Sport England under attack over leisure agenda
06/06/2007 |
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The new leadership of Sport England is coming under fire from sports' governing bodies, with executives privately expressing frustration and anger at the organisation's new direction.
Under Derek Mapp as chairman and Jennie Price as chief executive, Sport England has opted to focus exclusively on increasing the participation of those over 16 years of age.
With the list of acceptable activities not confined to traditional sports, the move has left governing bodies believing that the "sport" in Sport England has been sacrificed and that funding cuts will see under-16s ill-served. "Under Derek Mapp the sport seems to be disappearing in favour of a health-and-leisure agenda and there's a lot of frustration out there," said one governing-body source.
Olympic and non-Olympic governing bodies have privately voiced their concerns, with some raising the issue directly with Tessa Jowell and Richard Caborn. The complaints are driven in part by anxiety that the current funding arrangement, which delivers a four-year settlement to governing bodies, will not be repeated when it expires in 2009.
Mapp rejects the complaints. "We are working every day with governing bodies to help them drive up participation in their sports. It is simply incorrect to claim sports clubs and coaches will suffer from our clear focus on getting more people aged 16-plus playing sport," he explained.
"There is a clear structure . . . with the Youth Sport Trust driving up the quality of school sport, UK Sport with its remit on elite development and Sport England squarely focused on developing community sport through its partners, including NGBs."
(Source: Guardian.co.uk)
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