The eagerly awaited first London area final in the 2011 Panathlon Challenge sports competition for disabled young people begins in Enfield on Tuesday (March 1) at the Southbury Sports Centre in Southbury Road, EN1.

Four teams, from Enfield, Haringey, Barnet and Waltham Forest, will compete for the honour of proceeding to the All London Final on June 16.

Haringey reached the final in 2010 and will no doubt hope they can repeat the achievement this year.

The Mayor of London, through the Sports Legacy Plan, is supporting Panathlon with £86,000 in 2011 and the same amount next year.

This will mean that in the three years in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, he will have invested £255,000 in developing grass roots disability sport in London, through Panathlon.

The Panathlon Challenge is now in its tenth successful year of delivering sporting opportunities and “mini-paralympic” type competitions for young disabled Londoners.

Around 100 athletes aged between 8 and 18, (30 to 35 each from the boroughs involved), will compete against each other in the sports of boccia, new age kurling, polybat, football, table cricket and athletics.

To find more about Panathlon, visit www.panathlon.com