed to work at two levels. On the one hand, to identify and explore the power and importance of national and well known examples of our sports heritage. Equally, to discover the personal, family and community memories, which will strengthen understanding of the nation's shared sporting heritage. The audience was drawn from sports governing bodies, successful Olympic and other sports personalities, aspiring young athletes, volunteers from sports and heritage organisations, national heritage bodies, sports museums, local and regional museums and sports collections, and the media. Crucially each sport was also represented by an iconic heritage object, the treasures of English sport, e.g. the ball from the 1966 World Cup Final, the Ashes Urn, a 1908 Olympic Rowing Medal, the ball with which Johnny Wilkinson scored his World Cup winning drop goal. These objects will form the focus for connections that Our Sporting Life will establish between established and young athletes and the world's passion for sport.
The data from the survey undertaken in Phase One will be captured and distributed in two ways. Firstly, by sport to a nominated heritage contact and secondly, by region. In this way each sport will increase its own links with individuals and their memories. At the same time each region will build a community of interest that can then be reflected in subsequent local exhibitions during Phase Two, planned for 2010. Further exhibitions and activities are planned for 2011 / 2012 with a major exhibition in London for 2012 during the Olympics and beyond.
At the launch event Olympic triple-jumper Jonathan Edwards said: “ Britain has a genius for sport. We have been so competitive for so long at so many sports. We have got so much to celebrate.”
Our Sporting Life is being lead by a steering group drawn from the Sports Heritage Network:
National Football Museum, Preston
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
MCC Museum, Lord's
River & Rowing Museum, Henley on Thames
World Rugby Museum, Twickenham
National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket