AN initiative to encourage more girls to take part in sport was launched at a Sedgefield school yesterday.

International water polo player Tara Smith, released from her work with Tees Sport, launched the week-long scheme at Sedgefield Community College.

Nicola Bage, head of girls' PE at the specialist sports college, said: "We wanted Tara to be a role model for the girls, to say she was the same as everybody else at school but has achieved this through hard work and commitment.

"We are trying to raise the profile of girls and women in sport and we are putting a lot of different activities on for the week."

The school has recruited coaches from different sports and are introducing new activities, including boxercise and ice skating.

Miss Bage said: "We have a lot of role models and coaches that come in to school, but they are nearly all male, so most of the coaches this week are female. We have created a little system where the kids can register for an activity and they can win prizes at the end of the week as an incentive to take part. We are hoping that some of the kids find a hidden talent or find that they enjoy doing sport."