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Published in Sports Management 2014 issue 2

Even without Bolt, Glasgow will offer a thunderous spectacle

John Goodbody
John Goodbody
John Goodbody,

Journalist,

Sunday Times


The Commonwealth Games have a cherished place in the memories of many Britons. In 1954, there was the so-called ‘Miracle Mile’, when Roger Bannister, who earlier that year had become the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, defeated Australian John Landy, the world record-holder, in the first race when two men broke four minutes.

In Edinburgh in 1970, there was the victory of Scotland’s Ian Stewart in the 5,000m over Kenyan Kip Keino. In 1982 and 1986, there were the consummate 1,500m victories of Steve Cram.

At the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 – the last time a British city hosted the Games – capacity crowds saw such dazzling performances as Paula Radcliffe taking the 5,000m title, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe setting a world record in the 400m freestyle and Jonathan Edwards finishing first in the triple jump, while the superbly appointed Velodrome provided the launch-pad for the subsequent Olympic triumphs.

However, with the growth over the last four years in the number of world championships in individual sport as well as gala meetings, such as the Grand Prix, the Games seem to have lost some of their lustre. For many countries, the hosting of the Commonwealth Games brings the problems in hosting the Olympics – the need for facilities, including a main stadium –but with few of the financial advantages. The gargantuan television and sponsorship revenue of the Olympics dwarves the Commonwealth Games.

So far Glasgow seems to have coped admirably with many of the difficulties of hosting the event this summer and, unlike in 1986, when Scotland last staged the Games, there does not seem any chance of a boycott spoiling the spectacle. However, when the 11-day Games open on 23 July, one hopes that the event will resonate with the international public. This has depended largely on whether two men take part and, at the time of writing, one remains uncertain.

The uncertain one is Usain Bolt, the only man to have won three sprint titles in two successive Olympics and is perhaps, thanks to the reach of the modern media, the most famous athlete in history. Because of a foot injury, he has delayed his start to the competitive season, pulling out of the Rome Golden Gala on 5 June. The organisers are keen for him to take part in the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix in Glasgow on July 11 and 12 and particularly in the Games themselves, even if only in one individual event, possibly the 200 metres.

The other athlete, who has now confirmed his appearnce, is Mo Farah, also a double Olympic and world champion. With heptathlete Jessica Ennis absent because she is expecting a baby, Farah is the most recognisable Briton at the Games. He will take part in at least one distance race, where the opposition of the Kenyans will make compulsive watching.

Yet even if Bolt fails to take part, one hopes that the public outside Scotland, where the Games have certainly been warmly embraced, will enthuse at many of the outstanding competitors participating in the 17 sports and 261 events.

The Games are known as ‘the Friendly Games’ because they lack the intensity of the Olympic Games. Apart from the Commonwealth Conference, they remain the only public manifestation of the Commonwealth itself, joined by historic ties over hundreds of years.

Usain Bolt has kept fans waiting on his decision to compete at Glasgow 2014 / PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/Kaliva
Usain Bolt has kept fans waiting on his decision to compete at Glasgow 2014/ PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/Kaliva

National governing bodies – adapt or die

Andy Reed
Andy Reed
Andy Reed,

CEO,


You could argue that sport and recreation have a higher profile in the UK than ever before. The global success of the English Premier League, the magnificent London 2012 Games and the excellent performance of Team GB at Sochi has meant that recently sport has never been far from the public’s consciousness.

And although there has been an increase in participation, that inspiration hasn't yet translated into facilities up and down the country being overrun with eager participants ready and raring to try a new sport or recreation activity.

I may be being unfair – the Active People Survey has shown more people are getting active (although with a small dip recently) and our own Sports Club Survey last year showed clubs were showing a 20 per cent increase in members – but somehow I wanted the inspiration of our elite athletes to have an even greater impact.

Sport and recreation organisations may think they are competing with one another for engaged participants. A rugby club may see their rival as the other team in the town. But that’s not their rival. Their rival is the cinema. Their rival is going for a coffee. Their rival is the TV. Sport and recreation is primarily a leisure time activity – and people have a wide array to choose from.

Despite sport having the huge advantage of improving all manner of things from health to educational attainments, ultimately people will choose to participate because they enjoy what they are doing.

But how do we know participants are enjoying what they are doing? Well, technology now allows us to gain far greater insight into the people who are interested in our activities – and our sector must begin to harness that.

It's now no longer prohibitively expensive to develop a joined-up digital infrastructure. Organisations can identify individual users in the digital space, as well as their specific interests and retain that knowledge for the future. We can begin to build a clear picture of what kind of activities someone has engaged with in the past and use that to provide something that we know they'll be interested in.

We can also begin to get almost instantaneous feedback on our new schemes or projects. Social media allows very real two-way interactions for organisations to monitor and record. And there are a myriad of tools – low cost or free – which allow us to find out the reach the launch created, as well as people’s opinions.

By using data to develop our activity not only can we make sure that our existing participants receive the best ‘product’ possible, but we can also attract more and more people to get active.

The sporting success of the likes of Jenny Jones at Sochi has boosted interest in winter sports (see more on pp. 58-61) / PHOTO: FLICKR/ Professor Andy Miah
The sporting success of the likes of Jenny Jones at Sochi has boosted interest in winter sports (see more on pp. 58-61)/ PHOTO: FLICKR/ Professor Andy Miah

The heart has been ripped out of community sport

Geoff Webb
Geoff Webb
Geoff Webb,

CEO,

Institute of Groundsmanship


While there has been a lot of debate over "natural vs artificial" turf recently, the real debate should be about the lack of investment in pitches.

After decades of cuts to local authorities budgets, football at grassroots – which is 80 per cent in the ownership of local authorities – is now at rock bottom. Surfaces of any type, be they artificial or natural, need someone to maintain them to an appropriate level. Where are the trained staff? Where is the passion and expertise? If we install another 2,000 artificial pitches and another 2,000 grass pitches, unless you tackle the resourcing of them we'll still have poor facilities and a poor perception of them.

The FA is trying to address both but since the advent of CCT there have been decades of under-investment, good groundsmen laid off, and the heart ripped out of local community sport. The recently established Parks Alliance is now lobbying for a minister for parks. Sport in parks is the biggest single financial contributor to a park's income, but how many parks are being invested in? This for football is largely where the issue is: poor facilities, poor experience, no investment. The once thriving social and sporting lung of a community has become no more than a wasteland. 

It's too simplistic to look at the topic of artificial vs natural. Both industries will suffer unless the expertise to manage and maintain both is given far greater focus. Neither are maintenance-free, both need care and attention. We can do more to get more hours out of natural turf – we have just forgotten how!

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