2 Attracting new participants
16. Between 2012 and 2017, Sport England will invest
over £1 billion in a Youth and Community Sport Strategy.
As part of this, Sport England is investing £100 million
a year in 46 national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) over the
same period. This investment is intended to bring about four outcomes:
· An
increase in participation (at least once a week for 30 minutes
at moderate intensity) by 14-25-year-olds
· An
increase in participation (as defined above) by adults over 25
· An
increase in participation by disabled people
· Improved
talent pathways for English athletes (up to the level of performance
covered by UK Sport, i.e. podium potential for Olympic or World
championshipsor their equivalent).
The DCMS commented: "Virtually all of the 46
NGBs have a quantified target in each of these four areas. While
there is no separate target for participation by women, in many
sports (tennis and swimming are obvious examples) it is difficult
to increase participation without having a good offer for women
and girls."[19]
17. Sport England found the main things that motivated
women and girls to play sport were the opportunity to take part
with friends, a non-competitive atmosphere, the support of family
or links between the sport-provider and trusted partners such
as faith groups, the availability of childcare, girls-only sessions,
having fun, safe and comfortable environments, and flexibility
in timing.[20] We were
told that the Us Girls programmean award-winning programme
run by the charity StreetGames, focused on encouraging participation
in sports by young women in disadvantaged communities[21]has
shown that (non-sporty) young women want sport that is less formal
and is based on friendship groups and fun. Young women from disadvantaged
communities generally need subsidised sporting activities that
are delivered locally in a relaxed, safe, female-only environment,
involve music, include a variety of activities to try but are
linked to the promotion of health and well-being, and are delivered
by the right coach/leader.[22]
18. However, according to StreetGames, the way sport
has traditionally been organised has made it hard for even interested
and motivated young women in disadvantaged areas to participate
in sport. This is because sporting outlets are scarce in disadvantaged
communities, especially for women, traditional sports are often
not offered or packaged in a way that are attractive to women,
transport is not available and cost is a significant issue, as
well as the problems of lack of confidence and cultural barriers.[23]
19. The Muslim Women's Sport Foundation (MWSF) said
that women and girls from BAME communities wanted to be more active,
but a lack of understanding of their particular needs made participation
even more difficult for them than for women in general. In addition
to the barriers already listed, they faced a lack of opportunities
suited to their needs (for example, many leisure centres ran women-only
swimming sessions but could not guarantee that a female lifeguard
would be present); practical difficulties such as safety concerns
and travel time; family commitments (which persisted throughout
their lives); and negative cultural attitudes toward sport for
women.[24]
Types of sport on offer
20. Whilst some sports have seen gains in the past
few years, most have not witnessed sustained increases in female
participation. Currently, women are far more likely to take part
in individual as opposed to team sport, or in non-competitive
activities, andgenerallynot to belong to clubs.
This means that their sporting activity takes place outside the
reach of sports governing bodies, through which much of the funding
for sporting activities is funnelled. Swimming, going to the gym,
running/jogging and Zumba are the top four activities women choose
to participate in.[25]
The WSFF commented:
The fact that "road running" (which
counts as Athletics in the Active People Survey) is driving the
increase in women's participation is a good example of how much
of sport exists outside the formal NGB world. The large majority
of female runners either run alone, or with friends, and whilst
they may enter competitions or races, only very few choose to
formalise their involvement by joining a club or affiliating to
the NGB. The success of activities like Zumba (which is driven
and marketed locally by word of mouth) or British Military Fitness
(that has capitalised on a trend for extreme or 'boot camp' type
experiences), demonstrate how much innovation in sports delivery
is happening outside of the governing body world.[26]
21. Sport England provided information about some
of the most popular sports for men and women from the point of
view of participation.
Examples of sports popular with women and girls
|
Sport |
Overall Participation
|
Female (%)
|
Male |
Swimming |
2,892,200
|
1,870,400 (65%) |
1,021,800 (35%) |
Athletics (which includes running)
|
1,958,000 |
823,000 (42%)
|
1,135,000 (58%) |
Tennis |
424,300
|
192,900 (45%) |
231,400 (55%) |
|
By comparison - examples of sports popular with men
|
Sport |
Overall Participation
|
Female (%)
|
Male |
Football |
1,939,700
|
119,900 (6%) |
1,819,800 (94%) |
Cricket |
189,400
|
12,900 (7%) |
176,500 (93%) |
Rugby Union |
166,400
|
10,900 (7%) |
155,500 (93%) |
SPORT AT SCHOOL
22. A recent survey showed that 51% of girls were deterred from
physical activity by their experiences of school sport and PE.[27]
They associated school sports with:
· Lack
of choice46% of the least active girls said they "don't
like the activities we get to do in PE"
· Overly
competitive environments45% of girls agreed that "sport
is too competitive"
· Lack
of confidenceOver a third of the least active girls didn't
think they had "the skills to do well in sport"
· Body
image75% of girls agreed that "girls are self-conscious
of their bodies"
· Sport
is undervalued59% of the least active girls didn't think
it was important to be good at PE.
Some girls argued that they had too much schoolwork
to take part, they had encountered sexism when playing sport,
and they would prefer single sex games lessons.[28]
Others perceived the focus in PE lessons to be always on those
who represented the school in sports, with the result that most
girls felt neglected and therefore apathetic towards sport. As
a result, girls often preferred to play sport outside school.
Where a greater variety of sport was on offer, they could exercise
more seriously and they were more likely to have a coach to guide
and encourage them.[29]
23. Lottie Birdsall-Strong, a football player, former
member of the England youth squad and recipient of a scholarship
to study and play college football in North Carolina, USA, argued
that many of the problems in relation to women's sport in the
UK derived from a lack of equality in sports at school. She suggested
that a key factor in the comparative success of the USA in encouraging
women's participation in sport was Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 (also known as the 'Equal Opportunity in Education Act').
