WITH huge fanfare, it was announced last week that close to half a billion pounds is to be pumped into grassroots sports initiatives over the next four years.
Forty-six sports will benefit to the combined tune of £480 million, with cricket getting the largest grant, £37.8 million, and athletics and cycling receiving £20.4 million and £24.3 million respectively.
This is massively significant funding, wh
ich should make a real difference, with the target to get one million people more active – note: one million people more active; not one million more people active – by 2012.
But only in England. The money comes from Sport England, and although in many cases it is awarded to British governing bodies, it is to fund initiatives and projects in England only.
One of the desired legacies of the London Olympics is to increase participation – this was one of the messages that so resonated with the IOC – and that is what this funding is all about. But the London Olympics, we are repeatedly told, are "Britain's Games", not England's. So why are grassroots initiatives in Scotland missing out on this windfall in public funding?
Because, make no mistake, they are missing out. The situation is different in Scotland, where sportscotland is the national agency responsible for distributing funds – from the combined pots of the lottery and the government – to support all aspects of sport, from grassroots to elite (that is, 'elite' below 'world class' level, with those athletes supported by UK Sport's world class performance programmes).
In England, Sport England is responsible for "developing a world class community sport system". In other words, it is all about participation and grassroots.
In Scotland, governing bodies are allocated their grants, and then – in line with the plans submitted to sportscotland – it is up to them how to split it between grassroots and elite. Local authorities are also charged with nurturing the grassroots, but, all things considered, we are talking about a fraction of the amount that's invested south of the border.
Take cycling. British Cycling, which runs the world class team, is also the body charged with spending the Sport England money. It means £6 million a year for grassroots projects in England.
Here, meanwhile, Scottish Cycling's annual grant from sportscotland was, in the last round of funding, £420,000. Of that, around £40,000 went to a regional programme, aimed at grassroots and entry level cycling, with £115,000 on staffing the project with regional coaches.
Scottish Cycling therefore spent about £150,000 – a little more than a third of its total budget – on grassroots. It doesn't really compare with the £6 million available for similar projects in England, does it? And it certainly isn't consistent with the Barnett Formula, the mechanism by which Scotland is supposed to receive 11 per cent of the funds dished out by the Treasury, and a slightly smaller percentage from the lottery.
In fact, this half-billion windfall for grassroots in England is ten times the total amount available in Scotland for funding all sports activity, from bottom to top. Doesn't seem right, does it?
'Champions' scheme may be coming to a school near youGIVEN that Scotland seems to be missing out on the tranche of public funding available for grassroots sport in England (see above), it is just as well for the Winning Scotland Foundation, whose 'Champions in Schools' programme is proving a success in West Lothian.
The pilot programme – involving eight schools and nine athletes: Shirley Robertson, Shirley Webb, Catriona Morrison, Michelle Rogers, Chris Paterson, Euan Burton, Mark Beaumont, Kevin Simpson and Gregor Townsend – runs until March, but that will be the start rather than the end of it. Townsend, who, with Susan Jackson, co-ordinates the programme, says that the target is to roll the programme out throughout Scotland. "Our aim is to have Champions in Schools in every local authority in Scotland by 2014."
The USP to this programme is that it sees the champions visit the schools three times. One-off visits are of limited value, says Townsend. For real engagement, and relationship-building, repeated visits are necessary. Each of the nine athletes involved in the pilot programme in West Lothian is making three visits; the first has been carried out, the remaining two will be completed by Easter. In a difficult climate for sponsorship, it is also worth acknowledging the sponsor, Quality Meat Scotland, which part-funds the initiative with the Winning Scotland Foundation.
Equally impressive is the involvement of Robertson, who, despite living on the Isle of Wight, is a committed supporter. An important aspect is that all the athletes involved have some West Lothian link (and Townsend says he wants this to be a theme as the programme is expanded across Scotland). Robertson's might be quite tenuous – she once sailed on Linlithgow Loch – but, from her enthusiasm, you'd think she'd been brought up in the shadows of the coal bings.
MacLarty renews love for athleticsONE of Scotland's most naturally talented athletes seems to be on her way back to the top. Morag MacLarty, the 2004 Commonwealth and European youth 1,500 metres champion, has suffered a catalogue of injuries and illness and, juggling the demands of her medical studies, she has effectively endured several lost years.
Now, working with Liz McColgan, and having decided not to pursue a medical career, she is well and truly back on track. Fourth in the recent European under-23 cross country championship – where she was pipped for bronze, but had the consolation of winning team gold – suggests she can still fulfil the potential that many saw back in 2004, when she was tipped as the next McColgan.
"I've never felt this good," says the 22-year old. "I can't believe the way things are going; it's like night and day to how I felt last summer."
Her solution to the dilemma over her studies will surprise some, however. After five years of medicine, she has now opted for dentistry.
Only another five years of study, then.
