High adrenaline extreme sports are being advocated as a way of encouraging young people to take up exercise and reverse a tendency towards indolence among 16- to 25-year-olds.
High adrenaline extreme sports are being advocated as a way of encouraging young people to take up exercise and reverse a tendency towards indolence among 16- to 25-year-olds.
Sport England believes increased access to skateboarding, BMX stunt biking, rock climbing and wake boarding, could improve fitness across the country and help create tomorrow's sporting champions.
Development of extreme sports is one of the strategies the body has implemented to tackle the post-school drop-off rate in physical exercise.
While 64% of 11- to 15-year-olds take part in sport and physical activity, measured as 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on three days a week, only 25% of 16- to 24-year-olds participate.
Sport England says an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is storing up dangers for the future as well as having damaging implications for Britain's medal prospects at the London Olympics.
Peak athlete performance is between the ages of 23 and 26, so those aged 16-18 are potential medallists for 2012.
Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, said: "It is a big cliff edge - and we have found that the very successful nations have a line of participation that stays almost constant from the age of three and four to 85 or 86. There is a huge drop-off post-16 and we have to plug that gap."
England's overall participation rate in sport and physical activity is 21%, compared with 52% in Finland, 45% in Australia and 38% in Canada. The rate has been static over the last 10 years, while the other nations have increased participation.
Sport England has set a target of boosting participation by one percentage point a year. Mr Draper said: "It is a hugely ambitious target to try to get so many people from the sofa to the sports pitch."
An Active People survey has been commissioned to measure current participation rates, with 350,000 people to be polled over the next year.
Sport England is also lobbying for sports and leisure to be included in local authorities' performance assessment. Because councils are not measured on sports provision, it is often one of the first areas for budget cuts.
Mr Draper attributed the post-16 drop-off to the lack of investment at local level. "Look at the French model where they invest in coaches in the community. We need a Tesco model for local sport in the community - rather than rundown sheds, we need modern centres, with creches and family-friendly facilities.
"[The Olympics in] 2012 will give us a big focal point. We will put on a fantastic games, but we need to win medals. When a kid walks out of the door in London, Birmingham or Liverpool, they don't just want to see rotting facilities.
"Sport can really change people's lives and anchor community life. One in 10 youngsters is clinically obese, so there are big health problems, but there are other advantages - where we have put in sports programmes, crime has dropped by 60%."
Sport England is developing multi-sport centres such as Bolton Lads and Girls Club, which has two sports halls, dance and aerobics centre, weights room, a five-a-side floodlit football pitch and a boxing gym - and is used by 2,800 youngsters each week.
In Weymouth, Dorset, a new skate park has been built as part of the move towards encouraging extreme sports. "Participation in these sports has doubled over the last three years. What kids want is danger in a safe environment. Not everyone wants to play netball, football or cricket.
"We still want England to win the World Cup, beat Australia at cricket and win lots of medals at the Olympics, but to get the nation fit and healthy, we have to have many different ways of doing that."
The Weymouth skate park, funded by Sport England lottery cash, has been open for four years, attracting more than 3,000 members, the majority aged between eight and 25. Run as a registered charity it costs f3.50 for three hours, compared with f10 at many privately owned parks.
Henry Johnson, the manager, said it showed how extreme sports can increase participation. "People come here simply because they enjoy it but, unlike most mainstream sports, it does not involve the structure of teamwork and practice.
"Some young people are less inclined to engage in a sport with teamwork. They do not feel comfortable in that environment, while extreme sports give them a chance to express themselves."
One of the main problems has been a shortage of coaches, according to Mr Draper. "France has got 80,000 sports coaches on the ground - they are really the sales staff. We are getting 3,000 coaches into local communities by next March.
"Until now sports coaching has not been seen as a positive career choice. Sport is the second fastest growing part of the economy, but the perception has been of the PE teacher or of Gordon Brittas, [a TV sitcom] leisure centre manager."
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