Amongst other things, Title IX requires that schools allocate
participation opportunities in a non-discriminatory way: in other
words, that schools receiving state funds must provide female
students with equal opportunities to participate in educational
programmes, including Physical Education. Since Title IX was passed,
the number of girls participating in secondary school athletics
in the USA has increased from fewer than 300,000 to nearly 3 millionfrom
7% of the relevant female population to nearly 41%.[30]
24. In the UK there is no requirement that schools'
expenditure on sport benefits girls and boys equally. Lottie Birdsall-Strong
suggested there was overwhelming anecdotal evidence that funding
in the UK was given primarily to boys' sports in schoolsanecdotal
evidence was the only evidence available because neither the allocation
nor the impact of spending was appropriately measured. She did
not suggest that the UK replicate Title IX, but preferred an amendment
to schools' Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act
2010, adding that the Youth Sport Trust could be an appropriate
organisation to monitor funding allocation, resource and opportunity
in terms of gender equality.[31]
The Football Association (FA) also considered the impact of Title
IX and concluded that, though Title IX itself might not be directly
transferable to the UK, the principle of equitable investment
for schools was worth considering.[32]
25. Sports authorities have been making efforts to
improve the teaching of their sport in schools and to increase
the enthusiasm of children to play them. The FA noted that the
WSFF research (already cited in paragraph 22 above) pointed to
poor coaching and lack of support in schools as the two issues
most pertinent to girls dropping out from playing football.[33]
With a number of our other witnesses, the FA believed that increasing
the number of teachers with a sporting interest and improving
their training was essential. Our sister committee, the Education
Committee, raised concerns about the short-term (two year) nature
of the Government's primary sport premium funding scheme and the
lack of a long-term strategy for school sport with sustained funding.[34]
The FA welcomed the Government's current pilot projects which
aim to improve the skills of PE teachers, but would like further
increases in physical education training during Initial Teacher
Training. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Football
Association, Lawn Tennis Association and Premiership Rugby all
cited programmes to train teachers in primary schools in delivering
the skills relevant to their particular sport.[35]
The ECB and tennis authorities (Tennis Foundation and LTA) also
run initiatives which aim to provide young players with regular
league matches against similar standard players in a competitive
team environment. Similarly, in 2012 the RFU launched a programme
to help state secondary schools to offer rugby to their
students, the schools being identified in clusters so that they
could play rugby against one another locally.[36]
While none of these initiatives was aimed specifically at girls,
we were told that in a number of them participants split roughly
half and half between boys and girls. Premiership Rugby was very
proud of the number of women teachers trained under its primary
school programme, commenting: "This is critical because
our experience shows that where female teachers or role models
are involved programmes generate higher levels of participation
and retention."[37]
26. When girls were asked to select their favourite
sports, and those they would like to do in the future, sports
such as swimming, gym, dance and trampolining were ranked highest.[38]
BT argued that, while there were practical reasons (mainly
financial) why schools were unable to offer a wide variety of
sports to girls, "Outings to climbing walls, velodromes,
riding schools, mountain bike courses should not be out of the
question. Links to public schools who have the facilities could
be fostered. Every sort of sports club could throw open its doors
on a regular basis and make a special point of inviting girls."[39]
Other witnesses emphasised the importance of forging
links between schools and sports clubs. Joanne Herbertson suggested
that school teachers should concentrate on instilling a view of
sport as fun, core skills and sportsmanship, while external coaches
could provide opportunities to try activities such as swimming,
Zumba, aerobics, futsal, tennis, badminton, cricket, football,
rugby, squash, hockey, karate, basketball and volleyball.[40]
However, we were told that this was not happening: BT cited a
failure by local clubs to be inspired by the Olympics to promote
their sports to primary schools.[41]
England Netball claimed: "The recent announcement of £150
million for primary schools has failed to have the impact it could
have had due to the lack of consultation and communication with
NGBs [National Governing Bodies] and a seemingly uncoordinated
approach to distribution and delivery," adding that while
research indicated that the drop off in physical activity starts
as early as nine years of age, direct funding to NGBs was only
for those over 14 years.[42]
Others agreed that there was a lack of co-ordination among Ministries,
schools, clubs and sports governing bodies.[43]
27. In 2013 our sister committee, the Education Committee,
reported its concerns that, following the abolition of the requirement
for schools to report on the proportion of children taking part
in at least two hours per week of sport or PE at school, there
was no longer any way of measuring the performance of individual
schools in this area.[44]
While recognising that the former system did not give an indication
of the quality of provision just its quantity, the Committee recommended
that the requirement on schools to report on participation be
re-instated. Activity levels and fitness are already measured
by a number of schools through 'bleep tests' on individual pupils,
and the results of these could form the basis of a more informative
report on progress in improving activity levels amongst pupils.
