Memorandum submitted by Sport England
Following the evidence session last week, I
agreed to come back to the Committee with some additional information
on three specific points; further information regarding SportsMatch,
Sporting Champions and the Football Youth Development Programme.
SPORTSMATCH
The Honourable Member for Warrington South,
Ms Southworth asked why there had been a reduction in the overall
amount of funding given to football and women's football although
there had been an increase in applications. The answer SportsMatch
gave us is straightforward. The applications that were made were
simply for lesser amounts of sponsorship for them to match. The
applications now tend to be much more locally based and therefore
smaller.
SPORTING CHAMPIONS
The Honourable Member for Warrington South,
Ms Southworth asked how many of the Sporting Champions were footballers
and more specifically female footballers. Four of the 89 Sporting
Champions involved in the scheme are footballers, two of whom
are women. The two female players are; Sue Smith who plays for
Leeds WFC and has won 56 caps for England and Julie Fletcher who
has won 30 caps for England.
FOOTBALL YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
AND WOMEN'S
ACADEMIES
The Honourable Member for Warrington South,
Ms Southworth also asked for clarification in relation to the
Football Youth Development Programme (FYDP) and funding for women's
academies. The FYDP was set up to support the development of talent
in clubs of the Football League, following the Premiership breakaway.
There was no specific requirement to fund the women's game as
a pre-requisite for funding under the programme. Women's teams,
run through a separate league, have not received direct investment
under the programme. Responsibility for management of the scheme
has now transferred across to the Football Association, with Sport
England no longer directly involved. This was the stated intention
of Sport England. Our understanding is that the Football Association
does make an investment from its resources of £1 million
per annum into girls' centres of excellence, under a separate
programme, as outlined in their evidence to the Committee.
As we highlighted at the Committee hearing,
Sport England's national investment in the sport is channelled
through The FA towards the objectives outlined in its "Whole
Sport" four-year business plan. Beyond a modest £139,350
targeted at women's projects in London, there is no funding ring-fenced
specifically for women's academies or indeed other aspects of
the women's game. However, the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
that we measure the sport's performance against are strongly focused
on the women's game. The targets for the period 2005-09 include
growing the number of regular women's participants (from 96,000-138,000);
the number of active and qualified coaches (from 2,353—13,326)
and increasing the number of FA community clubs (from 53-333).
All clubs must include at least a women's team. These targets
are designed to encourage emphasis on and investment in this area
of the sport.
3 July 2006
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