While most of the press pack were bothered most by the the Duchesses clothing choices - in my fashion-conscious eyes a zebra hooped top, cardigan, leggings and platform heels - or her supposedly rapid post-pregnancy weight loss, I preferred the fact that she was so keen to be involved in such a reputable sporting organisation.

This was a point made by the impressive number of SportsAid beneficiaries present, including Olympic champion rowers Katherine Grainger and Steve Williams. Also there was the Athens 2004 bronze medal winning swimmer Steve Parry  - who became arguably more famous four years later, at least in China, when he was repeatedly mistaken for another swimmer, Michael Phelps.

Steve Parry alongside his lookalike Michael Phelps on the medal podium in Athens...his medal would have been "more of a challenge" without SportsAid


"I myself was the recipient of a SportsAid Grant, and winning my medal would have been much more of a challenge without this support," Parry explained to insidethegames. "My parents were paying for my trains, petrol and hotels otherwise, but to be honest I don't think you can get by without these grants because, although modest, they are absolutely vital.

"Sporting activities cost a boatload of money so it is vital to the fabric of the sporting infrastructure really. SportsAid does a fantastic job  raising money for kids up and down the country. You can see this by the endless people who benefited who want to come down today and get involved. Statistically they are very good at picking people who will turn into the next Olympic champions. The Duchess of Cambridge being a patron of such a fantastic charity is brilliant."

Indeed, the clear excitement of all of the youngsters, particularly those volleyball players who, albeit briefly, shared a court with her, underlined this point perfectly.

Another advantage of the day was that it gave youngsters the chance to partake in new sports as well as their more established ones and this was something Parry also took advantage of. "I'm rubbish at volleyball, not so good at footy, alright at badminton...and a bit of a killer at wheelchair basketball," he summarised.

Unconventional footwear maybe but the Duchess of Cambridge was another keen participant as she tried out volleyball for the first time


The day, yet another legacy event in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, also emphasised the raft of work going on to transform the Park from a home of elite sport to a base for sport at all levels.

This was something explained by Peter Tudor, director of venues at the Olympic Park, in relation to the Copper Box. "For a long time the only people coming here were those with hard hats on doing building work and now its local residents, both young and mature people," he said.

Although he emphasised that they are indeed targeting all age groups, Tudor described a series of other events focusing on youth, ranging from "come and try" events during the October half term and Christmas holidays to a "LolliBop" festival aimed at toddlers held in August.

Not all of these events however are held within the Park and this was illustrated by my second trip of the day which took place down the road, or in my case the Docklands Light Railway, at the University of East London.

Organised by London Youth Rowing as part of Sport England's "Satellite Clubs" programme, this gave an opportunity for youngsters from throughout the city to try their hand at rowing in a competitive sense.

With all the youngsters representing their schools side by side in an tightly packed sportshall, there was a raucous atmosphere filled with suspense and vocal support.

Or at least their apparently was as, faced with the journalistic challenge of a "double event day", I turned up just in time to catch the end of the prize giving, and then the tidying up process...

London youngsters across a huge variety of backgrounds participated in the London Youth Rowing event


I was, however, in time to speak to some of the participants.

"If you say to friends you do rowing they laugh and call you posh, but its a good sport which people don't know enough about," conceded one. 

There was also another trademark "celebrity" on show in prize presenter Bamber Gascoigne who - while not the Duchess of Cambridge - was still a source of inspiration particularly for those brought up in household where watching University Challenge passed for an essential evening leisure activity.

Gascoigne, a rowing enthusiast but also a graduate who has succeeded well beyond sport, suitably emphasised the point of the event, and of the Satellite Clubs project as a whole.

Beyond the rowing however was a careers fair and the focus was "about seeing sporting participation as one aspect of a wider lifestyle", Mike Diaper, Sport England's director of community sport, told insidethegames.

"We've done studies that if you build sport into your lives it actually helps employability. If you are a sporty person you know teamwork, discipline and leadership and all of those skills are really transferable. Linking the sport to the careers fair is a great way to show these cross over skills."

The project aims is about "transitioning youngsters from school sport,"  Diaper said. "At school everything is free of charge, laid on for you and you often don't even need kit. But even the most sporting youngsters find joining sports clubs a pretty daunting thing so what this programme is doing is bridging the gap."

"We take existing sports clubs and put an outpost on the schools site but it is run by the club and not the school so it doesn't feel like a PE lesson. What they want is something that feels a little bit less like school so they feel in control."

Diaper continued to explain that the scheme is open to all, across 46 different sporting governing bodies and in all regions of England. Many will be disability sport specific and others will be girls only so we will have opportunities for everybody, he added.

With the aim to produce 5,000 clubs by 2017 already 20 per cent successful the success is striking so far

Like with SportsAid, the aim may be to produce elite athletes but most of all it is about allowing youngsters to have greater participation opportunities across a wider platform of sports.

The presence of the likes of the Duchess of Cambridge and Gascoigne, as well as Parry helps to raise the profile but the main focus, as throughout London 2012, concerns youth and, of course, "inspiring a generation".

On the evidence of Friday's doubleheader the wide variety of funding and opportunities being created suggests that many are being suitable inspired and that the London 2012 legacy effect is still succeeding.