28. Since the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, the
Department for Education has announced an increased focus on competitive
sport in schools. A number of those who submitted written evidence
to us argued that, while they were not opposed to improving competition,
if this change in focus were at the expense of providing general
opportunities to participate it might have the perverse consequence
of decreasing activity levels among girls.[45]
The WSFF considered that the government needed to make it clear
that the first priority for school sport and PE should be health,
focusing on getting every girl (and boy) active.[46]
Getting girls active would, it thought, lead to more girls playing
competitive sport; however, if the starting focus was on competition
then it was likely to lead to fewer girls being active. Ofsted's
report Beyond 2012 outstanding physical education
for all (2013) found that "only a few schools have achieved
a balance between increasing participation and generating elite
performance".[47]
The WSFF commented: "more needs to be done to turn best practice
in a few schools into common practice".[48]
There was general agreement that best practice consisted of three
elements: schools should give children "physical literacy",
so that they could run, jump and throw with confidence; school
sport should be fun; and schools should offer a range of sports
to encourage the widest possible participation.[49]
From September 2013 the WSFF has been working on a Department
of Health funded project with 25 schools to produce best practice
examples, and the Youth Sport Trust has been helping 21 schools
to engage better with 11-14 year-old girls in sport and to increase
participation rates.[50]
We were provided with an example of best practice from New College
Leicester, which provides single sex PE lessons, is trying to
build links with female community sports clubs and has changed
its PE uniform for both girls and boys to be more comfortable
and up-to-date.[51]
29. The increasing inactivity of children is,
and should be, a major concern to the Government, to parents and
to society in general, and schools are key to addressing the problem.
We recommend that children's activity levels be measured annually,
and that best practice amongst a few schools is turned into common
practice in relation to encouraging higher levels of overall participation.
This will need to include addressing specific problems such as
poor facilities.
30. Though there have been initiatives to improve
the training of teachers in PE, more needs to be doneat
both primary and secondary levelsto ensure that PE staff
are equipped to support every child in a wide range of activities.
We agree with the Education Committee that the two-year timeframe
for the primary sport premium is too short and runs the risk of
replicating previous short-term fixes rather than providing a
long-term solution to the inadequacy of PE teaching in schools.
31. Girls are being deterred from participating
in sport by their experiences in school PE lessons. Unfortunately,
an emphasis on competitive sport may make this situation worse
for some girls. Schools need to be more imaginative in the type
of sport that they provide for girls: while some enjoy team games
like football and netball, or athletics, others would enjoy sampling
a wider variety of activities, such as dance or cycling, or non-traditional
games for girls like rugby.
32. While it is unrealistic to expect schools
to provide facilities and coaching for a wide variety of sports,
there are good opportunities for sports governing bodies to reach
out to potential future players and spectators through forging
links between local clubs and schools. While some progress is
being made in this area, sports governing bodies need to inject
more urgency and enthusiasm into this task, otherwise it is doubtful
that they will meet their target of increasing participation in
sporting activity by 14-25 year olds.
33. Whatever the reality, there is a perception
amongst pupils and others that schools care more about, and spend
more money on, sport for boys than for girls. We do not want to
add to the bureaucracy on schools, but we consider that the decline
in girls' participation in sport is sufficiently serious that
schools should be made to focus more attention on the sports offered
to girls. This might most easily be done by an amendment to schools'
Public Sector Equality Duty, which we consider to be an effective
but less heavy-handed alternative to the USA's Title IX legislation.
34. Although the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport 'owns' the Olympic sport legacy, the bodies through which
the legacy is preserved have been largely the Department for Education
(DfE) and, until recently, the Cabinet Office. The Minister's
responses to our questions about the amount of communicationlet
alone the co-ordinationbetween departments were unconvincing
and suggested there was little or no real contact.[52]
Sport for girls appears to have suffered as a result. The School
Sport Partnership scheme provided the sort of co-operation between
schools and community clubs that we are advocating to give girls
the chance to try new sports. While the scheme was not perfect,
it is regrettable that it was scrapped rather than reformed, and
it appears to us that the DCMS would not have abolished it so
hastily.
35. Given the importance of encouraging children
to sustain a life-long commitment to sporting activity, and the
fact that school sport currently appears to deter a significant
number of girls from sport, we are very concerned about the lack
of communication and co-operation between Government departments,
which we think presents a serious obstacle to the DCMS in its
attempts to deliver the Olympic legacy. We recommend that the
DCMS, Department for Education and Department of Health publish
a joint annual report to Parliament on school sport, focusing
on participation levels, the availability of different types of
sport, partnerships with clubs and charities, and training for
teachers.
OPTIONS AFTER SCHOOL
36. The WSFF argued that not only would greater participation
by women in sport benefit women themselves, but also it offered
the greatest opportunity for sport to grow. It was not alone in
suggesting, however, that insufficient attention has been paid
to how sport may be incorporated into women's wider lifestyles,
the level of competition for women's leisure time, and how the
opportunities for women to engage in sport may change at different
points in their lives.
37. A number of sporting bodies have conducted research
into the barriers to women's participation in their sport and
have tried to address them.
