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Creating that sporting habit


The new Youth and Community Sport Strategy aims to increase the number of people doing regular sport, but does it go far enough, asks Mark Allman


J


anuary is always a favour- ite time for government announcements, so there was little surprise that, after a lengthy consulta-


tion process, the new fi ve-year Youth and Community Sport Strategy was launched in the fi rst weeks of 2012. The Sport England and culture sec-


retary, Jeremy Hunt, has done much to try and ensure that investment into sport (£1bn over fi ve years) contin- ues in times of severe austerity. This is especially evident in the fi nancial sup- port for the School Games, funding from health and education, and the fact that he secured an extra 20 per cent of funding for sport from the Lottery. Over the period of the strategy,


£450m will go into NGB Whole Sport Plans, £150m into School Games, £250m into facilities and £250m into local investment. At fi rst glance, one could be misled into thinking that this is simply a strategy for young people and sport. It is not, but it does under- line an expectation that funding is targeted at this group if long-term hab- its are to be affected. So what are the key aspects of the strategy? Sport England has indicated


that the strategy should: ■ See more people taking on and keeping a sporting habit for life.


■ Create more sporting opportunities for young people.


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■ Nurture and develop talent. ■ Provide the right facilities in the right places.


■ Support local authorities and unlock local funding.


■ Ensure real opportunities for communities. By focusing on these points, Sport


England hopes to see a year-on-year increase in the numbers of people who play sport once a week for at least 30 minutes (1x30). In particular, Sport England wants to see increases in the number of young people aged 14 to 25 playing weekly sport, as well as a reduction in the numbers of people dropping out of regular sports partici- pation. The focus on 1x30 presents a clear opportunity to focus efforts on getting the inactive active and poten- tially opens the door to more productive discussions with health commissioners. As part of its strategy preparation,


Sport England carried out a consul- tation which highlighted areas the organisation needs to do better in.


These included the need for: ■ A greater recognition that NGB investment should be more conditional on results.


■ A clear acknowledgement of the role County Sports Partnerships play in co-ordinating community sport at the sub-regional level, as well as a recognition of the need for greater consistency from them.


Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital


The Youth and Community Sports Strategy will see more than £1bn of National Lottery and Exchequer funding invested in sport


■ Access to school sports facilities. ■ Better connectivity of work across


stakeholders at the local level, connecting NGBs at the local level and building strong local clubs.


■ A local funding pot. ■ A clearer understanding of the


changing landscape locally. The strategy has made clear com- mitments to try and tackle all of these issues. The detail is being fl eshed out, but signifi cantly CLOA, local authori- ties and operators are being better engaged in the process. An estimated £1.4bn was spent on


sport and leisure services across local authorities in 2010/11, well in excess of the £1bn invested over the life of the new Youth Sport Strategy. The challenge for the sports sector at a time when year-on-year local funding is likely to be squeezed is to work as one – public, private, volunteer and third sector – to maximise the funding avail- able and join it all up on the ground.


ISSUE 2 2012 © cybertrek 2011


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