The future of UK Sport: Why grassroots funding makes all the difference

Currently 15.3million people play sport once a week every week. This is an increase of 1.4million since London first won the bid to host the Olympic Games. The Games had an effect and continue to leave a lasting legacy at both elite and grassroots level.

The year after the Olympics, Sport England promised to provide £493million in grassroots funding between 2013 and 2017.

When the report was first announced in 2012, there were both winners and losers. Football and cycling both came out well with an additional £30million of funding promised during this period.

The initial winners and losers were as follows:

Various sports including tennis and swimming were given one year awards with further funding only becoming available if targets were achieved.

Taking a basic look at the numbers. With over 150,000 clubs in the UK on average each club would receive £3,286 across 4 years – less than £1000 a year. But with 15.3million weekly participants that’s about £32 per person during this time period and £8 a year.

Is this enough to really make an impact? For many of those involved at the grassroots level, there simply isn't enough funding being apportioned from the top down.

Cllr Ian Stephens, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, recently said:

“There is an ever-widening chasm between the grassroots game, which is being allowed to wither away by the football authorities through pitiful investment, and elite football.

“Sadly, as every fan knows, the current England team has been underperforming for decades. Next year will mark half a century since England last won the World Cup. This decline of a sporting powerhouse will continue unless the football authorities start giving grassroots football the funding it so desperately deserves and needs. This is the only way to ensure home-grown talent rises through the footballing ranks.”

Grassroots sports feeding the professional level is only one purpose they fulfil. They’re also essential parts of the community, offering kids and adults alike the opportunity to play regular sport. Funding from both Government bodies and external sources plays an integral part in keeping them going.

Sally Freeman, Diving Manager at Plymouth Life Centre, where Tom Daley first started out highlighted the difference additional funding can really make.

“Plymouth Diving is a club remembered well for discovering Tom Daley, Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow – all Olympic superstars. But it also is responsible for the identification of hundreds of new divers every year that all aim to follow in their footsteps and they do that with lots of training every week at the Plymouth Life Centre.

“Thanks to the success of Tom, Tonia and Sarah, these divers have the chance to train in a wonderful facility opened in 2012 following years of planning but also need to put their training into practice by competing around the country. These competitions give them the chance to qualify for National Championships but do cost the families thousands of pounds. Fundraising is essential to help these future superstars.”

It’s important for grassroots sports clubs to give the next generation of elite level athletes the best chance to succeed, with fundraising playing a key part. But it’s just as important for the health, fitness and enjoyment of amateurs. Claire Hamlet, from PSL Panthers Netball Club in Bristol, sums up their needs.

“PSL Panthers netball club was established in 2007. We are a welcoming and diverse club with players of all ages from 14 to just under 60. The club has a strong focus on enjoyment and fitness with a little bit of competitiveness thrown in for good measure. At the moment we are looking to raise £500 for replacement of kit and equipment and contribute to the cost of our coaches. Fundraising is important as it enables us to keep our players subs down and our under 18 players subs half price, attracting younger players to the club. We believe it is important to provide our youth members with positive experiences that give them the chance to develop skills such as teamwork, trust and communication which they can apply to life outside of netball. After all they are the PSL Panthers of the future.”