· In
the case of cycling, over 30% of female respondents to a survey
identified safety concerns as the main barrier to participating
in cycling. The other most common responses were 'lack of knowledge
of local routes' and 'nobody to go with'. British Cycling therefore
set up a number of programmes to design safer routes, give women
the opportunity to gain confidence by cycling in a group, ensuring
widespread coverage so that women could find a local event, and
providing activities free or keeping costs low. At least in part
as a result of these efforts, the number of women cyclists has
increased greatly since 2008.[53]
· England
Netballat least initiallysignificantly increased
participation among women and girls by first conducting extensive
consumer research, identifying ten different audiences who had
different wants and needs and then trying to adapt what was offered
to meet the requirements of the ten groups. A number of the new
products were successful, including Back to Netball, a gentle
reintroduction to the sport for women over the age of 16 (which
won the National Lottery Sports Project of the Year 2012), and
Netball Now, a 'pay and play' option for women who did not wish
to commit to weekly activity but wanted the flexibility to turn
up and play netball when it suited them.[54]
· The
LTA reported that, like most other sports,[55]
the number of women playing tennis regularly dropped significantly
at the ages of 16, 19 and 25. It decided to "create a range
of products" that adapted tennis to "modern lifestyle
demands". This included a programme called Cardio Tennis,
which combines an aerobic workout with tennis drills in hour-long
sessions run by a qualified tennis coach.[56]
· Female
participation in contact rugby is currently low compared to other
sports, but, according to the RFU, it is growing rapidly (a 90%
increase since 2004). The RFU has been keen to translate
the comparatively large proportion of women attending rugby matches
into greater participation. It has developed a Women and Girls'
strategy, the key strands of which are to: create a warm and welcoming
club environment; provide local options to meet local need; increase
opportunities for girls to play rugby in education settings; and
change the perception of rugby to make it more attractive to girls
and women. The RFU also expects to see increases in female participation
from further development of modified forms of the game, such as
rugby fitness and O2 Touch rugby, as research shows these appeal
more to women and girls. Premiership Rugby cited the Worcester
Warriors' involvement in forming the Midland Ladies Touch League.[57]
· The
FA and Premier League told us they had a number of programmes
to encourage women to try or to continue to play football, including
recreational programmes at local football clubs, satellite projects
set up with Premier League and Football League Clubs to provide
opportunities for women aged 14 to 25 to try football and develop
their skills, and Just Play festivals based on university and
college grounds.[58]
· England
Golf described its approach of group tester sessions for women
at low-cost, friendly facilities, leading to structured sessions
as women became more confident.[59]
· The
ECB highlighted the fivefold increase in cricket clubs with women's
and/or girls' sections between 2002 and 2012, and its programmes
for developing the links between local clubs and schools and colleges.[60]
38. StreetGames described its promotion of 'doorstep
sport', taking sport to disadvantaged communities, working with
traditional governing bodies but also with people who had set
up their own community interest companies, charities or businesses
to deliver sports activities to women and girls. It advocated
more support for these people in the form of financial help, expert
advice, grants and mentoring schemes.[61]
39. The media are also involved. The BBC recently
launched a campaign, 'Get Inspired', working alongside sports
bodies responsible for promoting grassroots initiatives, to inspire
people to try new sports and activities, through films, features,
guides, and links to events and clubs near them. The related
website included a database of more than 60 sports, a postcode
finder to locate clubs and events plus links to national governing
bodies. [62]
40. Beyond the programmes of sports governing bodies,
Parkrun was presented to us as a case study
in promoting participation. The model consists of weekly runs
in public parks, which are organised by community groups, free
to the user, local and easy to access, open to all, require no
pre-booking or selection, there is no dress code; they encourage
family involvement; they are timed (offering the opportunity to
track progress) and often there are post-run social gatherings.
Women and girls accounted for 49.5% of registrations.[63]
41. While all of the examples address some of the
difficulties faced by women, they do not tackle many of the generic
problems: the perception of sport as unfeminine, low confidence
levels, family and work commitments (and childcare difficulties),
access and cost.
42. One of the fundamental problems faced by those
wishing to increase women's and girls' participation in sport
is the poor body image many women have of themselves. In response,
the Government set up a Body Confidence Campaign, which aims to
promote positive and diverse representations of appearance in
the media and other cultural forms, greater media literacy so
that individuals are more resistant to unrealistic and harmful
presentations of 'ideal' body shapes, and young people's confidence
in their value to society. The 2013 Body Confidence progress report
has demonstrated "significant successes" to date while
recognising that what is sought is major cultural change, and
there is still much to be done.[64]
43. Chrissie Wellington, the triathlon champion,
suggested that clubs and facilities should offer beginner
classes open to all to reduce embarrassment amongst participants;
relax dress codes; provide greater flexibility in membership packages
(including 'try before you buy' schemes); offer
classes that parents could take part in with their children, or
child-minding exchanges among gym or club members; and establish
partnerships with transport providers and share-a-ride schemes.
She and StreetGames suggested that the Government could subsidise
entry to sports facilitiesespecially for children. [65]
44. The FA noted the differences in coaching needs
between boys and girls: boys laid emphasis on an experienced and
qualified coach, while girls said they needed an understanding
and empathetic coach. To this end the FA has worked with the Us
Girls programme (through StreetGames) to deliver sessions to all
County FA staff on the importance of tailoring sessions to the
needs and motivations of young female players.[66]
Joanne Herbertson advocated an approach including 'girls only'
coaching opportunities in football and cricket (mother and daughter
open nights, women only coaching sessions in schools, sports clubs,
or in open spaces like local parks or the beach), using social
media, flyers and e-mails to encourage new participants and varieties
of games.[67] We comment
further on the importance of coaching later in this report.
45. One of the initiatives by Sport England is the
Place Based Pilot, which was launched in Bury on 10 May
2013 with £2.3 million funding. This intensive campaign is
focused on changing the sporting habits of local women and girls
by targeting and engaging with the inactive. The four pillars
to the main programme are:
· outdoor
fitness
· NGB
fitness programmes (including netball, tennis, running, cycling)
· later
life activities (including Pilates, yoga, tea dances) and
· fitness
and dance (e.g. Zumba).
46. Sport England described the approach as follows:
This campaign is about changing culture, habits
and behaviour driven by understanding local women, their lifestyles,
their social networks and sport habits. It also seeks to establish
what motivates them to engage in sport and physical activity and
then designing a tailored programme of activity to meet those
needs, underpinned by a marketing campaign which speaks directly
to women. It will explicitly address the emotional as well as
the practical barriers to playing sport.[68]
47. As well as recruiting a workforce and making
use of social networks and digital platforms to publicise the
initiative, the project has involved refurbishing Bury's tennis
and netball courts, installing three outdoor gyms, modernising
the changing rooms in the main leisure centres and installing
two mobile swimming pools. Providers include the local authority,
private gym operators, sports and fitness coaches and local sports
clubs. The Bury project uses 68 venues.[69]
Small grants (of up to £1,000) are available to clubs or
groups who need some investment to support coaches and activities
directly working with women and girls. The scheme was intended
to be rolled out nationwide after a year, implementing the successes
and discoveries gleaned from the pilot.
