QUESTIONS
Writing from the perspective of an amateur boxing coach in a small town:
There is virtually no coordination of sport. My club has virtually no contact from anyone within the local council, county council or national government. There is no local funding that we can access. We have actually raised £1Million to build a new boxing gym but have not been able to secure any land to build it on. Our local council have no interest in us building boxing gym that could potentially be the best in the country.
Outside of school there are limited opportunities and limited facilities. In English society there is a massive emphasis on Football. Very little opportunity for most other most sports in most towns. For instance, there is no facility for athletics, rowing, wrestling, cycling in my borough of 100,000 people.
Sport in England is totally dependent on overworked volunteers
Providing facilities and staffing those facilities is the key.
Education:
Children can be put off sport and exercise by the limit of sports offered and the high emphasis on team games. If not good at sport team games can be a soul destroying embarrassment. Provide more opportunities for non team sports could lead to better participation in adults
Cost:
Provide free sport / fitness activities for obese people and people from low income families
Under Represented Groups:
Sessions need to be tailored to individual needs and arranging sessions for particular groups such as female only, disabled only, muslim female only et all is key
Difficult to answer as I am only involve in one sport in one town. Priorities seem reasonable
One factor I would like you to consider is the spread of unlicenced boxing. It muddies the water and allows a dangerous sport to be delivered by people that re only interested in making money. …. Government should grasp this nettle!
I suspect the government is being led up the garden path somewhat. For instance, in our boxing club we have around 20 people that compete. 50 people that train regularly and 100 people the train occasionally. Such figures are manipulated to imply that participation is higher than it really is.
Based on the figure above how many people box? …. 20 …... If someone is trying to gain funding they might mislead someone it to thinking it is 170.
I suspect that participation figures are far lower than some would have you believe
By providing opportunities for all groupings and allowing them to succeed
Coaches / organisers need appropriate training to reduce these attitudes and on how to modify sessions to meet the needs of all groupings listed
To some extent, pays lip service to safeguarding. Training courses need to be improved and training needs to be delivered to more people. Policies and procedures should be made club specific. Governing bodies need to audit safeguarding measures in clubs rather than assume that because one person has done a short training course everything is fine!
Is there too much emphasis on elite sport? Hugh amounts of money thrown at elite sport whilst grass roots sport fends for itself? By widening the pyramid of participation the pinnacle becomes higher. Obsession with medal performance at major events makes NGB’s blinkered and it leads to short term success hampering long term success
In many European countries (even those that are not particularly wealthy) anyone can access any Olympic sport in every town. Facilities are excellent and have full time staffing. For a rich country our facilities are often dire
Yes.
For the health and mental wellbeing of the nation
The greater the participation levels in sport the less pressure on the NHS