I have been a firm supporter in every thing sport and Olympic since the announcement of London 2012. I was honoured to have daily access to the Olympic park and rubbed shoulders with LeBron James et al. I have even forged a career in sport and wholeheartedly bought into the idea that London 2012 will 'inspire a generation' But today UKsport have made an absolute mockery of the term 'legacy' I very rarely get irate, even when talking about the dismal performances of my beloved ITFC but today I am a little more than pi55ed off with the news of the sweeping cuts to a lot of the minority sports talent budgets for the next 4 years, how do we expect to encourage the next generation to get involved in sports other than football, rugby, tennis (sports that can easily fund themselves!) when there is absolutely nothing to aspire too... Some of the biggest surprises and inspirations of the Olympics... Volleyball, Handball, Basketball, Table Tennis etc. get little to no funding... Absolutely farcical!
To be fair there isn't a huge budget and what budget there is has to be allocated to the more successful sports. Now that the hysteria of the Olympics has died down I don't think too many people will be losing much sleep over this.
KoPR the Queen has had to attend a cabinet meeting for the first time in her reign, 'You silly young men are making such a hash of this I'll have to help you run the country.' Of everything it's the genuinely needy and education I am most fearful for, Michael Gove is one of the most damaging politicians in history, and your news goes very much hand in hand with that.
My job (should?) be secure given my focus is around the development of sport rather than the elite performance level so I'm all about the grassroots stuff! It just seems that post Olympics we (the media) have gone back to the mainstream sports... All the national rags print football gossip and reaction with the occasional mention of Cricket and Rugby and the sports that all captured our imagination in the summer are but a distant memory... How amazing would it be if we were able to have a multitude of choices of what clubs and activities we took part in... If the next generation (some of our poster's children) had choices of what sport they could take part in at school... the chance to play Table Tennis, Handball, Volleyball etc. What if we had some genuine inspirational athletes and not our overpaid footballers to look up too? as I'm sure that pre London 2012 Nicola Adams was a name no one was familiar with and now she is one of the most inspirational athletes and role models within female sport in this country!
I also think it is disgraceful that that only the sports who have a proven track record for delivering medals over as little as a four year period are given funding and other sports (Swimming?) that were successful in Beijing have their funding cut when arguably they need it more than the others! I guess the take-home message is that these sports only matter when they produce winners, which ironically is the exact opposite of encouraging wider participation. One of my great irritations with sport in this country is we only celebrate winners.
Someone has to clear up the huge mess that Labour left us after 13 years of ruining this country! I applaud Michael Gove for what he is doing in Education. The majority of teachers need a big kick up the arse and its about time that someone is brave enough to break up their vested interests that have been damaging to pupils education and life chances for too long.
As someone who not so long ago finished Sixth Form and now at University I find that very hard to agree with. I entered University the year before the tuition fees rose (I appreciate there is a different minister for Universities an Education) and looking at what is now the Freshers it is very difficult to argue against the fact the fee hike has severely damaged participation at University for people from less privileged backgrounds. I have no idea what these vested interests you speak of are but of the teachers I know they are fearful of the impact these changes are going to have on education in the future.
can people stop mentioning michael gove please. every time he is mentioned i punch something. great, now i've done it. and now my dog is limping...
that is the day i, and many others i suspect, will leave the country. i'd probably head for somewhere safer, like syria or palestine
What a strange country we live in, all sectors of society have had savage cuts to funding like education, benefits, hospital cuts, care home funding, local councils as well, leading to many knock on effects. Yet we think nothing of ploughing about 200 million a year, for a bunch of talentless charlatans, including the biggest benefit scrounger in the country, who lives in a big palace in the middle of London. She is supposed to be independant of politics, that is the deal, and there she is at a cabinet meeting. Sorry jwm, think you will find that Michael Gove was the buffoon who wanted taxpayers to fork out 60 million pounds on a royal yacht, in the middle of an economic crisis, for Windsors jubilee.
I really fail to see how anyone with any brains at all can defend Michael Gove! The man is less use than an ashtray on a motorbike!
The only thing Teachers are worried about is protecting their own gold plated pensions and working conditions while those in the 'real' world can't afford pensions at all! If they spent less time being all PC and right on and actually taught pupils to read, write and add up properly, this country would be much better off.
There is just so much that I completely disagree with you on TS but I just can't be arsed to write an essay to debunk all this bullshit!
Totally agree KPR Marsupial and Truthseeker...JWM you are so wrong about Gove it must be a wind up! As a one time Head teacher and passionate about all things youth, you coudn't be more wrong about what he is doing. In fact, this is the first and only time I have to disagree with you! And as for cutting funds for minority sports, how absurd is all that! Again, agree with earlier comments - if they are not performing as well as our so called high profile, celeb, wags etc over paid sports, then it's table-tennis and swimming and other popular 'cheaper' sports that we need to encourage communities to engage with - for a healthier nation in every sense. And its no just about wining frigging medals is it! I am fast dis-engaging from the egg heads in football, except beloved IPTFC of course. And one or two there need cracking..!