48. While the Bury pilot seems to be succeeding in
recruiting women to sport, previous programmes have found it more
difficult to retain them: in 2011 Sport England put £8.2
million of Lottery funding into 20 projects to get more women
from disadvantaged communities playing sport. At the end of 2012,
almost 30,000 women had taken part in this Active Women programme,
and the majority said that they would have done less or no sport
without the project, and most said that they had had fun and felt
better and more self-confident as a result of taking part.[70]
Reaching the target groups and retention had proved difficult
however.[71] With the
Bury pilot, the aim is to reach 45,000 women in Bury and retain
10,000 of them.[72] Sport
England was confident this was possible for three reasons. The
first was that the investment being made into improving facilities
would help retention. Secondly, the approach taken in deciding
on provisionlistening to what women wanted and then supplying
itmeant that women were more likely to continue with the
activities. Finally, continuing demand gave an incentive for local
sports providers to make the commercial investment in continuing
activities after the programme had ended, and would give health
benefits also which would encourage the local authorities to help
in offering low cost facilities.[73]
49. We look forward to the analysis of the Bury
project, which appears to be imaginative and sensitive in adapting
provision of sport to women's lives rather than expecting the
reverse to take place. We hope that it is successful in sustaining
the initial level of interest among women.
50. Sports providers are experimenting with a
number of options designed to meet women's needs for flexible,
fun sporting activity. Some of the examples listed above are also
low-cost and comparatively easy to organise, requiring only readily-available
facilities and little or no specialist equipment. It seems likely,
from the success they have achieved so far, that these initiatives
will spread through the country. However, parkruns and cycling
do not suit everyone, and there remain difficulties in accessing
suitable facilities for other types of sport.
51. We recognise that some progress has been made
since 2005, but we are concerned about the persistently low rates
of participation in sport by women and girls. We believe that
this issue should be higher on the Government's agenda and, to
this end, we recommend that the DCMS and Department for Health
publish a joint report annually, in the wake of the APS statistics,
indicating their response to those statistics.
Availability of facilities
52. One of the main barriers to participation is
the shortage of suitable facilities near to where people
live and work. Studies have shown that 64% of women would exercise
more if there were more facilities in their local area and they
were cheaper.[74] We
were told that the facilities that existed were not welcoming
enough, did not offer 'fun' activities, too much ability was expected
of participants at the start, coaches were unfriendly and not
local, and often the facilities were inaccessible to people with
disabilities.
COST AND LOCATION OF FACILITIES
53. There are a significant number of outdoor facilities
for team games and some other sportsfor example, there
are more than 35,000 football pitches across the country, shared
by about 113,000 teams, there are about 2,000 community rugby
clubs in England, 77% of which have their own ground, and there
are over 20,000 tennis courts in Great Britain, about 7,000 of
which are community facilities open to the public. However, many
players are dependent on access to publicly owned and managed
facilities. For example, 52% of football games are played on school
and college grounds and a further 31% in local authority facilities,
and over 40% of cricket is played on local authority pitches.
Few of the 5,000 women's and girls' football teams own their own
ground or are primary tenants.[75]
The pressure on local authority and educational finances has led
to a reduction in the number, availability and quality of facilities.
The FA told us that in some places local authority hire charges
seemed likely to rise by 200%.[76]
There were press reports of football teams boycotting local authority
pitches earlier this year because of rising hire costs and the
poor state of the grounds after a wet winter and resulting intensive
use of grass pitches in the drier weather.
54. Although our witnesses supported the development
of better facilities, they were uniformly anxious that there should
be no net loss of facilities. While welcoming the enhanced protections
outlined in the Government's National Planning Policy framework,
the ECB remained very concerned about the sustainability of local
authority facilities because of the budgetary constraints. The
FA strongly supported the maintenance of Sport England's role
as statutory consultee. It also considered that strengthening
any community programmes that protect playing fields, such as
the Community Right to Bid, would be very beneficial for sport.[77]
55. England Netball was "in no doubt that its
ability to grow participation in netball will be constrained by
the lack of accessible and affordable facilities". Its strategy
to increase participation is based on a netball centre model,
where multiple programmes for all ranges of ability take place
on one site. It has found that where netball centres exist participation
rates are higher than areas where programmes are spread across
a number of sites. However, the netball centre model requires
both outdoor and indoor facilities on one site and, according
to England Netball, the impact of local authority budget cuts
is adding to a significant shortage of appropriate indoor facilities
and a serious deterioration in the condition of a number of the
outdoor facilities across the country, some of which it considered
potentially dangerous. Moreover, many local authority sites are
threatened with closure due to budget cuts, and hire costs are
rising.[78] As a result
of shortage of facilities elsewhere, England Netball was turning
to commercial providers. The LTA also noted a growth in partnerships
between private tennis clubs, community facilities and schools
to help maintain the community facilities and to try to increase
participation.[79]
56. StreetGames emphasised that, especially amongst
'hard to reach' demographics like low income teenage girls and
women from black and ethnic minority groups, there is a strong
preference for using indoor rather than outdoor facilities (only
14% of Us Girls sessions that took place in 2012 and 2013 were
at outdoor venues), butlike England Netballit complained
of a shortage of indoor facilities, and the cost of hiring them.[80]
Moreover, StreetGames suggested that young women who have
limited or no previous sporting experience are unlikely to visit
traditional sport settings/venues, so providing activity in non-traditional
sports venues in the local community is likely to be more attractive
to them.[81] The US Girls
programme delivered by StreetGames used a variety of local community
venues, including both traditional and non-traditional sports
facilities, but StreetGames (and England Netball) reported reluctance
on behalf of some schools to open their facilities up for community
use.[82]
57. Sport England's Iconic Facilities Fund has invested
£39 million to support 26 large-scale, multi-sport construction
projects.[83] Though
welcome, this is a small contribution to the provision of local,
inexpensive facilities.
