davies' sports development LO

Sport

George Loxdale 12 PL

The range of sports-development providers is quite diverse and it is valuable that you have good knowledge of them. Together with the agencies they interact with to deliver sports-development programmes, they create a framework of providers.

Providers

·        National organisations

·        Local authorities

·        Governing bodies

·        Voluntary organisations

·        Private sector providers

·        Professional providers

National organisations

Sport England is the government agency responsible for building the foundations of sporting success. By creating a world-leading community sport system of clubs, coaches, facilities and volunteers.

Sport England want to create a vibrant sporting culture working in partnership with national governing bodies, their national partners, the HE/FE sector, local government and community organisations.

Their focus is around three outcomes – growing and sustaining the numbers of people taking part in sport and improving talent development to help more people excel.

Sport England have set themselves five targets which will see them deliver these outcomes:

Grow – one million people taking part in more sport and more children and young people taking part in five hours of PE and sport a week. These targets account for 15% of sport England’s investment/

Sustain – more people satisfied with their sporting experience and 25% fewer 16-18 year olds dropping out of a least nine sports – badminton, Basketball, football, hockey, gymnastics, netball, rugby league, rugby union and tennis. These targets account for 60% of sport England’s investment.

Excel – improved talent development in at least 25 sports. These target accounts for 25% of sport England’s investment.

Sports coach UK is a charitable organisation dedicated to the development of coaches and coaching throughout the UK. It provides a central resource of expertise, advice and support for its sports-development partners and helps to train coaches. It works with funding agencies and sports governing bodies, local authorities and other sports agencies that have an interest in coaching and its development.

The youth sport trust was established in 1984 to support the education and development of young children through sport and physical education. As well as setting up the TOP programmes, the organisation has developed a number of creative and innovative projects for young people aged 18months to 18years, which focus on specific issues including:

·        Social inclusion

·        Encouraging more teenage girls to take part in PE and sport

·        Playground development in primary schools to tackle social exclusion issues.

·        Supporting gifted and talented children and young people

The youth sport trust has formed partnerships with sponsors to help sports development, for example with Sainsbury’s and it’s active kids campaign, Lloyds TSB and national school sports week, and sky sports living for sport.

Local Authorities

Local authorities (LAs) are councils or metropolitan boroughs. They play an important role in sports development because they are concerned with all types of target groups in the community. Providing sporting and leisure facilities helps to make the community healthier and more inclusive.

Some local authorities tackle this on a large scale and have teams of sports-development officers running a range of programmes to meet the community’s needs. Others have more specific programmes such as GP referral schemes or disability sports.

Another feature of LAs’ work in sports development is through partnership schemes. They often join up with other social service providers and organisations, such as:

·        Health authorities to run health schemes

·        Voluntary clubs and groups to aid their sports development

·        Police and other welfare agencies to help reduce crime and exclusion.

·        Charities and neighbourhood groups who work in disadvantaged areas.

Governing bodies

Governing bodies of sport (GBs) are organisations that oversee a particular sport in terms of its management, rules, structure, and development. They operate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Using football as our,,,,,,` example.

International

Football is governed by FIFA, the international football federation. Football in Europe is governed by EUFA, the European Union football association. Both organisations have similar aims for the sport in terms of its development, which can be summarised as promoting, protecting and developing the game of football. Look at the following websites for more information on FIFA and EUFA: http://www.fifa.com/ and http://www.uefa.com/ compare their mission statements and purposes

National

National governing bodies (NGBs) exist for most sports in each country and usually have ‘mission or vision statements’ which in turn drive their aims and objectives. For example see the English football associations vision statement for 2008-12: http://www.thefa.com/ their intended outcomes are similar to sports development aims everywhere: for young people to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and achieve economic well-being. The FA national game strategy sets out its purpose, values, strategic games and targets – with four key goals:

·        Growth and retention  - increasing the number of players and addressing retention

·        Raising standards and addressing abusive behaviour – creating a safe and positive environment

·        Developing better players – focusing on improving the quality of the 5-11 age group

·        Running the game effectively – leading and governing the game.

Regional

Continuing the football theme we should see a reflection of the GB and NGBs’ sports aims filter down to lower levels. For example, the north riding county football association’s development plan has many features that reflect these principles, values and aims :

·        Mini-soccer for children

·        Girls’ and women’ football development

·        Equality and inclusiveness

·        Ethnicity and disability partnership

Local

The Scarborough & district junior football association reflects this development aims locally, with themes coming down from the FA strategy of: 

·        Equality of access

·        Support for player development

·        Caring coaches.

Voluntary organisations

These are often known as the ‘grass roots of sport’, they represent the wide variety of sport that goes on at a recreational and basic competitive level in the UK. This is achieved through low-cost participation supported by volunteers giving their time freely and sometimes by grants of money from sport England, the local authority or sponsors.

Volunteers often join to take part in refereeing, administration, coaching and running club committees or just making the tea! Sports club volunteers (unsung heroes) may be eligible for awards for their dedication to sport.

Private sector providers

A private sector with regards to sport can be seen as a Company whose fundamental aim is to make money, but who also often help to fund sports.

The private sector “Is made up of the two main groups: commercial enterprises that provide facilities for the public in return for payment. And companies that provide facilities for the unemployed” (Physical education and the anatomy of sport).

Private sector sporting facilities and centres are owned and run by completely independent private companies, whose funding comes largely from the owners/ stakeholders. The privately run sports specific centres operate all around the UK, and have goals similar to the public sector. Although the private sector centres motives are a lot more financial. This sector is strongly demand led and is greatly affected by the ‘external environment’. Such as changes in trend, public spending habits, economic decline, location etc. For example if our country  is in an economic ‘slowdown’ then customers generally tend to save more and spend less money on non-essential services such as gym memberships. Along with the public sector, the private sector works in partnership with neighbouring firms and organisations.

Their main focuses and drives are;

•        Profit making

•        Increase sales

•        Increase market share

•        Focus on quality

•        Improve status

Money In

•        Sponsorship to individuals/teams

•        Sports aid grants

•        Buying TV rights

•        National Sports Foundation

•        Running and maintaining private sports clubs and facilities

Money Out

•        Business profit

•        Ticket sales

•        Sale of TV right

Professional providers

These are individuals and organisations that operate in the area of sports development. Some are specialists in one sport and travel from location to location, while others stay at one centre or venue. Professional providers include:

·        Independent coaches who work for several clubs, such as a gymnastics or swimming coach

·        Self-employed developers or coaches who are employed by local centres for mini-soccer, netball or tennis coaching.

Professional providers often need to be licensed or approved by a GB. They must have insurance and a criminal records bureau (CRB) check if they want to work children or young people.

Bibliography

Sport level 3 book Mark Adams et al

http://www.thefa.com/

http://www.uefa.com/

http://www.fifa.com/