Dear All
Sport has many advantages, it can build fitness, develop teamwork, can teach discipline, helps people to develop mentally and build character.
This can be accomplished at every level from beginner right through to elite athlete level.
Used correctly it can be a good social-economic tool.
The real question which politicians face is how to deliver those benefits to the grassroots.
Elite sport events such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and various World Championships always receive massive interest from public and politicians who want to see sporting success.
And be associated with that success.
But before success, there is a long hard road of training and coaching ploughed into an individual or team.
You see the finished product on the day but the effort by the many that put the individual on the starting line is fully recognised.
Now, a row has blown between the SNP and The Scottish Sports Alliance over the issue of the SNP manifesto commitment that children receive 2 hours of physical education a week for every school pupil in Scotland.
The SNP at present is facing criticism from The Scottish Sports Alliance because it is failing to meet the target.
The Alliance is made up of Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils and Scottish Universities Sport.
An interesting comment by a spokesman for the alliance;
“Our children deserve better and it is imperative that they are taught by specialists from the earliest age”.
One can agree with the sentiment, the fact of the matter is right across the board from Council level to University level, there is a lack of specialists.
While people have been building little empires and basking in delivering new buildings and patting themselves on the back, the very people needed to teach in these facilities have been largely ignored.
A sports building is nothing without the specialised coaches to maximise the benefits to the users.
In the University sector, the public, including children are effective shut out, so it is a bit rich for Scottish Universities Sport to speak on more needs to be done.
If you pick a university and look at their fitness timetables, children are shut out, not just of classes but of the facilities more or less entirely.
On the occasions they gain access with their parents, it is down to the parents to supervise them, generally that mean low standard recreational activities.
Not tuition.
To address the SNP’s problem, there needs to be an agency which delivers more coaches into the system.
A version of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is needed; the SNP missed an opportunity in not killing off Sportscotland when it had the chance and replace it with an agency which delivers coaches right across the board.
The Alliance has a point, more use should be made of schools’ sports facilities and financial backing should be provided to allow more coaches.
It isn't a case of being radical, just knowing the subject.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Sport has many advantages, it can build fitness, develop teamwork, can teach discipline, helps people to develop mentally and build character.
This can be accomplished at every level from beginner right through to elite athlete level.
Used correctly it can be a good social-economic tool.
The real question which politicians face is how to deliver those benefits to the grassroots.
Elite sport events such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and various World Championships always receive massive interest from public and politicians who want to see sporting success.
And be associated with that success.
But before success, there is a long hard road of training and coaching ploughed into an individual or team.
You see the finished product on the day but the effort by the many that put the individual on the starting line is fully recognised.
Now, a row has blown between the SNP and The Scottish Sports Alliance over the issue of the SNP manifesto commitment that children receive 2 hours of physical education a week for every school pupil in Scotland.
The SNP at present is facing criticism from The Scottish Sports Alliance because it is failing to meet the target.
The Alliance is made up of Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils and Scottish Universities Sport.
An interesting comment by a spokesman for the alliance;
“Our children deserve better and it is imperative that they are taught by specialists from the earliest age”.
One can agree with the sentiment, the fact of the matter is right across the board from Council level to University level, there is a lack of specialists.
While people have been building little empires and basking in delivering new buildings and patting themselves on the back, the very people needed to teach in these facilities have been largely ignored.
A sports building is nothing without the specialised coaches to maximise the benefits to the users.
In the University sector, the public, including children are effective shut out, so it is a bit rich for Scottish Universities Sport to speak on more needs to be done.
If you pick a university and look at their fitness timetables, children are shut out, not just of classes but of the facilities more or less entirely.
On the occasions they gain access with their parents, it is down to the parents to supervise them, generally that mean low standard recreational activities.
Not tuition.
To address the SNP’s problem, there needs to be an agency which delivers more coaches into the system.
A version of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is needed; the SNP missed an opportunity in not killing off Sportscotland when it had the chance and replace it with an agency which delivers coaches right across the board.
The Alliance has a point, more use should be made of schools’ sports facilities and financial backing should be provided to allow more coaches.
It isn't a case of being radical, just knowing the subject.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
1 comment:
It's a good idea (albeit not a new one) but high performance centres like the AIS cost serious money.
I'm of the opinion that the SNP's budgets (& Labour previously) are stretched pretty far. So important things, like health & education, will have to be scaled down in order to fund such projects.
For example, the upgrade of Loughborough Uni (although good but not quite AIS) in the early 2000s took a significant dent out of the treasury*. Now that was at UK level. So for Scotland to establish a better facility on a much smaller budget is seems quite impossible.
But a much more focused SportScotland facility on a Uni campus might just do the trick.
*Money well spent though, if you look at the results of UK athletics (especially Swimming) & the England cricket team over the last ten years. Ironically beating Australia on many occastions!
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