58. We are concerned that there are too few facilities
to enable people easily to participate in sport. We acknowledge
the pressure on local authority budgets, but we fear that a diminution
in the number and quality of sporting facilities will simply increase
the need for more expensive health and social care interventions
in a less fit population, even if one does not take into account
the loss to individuals. Provision of some basic facilitiespitches,
swimming pools, sports hallsat low cost should be seen
as a contribution to public health rather than a leisure programme.
59. We recommend a review of programmes, such
as the Community Right to Bid, to enable local people more easily
to defend the open spaces and facilities that they value.
60. Schools also have an important role to play
in ensuring facilities are available in every community. We acknowledge
the pressures on schools because of local authority budget cuts,
but nevertheless we were disappointed to learn that some are reluctant
to open up their facilities. This should be challenged. Both
publicly-funded schools and those which claim charitable status
have a duty to serve the local community, and, if they have sports
facilities, should be required to report to the local authority,
DfE or Charity Commission, as relevant, how they make those facilities
available to local people.
SUITABILITY OF FACILITIES
61. Sport England acknowledged that improvements
in facilities could make a significant difference to women's inclination
to play sport,[84] and
there were concerns that for some women, such as Muslim women
and those with disabilities, a lack of appropriate facilities
was a major barrier to participation. More generally, it was felt
that some facilities needed to be of a higher standard and the
service to customers improved so that women were not deterred
from continuing with sport once they had started.[85]
62. A study by the WSFF found that 55% of women would
exercise more if local facilities were of a better quality. In
the Sports Satisfaction Survey 2012, 56% of women said that the
quality of non-sports facilities such as changing rooms was of
particular importance to them.[86]
Research by the Rugby Football Union and the WSFF suggested that
the main barriers to women and girls playing rugby were the changing
and clubhouse facilities.[87]
63. School changing rooms often lack privacy and
basic amenities, like adequate hot water. The Business Development
Manager of New College Leicester said: "Secondary school
changing rooms are probably the last place on earth that a young
female 11-16 years old would like to be seen in."[88]
64. The Government has recognised the problem of
inadequate facilities and, through Sport England, has provided
investment, including £69.9 million for 1,361 small facilities
upgrades, including changing rooms (through the Inspired Facilities
programme), and over £9 million for 38 medium-sized projects,
initially focusing on artificial pitches and swimming pool changing
facilities (through the Improvement Fund), as well as the £39
million for large-scale construction projects mentioned in paragraph
58 above.[89] Sport England
emphasised that changes were often as basic as ensuring that toilets
could be used by women as well as men, showers had individual
cubicles and there was warm waterit was not a matter of
cosseting women.[90]
65. The football and rugby authorities described
their programmes for investing millions of pounds in improving
club facilities, especially changing rooms, over the last decade
and for the next few years, for the benefit of both men and women.
However, as the Football Foundation admitted,[91]
its investment of £780 million in the last ten years has
regenerated only around 6% of facilities in England, and "has
barely scratched the surface of the renovations and builds required."
The RFU's £72 million of investment in 763 projects in community
rugby clubs also is just part of the investment needed to improve
changing rooms.[92] The
tennis authorities have also invested substantially over the last
few years, though in their case mainly to provide floodlights
and indoor structures to extend playing hours and to provide opportunities
to play tennis all year around.[93]
66. Both StreetGames and the MWSF pointed out that
some women, often those from BAME backgrounds, either preferred
or had to exercise in an exclusively female environment. The ability
to provide female-only sport sessions is currently protected in
the 2010 Equality Act (where it can be demonstrated that the sessions
are in response to low participation rates amongst women). 'Women
only' sessions are often very popular, but while many facilities
offer them, this does not necessarily meet the needs of some members
of ethnic or religious minorities, who require an area with no
male access or viewing, where windows and doors are closed off
to the general public, and where participants and staff are all
female. The MSWF reported that there was a serious shortage of
appropriate facilities, giving as an example that many new sports
halls were built open-plan or with viewing galleries or gyms overlooking
the hall, thereby enabling the general public to view the activity
and making the hall unusable for these women. We were also told
that male lifeguards were sometimes provided to supervise 'women
only' swimming sessions.[94]
EQUAL ACCESS TO FACILITIES
67. Several witnesses suggested that women and girls
did not experience equitable access to facilities and pitch time.
