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From the Newsletter- April 2005 |
The Rise and Fall of Sport for All.
Ever since the 60’s when the other Wolfenden Report launched the Sports Council under Roger Bannister for the intensification of national sporting participation three main justifications have been accepted by all political parties:
Sport is extremely important for the nation’s health
(see Fenten Reports and The Health of the Nation).
| Sport channels the energies of youth away from antisocial behaviour. |
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International sporting success is an enormous boost to national morale.
Some of us also mentioned "enjoyment and the whole man of the Renaissance"!
I was a founder member and later vice-chairman of the South West Sports
Council, and was very proud of our successful promotion of many minority
sports (squash, badminton, trampoline, judo, mountaineering, canoeing,
orienteering, rambling etc., etc.)
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We rapidly increased sporting
representation from 3 to 30! Many new sports required new Indoor Sports
Halls; and Bristol’s conversion of an old aircraft hanger into the Whitchurch Sports Centre was one of the first.
Jointly funded purpose built facilities served both schools and public
throughout every day of the year. It was called Duel Use.
Specialist PE staff received invaluable voluntary help during and after
school hours from academic teachers and parents who gained coaching
qualifications from the expanding National Governing Bodies of Sport. A wide
choice of sport became available for all school children including some who
disliked traditional games, the anti-social "hard to reach" and those with
severe physical disabilities.
Bristol’s facilities soon became packed to capacity and our streets began to
accommodate joggers, skate boarders and the launch of nation wide cycle
paths. Our docks, saved from in-fill, hosted diverse water sports. Bristol
City Council’s new Sports Advisory Committee helped in the allocation of
grants and together with Bristol Civic Society led a successful national
campaign to "Save our Sports grounds" from development. Those were the days
. . . . . .
So what went wrong?
During the 70’s an educational cleresy began to undermine the foundations of
school based sport. It preached (without evidence) a theory that competitive
sport makes children violent. Converts resisted any form of measurable
targets, incentive awards and badges; and even a school curriculum
requirement to swim 25metres. The proposed replacement was for "children to
move themselves through the water with or without buoyancy aids"; and Avon’s
assessment of ability to swim was "whether a child could reach the side"
(without specifying from whence).
“Aggressive” outdoor team games were stealthily dismantled and an Avon
Primary School was reprimanded for permitting a "competitive" egg and spoon
race. I’m serious.
It took a visit to No10 Downing Street to save the 25m swim, which remains a
key stage 2 requirement; but in most other respects the anti-sports
educationalists defeated the coaches, teachers and parents by attrition.
When teachers withdrew their voluntary services during a pay dispute, the
Government’s retribution was "Contract hours" from which voluntary sports
coaching never recovered. Pitches became poorly serviced and were sold for
development. Inter-school competition (the ladder to national sport) rapidly
declined. Regional Sport Councils were dismantled and their effective voice
for voluntary sport (especially in schools) was silenced.
Recovery is hampered by teachers’ fear of litigation and young people’s
recourse to passive recreation or gang culture. The opponents of nasty rough
games shed not a tear; and the establishment counts the sports maintenance
money saved.
The long-term results are now evident:
Serious health and obesity problems for young people are attributed mainly
to the lack of exercise and appalling diet.
The unchannelled energy of too many young people has generated anti-social
behaviour, unprecedented violence and unsafe streets at night.
Most of our international sporting honours are now won in sports which
require ownership of horses, yachts, specialist bikes and rowing boats – all
rarely used on a weekly basis in schools. – Individual dedication still
breaks through but it defies the trend.
Now, at last, there is an urgent national call for improved meals and a
revival of sport in our schools. Thank goodness! But it will take time,
dedication and a public rejection of the anti-sport subversion. Remedies
must cut across departmental boundaries, and the dominant investment in
elite sport must give way to major reinvestment in grass roots. The only way
to reach all children and all potential role models is through schools. A
new generation of visionaries that inspire dedication must pick up the
baton.
So where must Bristol Civic Society enter the fray?
At a time when many sports pitches have fallen into disuse we should resist
sale for development. Once lost, they cannot be recovered if team sports are
restored as intended. That would be a bitter irony!
We must retain our urban green space and enhance it for the very
"sustainable" reason that grass and surrounding trees turn carbon dioxide
into oxygen in our seriously polluted city.
Concentration of pitches into "hubs" and "sports specialist schools" will
serve the enthusiasts who live nearby but may create more car journeys for
neighbourhoods deprived of their local green.
Removal of "greens" and potential pitches from local communities will
diminish their environmental quality of life and should not be considered
before "effective community involvement" through neighbourhood forums, has
ensured that all the implications are understood and the community has made
a democratic decision. (see Planning Policy Statement 1)
In all these respects Bristol Civic Society has the experience and expertise
to contribute.
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Jerry Hicks
Convener Urban Design Group
926 0209
email: jerry@twoj.org
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