Paralympics visit Tottenham
THE Paralympics 2012 officially kick off today, and the Dutch seven-a-side football team were having a warm up game yesterday. Not at the Olympic Park, but on another newly created pitch in Tottenham.
The team was playing to mark the launch of Cruyff Court, a state-of-the-art games area at the Ferry Lane Estates that has been built by the eponymous former Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff in partnership with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.
The Cruyff Foundation, backed by the People’s Postcode Lottery and Haringey Council, has revamped an old football pitch with facilities including a 3G astroturf pitch that are also adapted for people with disabilities to use.
It is Cruyff’s second site in London and one of 160-plus courts built around the world to help provide young people with a safe place to play sports. It also forms part of the council’s efforts to regenerate the area after last year’s riots.
Former Tottenham Hotspur star Ledley King, who launched Cruyff Court yesterday, told The Capitalist: “There’s been a lot of negativity surrounding the area of Tottenham over the past year but developments like this go to show this community is moving in the right direction. Hopefully we can find the budding sportspeople of the future making use of this facility.”