An assessment day has been held in Plymouth, Devon, to give aspiring young Paralympians the chance to show off their sporting ability as part of the Playground to Podium scheme.

The initiative - created by Sport England, ParalympicsGB and the Youth Sport Trust - aims to offer disabled athletes with the same chances as non-disabled counterparts and widen the talent pool for disability sports. Active Devon co-ordinated the assessment day at Plymouth's Brickfields Centre, which saw youngsters take part in table tennis, football, athletics and wheelchair basketball with the help of coaches and talent scouts.

Playground to Podium, which is benefiting from £4.5m of Sport England funding between 2008 and 2012, aims to help all young people to move forward in sport - not just the most talented athletes. ParalympicsGB chief executive Phil Lane said: "Playground to Podium is an important addition to the pathways being delivered to support not just disabled young people's participation in sport, but also their progression.

"By increasing the number of young people involved in disability sport, we can also increase the pool of potential talent, from which we will select the future British Paralympic teams." Sport England's director of sport, Lisa O'Keefe, added: "By widening our talent pool for Paralympic sports, we will help more talented young people to fulfil their sporting potential."