http://www.brfcforum.co.uk/index.php?/topic/109997-bristol-sport/ Gas. Last few posts are more interesting. Personally I would like to see a premises bought in BS3 to push forward what is there v trying to create what is not ( basketball). Put futsal, six aside, training courses for kids football, boxing , martial arts (getting massive) under a roof of BCFC. Basketball is for people seven foot tall.
Well most of the early quotes are just the green eyed monster surfacing again through the crap that is the Mem
Nah a case of show me what you got first. Start with a run. Just twelve minutes will tell me what they have. Love physical sports .. Probably too much. My friends are boxers, fighters, blokes who eat weights ... Basketball is some weird hybrid from across the globe throwitg a ball through a hoop.
Can't fault the man, anything that puts Bristol on the sporting map!! Support for athletics, if that was on the cards, would be fabulous. Living in Cardiff I can see what investment in sport can do. Just need to look at the facilities over here, puts my home town to shame. I for one am behind SLs ideas for Bristol.
The later quote about David James is pertinent. The cost in comparison will, or can be small. I would rather see money devoted to kids coaching of football than a American sport. It is there that BCFC can make most impact, and improve standards. Bristol and the country are light years behind Europe in standards of coaching, and its accessibility.
Why not both at the same time which is what is happening at the moment The Academy and the Foundation are concentrating on Football as is to be expected Bristol Sport are looking at the bigger sporting picture.
That could be applied to any City and football club. How will spending money on basketball address the chronic lack of coaches for kids football? It will not. Rather see money spent on sending BCFC ( Bristol sport) sponsored coaches out to schools. A handful could affect thousands.
Not enough is being done. City's post class training.Three courses for 6- 8 at three different venues is little over Bristol/Keynsham. City will pick up kids in the golden age bracket (9+), but what about 2- 8? It is there things are lacking v Europe. That technique kids abroad have starts at a very very early age. Does your local school/kids club have proper coaches? The answer too often will be no. It would be the opposite in a Spanish City and town. European clubs look at the bigger picture.
City are at the beginning of trying to reengage with the local community they have started more coaching in schools due to the Academy involvement I expect that this will increase over time, that is certainly what I understand from all the stuff from AG recently. Yes they need to do more but at least they are starting to address the issues.
I made reference to the pre academy age group. Here there is no striking cohesive strategy. If parents have money and time they can access the training on offer. If parents do not have money and time talent can be wasted even at that age. There is a gert park opposite the ground free of charge that could be used through the summer. It is simple to do far more.
Do that a couple of times a week and it would be close on a 50% increase on what it is happening. Put an all weather pitch there ( or close) and its all season and its a massive increase on what is done.
My son attended two training days in whitchurch and really enjoyed it. He also wanted to do more after. When I looked into this I found the term.time training was hard to get to and would cost me around a tenner an hour including travel. Disappointing that when you live in south bristol. That issue could be easily addressed as pointed out by using several of the existing parks around BS3/4 and outwards.
People who make a great big load of money through their business will often want to put some of it back into the community. Some build homes for orphans - Mullers Orphanage which is now the college at Ashley Down, some build art galleries or museums, and so on. My take on SL is that he loves sport and just wants to put something into Bristol sport. I think it is siimply that. If there is a bigger picture to support and help Bristol City Football club, then Basketball does seem an odd one. But I think many of his sporting investments will be unrelated to BCFC as simply investments and help for Bristol sport in general. And it is also clear that having visited Botswana, probably on holiday, he has decided that he wants to put something into a third world developing country. Nothing sinister, but one way was to take his football team there, probably because football is now a "universal language". It's easy yo be dubious or even cynical about his aims but I prefer to accept him as someone who has lots of money and wants to spread some of it around to the local sporting world.
I do not want to see Bristol sport help basketball occupy a possible point of contact football, and Bristol City could. It will be easier for parents to get kids to martial arts classes, which are numerous than in front of a football coach in parts of Bristol. I want to see access to quality coaching for kids who could take part universal.
