NEW OPENING
encouraged the centre to play host to high-profile football development and rugby events in partnership with profes- sional and amateur sport teams. The sports development team also
has ambitious plans for voluntary sport through the launch of Club Sport North Lanarkshire, a partnership with local clubs, governing bodies of sport, NLL and the council.
Sport for all Ravenscraig sports facility was officially opened at the end of September last year, with a weekend of sporting fun, complete with sporting celebrities, taster fitness classes and plenty of community support. This event kicked off with a 24-hour char- ity football tournament, which attracted more than 100 local football teams and raised more than £4,000 for the local St Andrews Hospice. The weekend came to an end with an attempt to hold the big- gest ever Zumba class, which saw 836 people dance their way into the record book, beating the previous record of 575. The state-of-the-art facility is also a
strong contender as a training site for both the London 2012 Olympic and Para- lympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Last October, the facility played host to around 5,000 people to ‘Get Involved in the Games’ and celebrate the handover of the Com- monwealth Games flag from Delhi to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games team. Football, tennis, rugby, climbing, tram-
polining, an inflatable assault course, tae kwon do, Tri Golf and wrestling were just
The ‘Get Involved with the Games’ event saw 5,000 people celebrate the handover of the Commonwealth Games flag from Delhi to Glasgow
some of the activities offered at the event. There were also demonstrations of four Commonwealth Games sports: athletics, badminton, gymnastics and Rugby 7s.
A model of best practice With the facility having been given full support by NLL, North Lanarkshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council, Ravenscraig Ltd, sportscotland and EventScotland, Blane Dodds, CEO of NLL said: “We’ve been delighted with the im- mediate high-profile impact of this new facility in increasing participation and performance – from grassroots through to elite levels and this has resulted in many new partnerships being formed that have helped to improve sports de- velopment pathways and programmes. Ravenscraig will also be the badminton
and judo competition venue for the 45th International Children’s Games in August this year – when around 1,500 young aspiring athletes from 80 international cities will compete in nine sports. North Lanarkshire was put firmly on
the European sporting map earlier this year when the region was voted ‘Eu- ropean City of Sport for 2011’ by the European Capitals of Sport Association – in recognition of proven evidence in how NLL has used sport to improve the lives of people in its local communities.
sportscotland and the Scottish Executive’s support for Ravenscraig’s part in the National Sports Strategy for Scotland demonstrates a real commitment to sport
34 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital The judges highlighted the fitness mo-
tivators in schools programme and the partnerships developed with local clubs, sport bodies and the NHS as inspirational. In my opinion, the scale of the Raven-
scraig regeneration scheme is impressive and must be a major boost for sport in Scotland. It is heartening that the council has increased its revenue commitment to sport and leisure to help meet the oper- ating costs of Ravenscraig. In England, most councils are look-
ing to reduce their revenue support to sport and recreation as a consequence of their much reduced grants from central government. The £7m grant from sports- cotland and the support of the Scottish Executive for a scheme which is part of the National Sports Strategy for Scotland, demonstrates forward thinking and a real commitment to sport. Could England learn from this? While
English National Governing Bodies of sport are working to Whole Sports Plans funded by Sport England, and County Sports Partnerships and councils are trying to knit all this together at local level, we still lack an overall national plan which identifies Regional Centres of Excellence for sport to NGB and council plans. The North Lanarkshire Ravenscraig regeneration links sport with education, housing and shopping and will help cre- ate real community development for local people. ●
John Bell is honorary secretary of the Chief Culture and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA)
Issue 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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