Joanne Herbertson, a coach, stated that in Northumberland
the problem was especially severe in winter due to a lack of indoor
or floodlit facilities, but she argued that even at other times
men and boys were given priority, especially in cricket, as the
men's games often generated more income for the club.[95]
Sport England acknowledged this was a problem.[96]
Both the FA and the Rugby Football union admitted that women's
games were traditionally relegated to Sundays, to be played after
all the men's and boys' teams had completed their matches.[97]
England Netball said that, even where appropriate indoor facilities
existed, its sport was often "fighting a losing battle"
against five-a-side football participants who were prepared, or
were able, to pay higher court costs.[98]
68. The Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association pointed
to an anomaly arising from the long-established nature of many
golf clubs in Scotland. Traditionally, women had access to courses
during the week while men, because of work commitments, played
at weekends. This allocation of time endures, despite the fact
that men and women now pay the same membership fee, which is a
disincentive to working women to take up the sport.[99]
ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF PROVIDING FACILITIES
69. Satellite Clubs are extensions or outposts of
community sports clubs which are established in a new community
venue (usually a secondary school or college) and are staffed
by coaches and volunteers from the community sports club. A key
element of Sport England's Youth and Community Sport Strategy
2012-2017 is to create at least 5,000 satellite clubs. Sport England
wants to offer every secondary school in England the opportunity
to host a satellite community sports club by 2017. The programme
reached its 2,000 club milestone in April 2014.[100]
70. Sport England has been working to establish a
number of "girls only" satellite clubs where there is
a clear demand. Of the 1,500 satellite clubs in operation when
the Minister gave oral evidence to us in February, 150 were girls
only, and it was expected that this number would increase. A range
of sports were already represented among these clubs, including
netball, football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league and volleyball.[101]
The tennis authorities have joined with 'Premier League 4 Sport'[102]
football clubs to provide tennis facilities in satellite clubs,
and there is a plan to grow this through establishing 200 tennis
satellite clubs on school sites over the next four years.[103]
Additional sports hosted at 'Premier League 4 Sport' football
clubs are badminton, judo, table tennis, basketball, handball,
hockey, golf, boxing and athletics.[104]
Meanwhile, British Cycling's 'Go Ride' programme with children
in schools has been linked to local cycling clubs to provide as
many opportunities as possible for young people to begin and continue
cycling.[105]
71. Other witnesses suggested alternative approaches
to 'bringing sport to women'. Chrissie Wellington advocated an
expansion in projects to facilitate mobile provision of equipment
in rural areas, such as schemes to transport sports equipment
from village to village, or 'mobile gyms' that could visit schools
and colleges regularly. She also suggested that employers could
do more to encourage sporting activity by providing sport facilities
for employees, or even changing facilities and showers, or setting
up work sports leagues or training, or encouraging employees to
engage in sport for charity as part of their commitment to Corporate
Social Responsibility.[106]
BT reported that a group of children working with local charity
Community Links put together a 'pop-up' tennis court under a flyover
in East London in the summer of 2013. The court, net, rackets
and sponge balls were provided free of charge, and anyone was
welcome to play: lack of expertise or ability was no barrier as
it was intended just to provide fun. It was advertised through
word of mouth, families and groups of friends went to see it and
it was used very heavily.[107]
72. We understand that the economic situation
has severely limited the financial resources that public bodies
can apply to the maintenance and improvement of sports facilities,
and we acknowledge the attention that at least some sports governing
bodies are giving to updating and improving sports grounds and
clubs. However, more emphasis should be given to the needs of
women, and of different groups of women, in the design and staffing
of facilities.
73. In bringing so many dilapidated and outdated
facilities up to standard progress is likely to be slow. In the
meantime, enterprising people are trying out alternatives to traditional
facilities, and we commend all these efforts to bring cheap and
accessible sport to people. Sport England is already working with
a number of these people, but we recommend that Sport England
draw up a strategy to assist them with advice, small grants and
to spread best practice, as locally organized, locally promoted
sport seems to us the most promising way of increasing participation
not only by women but also by men.
19 DCMS (WAS0037), paras 14-15 Back
20
Sport England (WAS0039), para 20 Back
21
The US Girls project, which ran for two years (April 11-April
13) at a cost of £2.3 million, worked in 60 deprived neighbourhoods
and reached over 34,000 participants (16-25-year-old females)
using over 700 sports coaches. Examples of sports popular with
the women involved, of which around 40% were not doing any sport
before joining the programme, were dance and fitness, swimming,
and badminton. The project was voted 'Best Sports Project 2013'
in the National Lottery Awards. Back
22
StreetGames (WAS0010), paras 1.2, 1.5, and 1.21-1.22 See also
Q6 Back
23
StreetGames (WAS0010), paras 1.20 and 1.23 See also Q47 Back
