IT may be a little late but it finally looks like towns like Bolton are getting a sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Danny Boyle may be right when he says that we’ve lost the feelgood factor that the Games seemed to engender, but at least there may be something practical in its wake.
School sport in the town is to receive £850,000 as part of £150 million being put aside by the Government to improve sport provision in the country’s primary schools. This can go on specialist coaching and teacher training, dedicated sports’ programmes, Change4Life sports clubs or on after-school or weekend competitions.
It’s money that’s certainly welcome as schools’ budgets – just like everyone’s – are forced to stretch to the limit to afford the essentials. But it’s also an opportunity to reinforce the significance on development of sport from a young age.
Cllr Martyn Cox is completely right when he says that competitive sport is a very important part of a child’s education, “helping young people foster a sense of dedication and hard work – skills essential in the modern economy.”
It’s very hard when employment is so uncertain and jobs scarce to get across the practical message to children about sticking at projects and the value of ambition. The natural structure of our society has changed dramatically and children can struggle to relate to principles and ideals that occurred naturally not very long ago.
Values are skewed in a world where we reward people for how they look rather than what they achieve and offer short-cuts to success via TV programmes. Waiting and working hard have begun to seem alien concepts, and the only other place where these basic tenets of life are visible is sport.
Sport offers a chance to make the link between working at something and succeeding in it. It’s where you work with others towards a goal, where you may have to amend lifestyle choices like diet and pastimes to get there. Sport has been the way out of poverty and a potential life of crime for many young men. On its most basic level, it offers enjoyable, satisfying activity and companionship with like-minded individuals.
It would be great to think that we are also encouraging future champions but, frankly, that’s not really what it’s all about. Offering youngsters better sporting opportunities is about them growing and changing as people – and I can’t think of a better and more fun way of doing that.