24
MWSF (WAS0023), section 3 Back
25
For example, going to the gym is the second highest activity that
women take part in on a weekly basis with 8.2% of women participating
in at least one 30 minute gym session per week (Active People
Survey October 2011 to October 2012) Back
26
(WAS0031), paras 15-16 Back
27
WSFF research in its report Changing the Game for Girls cited
in (WAS0031), para 28 See also Youth Sport Trust (WAS0027), para
12(ii) Back
28
StreetGames (WAS0010), paras 1.28-1.29 and Qq18 and 29-31 (WSFF) Back
29
Study undertaken by Diva Creative between Jan-April 2013 including
an on-line survey with 360 young people and 6 focus groups with
14-16 year olds in areas of high deprivation. The survey was
done for StreetGames: See (WAS0010), paras 1.25 and 1.27; also
MSWF (WAS0023), para 4.1 Back
30
(WAS0005), paras 2-3 and Qq69-70 Back
31
(WAS0005), paras 6-7. See also (WAS0024) (Chrissie Wellington) Back
32
FA (WAS0030), para 30 Back
33
FA (WAS0030), para 24 Back
34
Education Committee, School Sport following London 2012: No more political football,
Third Report of Session 2013-14, HC 164, paragraph 70 Back
35
Qq 166-169, 219-220 and 241 and ECB (WAS0034), paras 2.1-2.3 FA
(WAS0030), paras 27-29, LTA (WAS0012), paras 39-40, Premiership
Rugby (WAS0013) Back
36
LTA (WAS0012), para 45, RFU (WAS0029), paras 8.1-8.4 and Case
Study 10, Qq 164-166 (RFU) and 202 (LTA) Back
37
Premiership Rugby (WAS0013), Qq170-173. On other, older pupils
as role models, see Q18 (WSFF) and Youth Sport Trust (WAS0027),
paras 12(iii) and (iv) Back
38
Q18 (WSFF) Back
39
BT (WAS0025), paras 19-20 Back
40
Joanne Herbertson (WAS0015). See also England Netball's 'rebranding'
of school netball: Q218 Back
41
BT (WAS0025), para 2 Back
42
England Netball (WAS0011), paras 26-28 Back
43
See, eg, BT (WAS0025), para 22 and Q10 (WSFF) Back
44
Education Committee, School Sport following London 2012: No more political football,
Third Report of Session 2013-14, HC 164, paragraphs 127-133 Back
45
See, eg, WSFF (WAS0031), para 30 and research by the Institute
of Youth Sport (2011), Understanding Psycho-Social Attitudes
towards Sport and Activity in Girls: Final Research Report,
cited in Youth Sport Trust (WAS0027), para 12(v) Back
46
Qq11 and 15 (WSFF) Back
47
Quoted in WSFF (WAS0031), para 31 Back
48
Ibid., para 32 Back
49
Qq 167-169, 256-257 and Youth Sport Trust (WAS0027), para 12(i)-(iii),
for example Back
50
WSFF (WAS0031), para 32, and Youth Sport Trust (WAS0027), para
12(iii) Back
51
(WAS0026), paras 5.3-5.5 Back
52
Qq 256, 263 and 268-271 Back
53
Q202 British Cycling (WAS0007), paras 12, 20-22, 24 and 26 Back
54
Qq 212-214, England Netball (WAS0011), paras 22-23 Back
55
See, for example, the statistics given for rugby in RFU (WAS0029),
para 6.3 Back
56
Qq 202 and 217, LTA (WAS0012), paras 26, 31-34 Back
57
Qq 158-162, 165, RFU (WAS0029), paras 6.2, 6.4-6.6 and Premiership
Rugby (WAS0013) Back
58
Qq 161-162, 165, and 185, FA (WAS0030), paras 32-33, 36 Back
59
(WAS0008), paras 6.3-6.6 Back
60
(WAS0034), paras 3 and 6 Back
61
StreetGames (WAS0010), paras 1.5, 1.13, 1.35-1.43 Back
62
BBC (WAS0003), paras 27-30 Back
63
Chrissie Wellington (WAS0024) and Diana Egerton-Warburton (WAS0022),
para 6 Back
64
DCMS (WAS0037), paras 24-25 Back
65
Chrissie Wellington (WAS0024) and StreetGames (WAS0010), para
1.12 Back
66
FA (WAS0030), para 26 Back
67
(WAS0015) Back
68
Sport England (WAS0039), paras 38-42 Back
69
Qq 243-245 Back
70
Sport England (WAS0039), paras 33-34 Back
71
Q 246 Back
72
DCMS (WAS0037), para 21 Back
73
Qq 244-245 Back
74
Study by the WSFF, cited in Sport England (WAS0039), para 43.
See also England Netball (WAS0011), para 4 Back
75
Q223 FA (WAS0030), paras 5 and 7, RFU (WAS0029), para 7.1, LTA
(WAS0012), para 8 and ECB (WAS0034), para 3.4 Back
76
Q183 Back
77
Qq 183-184 and ECB (WAS0034), para 3.4. Local authorities are
now required to keep a list of 'community assets' such as recreation
grounds, whether publicly or privately owned. Any owner of such
an asset wishing to sell it has to notify the local authority,
which in turn has to notify any interested parties. The Community
Right to Bid is a legal right for community groups to 'pause'
the sale of an asset for up to six months, in order to prepare
a bid to buy it themselves. Back
78
England Netball (WAS0011), paras 5-7 Back
79
Qq221-222 and 238 Back
80
StreetGames (WAS0010), paras 1.11-1.12 and MWSF (WAS0023), para
5.2 Back
81
StreetGames (WAS0010), para 1.7 Back
82
StreetGames (WAS0010), para 1.11; England Netball (WAS0011), para
5 Back
83
Sport England (WAS0039), para 44 Back
84
Sport England (WAS0039), para 43 Back
85
Q4 (WSFF) Back
86
Cited in Sport England (WAS0039), para 43 Back
87
RFU (WAS0029), para 7.3 Back
88
(WAS0026), para 13 Back
89
Sport England (WAS0039), para 44 See also Q 258 Back
90
Qq 258 and 261 Back
91
Quoted in FA (WAS0030), paras 9-11 and Q183. See also Premier
League (WAS0035), paras 2-4. The Football Foundation is a football
facility charity jointly funded by The FA, Premier League and
Government/Sport England. Back
92
RFU (WAS0029), para 7.3, Q 178 Back
93
LTA (WAS0012), para 8 Back
94
MWSF (WAS0023), para 5.1 and StreetGames (WAS0010), para 1.8,
Qq35-37 and 42 Back
95
Joanne Herbertson (WAS0015) Back
96
Q 267 Back
97
Qq 174 and 184 Back
98
England Netball (WAS0011), para 5. See also Wayne Allsopp of
New College Leicester (WAS0026), paras 1.4-1.5 Back
99
(WAS0032) Back
100
'Satellite clubs reaches 2,000 milestone in a year', Sport England
press notice dated 11 April 2014 Back
101
Qq 251 and 262 Back
102
For a description of this programme, see Premier League (WAS0035),
paras 13-15 Back
103
LTA (WAS0012), paras 43-44 Back
104
Premier League (WAS0035), para 14 Back
105
Qq 202 and 217 Back
106
(WAS0024) and Q85 Back
107
BT (WAS0025), para 16 Back
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