It’s going to be a good summer of sport for Scotland’s professional sports men and women. From the European Games, which starts in a few days, to the contingent of track-and-field athletes who seem to win silverware every time they set foot on a track to a home World Cycling Championships in Glasgow to the Rugby World Cup, there’s a lot of Scottish success on the cards in the coming months.
But there remains a colossal disconnect between elite sport in this country and the grassroots side of things.
Last month, research gathered by Ring and the charity Sported was released showing just how many Scottish grassroots sports clubs are at risk and the considerable pressure so many are under as they fight for their survival.
Cost-of-living pressures including elevated energy, facility and insurance costs are the primary reasons that so many Scottish grassroots sports clubs are at risk which, in turn, threatens to see a significant number of Scots’ access to participation blocked.
The Sported/Ring Community Pulse survey of almost 250 community-based groups across Scotland found that over nine in ten were “extremely or fairly concerned” about the impact of increased costs on their operations.
Forty-four percent say they have been hit by a significant rise in energy bills over the past six months, and 42 per cent reported a reduction in financial support.
Many of these clubs which responded are in some of the most deprived areas in Scotland, which gives even more cause for concern.
These findings highlight the disconnect that is ongoing within sport in this country.
Earlier this month, the national governing body, sportscotland, announced record annual investment figures for Scottish sport. Across 2023/2024, sportscotland will invest up to £36.7million in Scottish governing bodies of sport, local authorities and wider national partners – an 8.6-per-cent increase on the previous year and a record high for investment in core activities. This is, of course, welcome news. But why are sporting participation levels within Scotland still low and access to sport for so many so lacking?
Earlier this year, Scottish Swimming felt the need to launch a campaign called “Save Our Pools” in response to their concerns that due to such severe increases in running costs of swimming pools, many were going to be forced to reduce their opening hours or close completely.
And in terms of young people’s participation levels within this country, that too remains lower than is satisfactory.
A particularly worrying statistic was uncovered by the Observatory for Sport in Scotland which, a few years ago, found that for girls aged between 13 and 15, only 11 per cent met the physical activity guidelines. For boys, it was slightly better at 24 per cent but that’s still, frankly, diabolical.
So, despite the millions that’s being invested in Scottish sport, it’s clear that the results in terms of cultivating a healthy grassroots scene are not entirely forthcoming.
Yes, the elite side of Scottish sport is reaping the rewards of their investment, and there can be no dispute about that, but elite success cannot be pursued at the expense of grassroots sport.
While it’s undeniably thrilling to see so many of Scotland’s top athletes excel on the world stage, it has a limited, at best, effect on “normal” people’s day-to-day life.
In some ways, producing elite success is the easy side of things.
What’s more difficult is positively impacting grassroots sport and participation levels on a mass scale.
It’s easy and affordable access to grassroots sport that really changes people’s lives.
A long-term, joined-up plan must be formulated within Scotland to ensure that, as welcome as this year’s increased funding is, it actually leads to something more long-lasting than a brief spike in figures before things return to how they’ve always been.
So, as Scottish athletes rack up the medals this summer, as they almost certainly will, it must be remembered that a far more significant impact would be guaranteeing the future security of grassroots sports clubs because without them, we’ll never see the next generation of medal-winners.
And another thing ...
The tributes to Novak Djokovic this week have been so plentiful, it’s been impossible to keep count.
They’re well-justified; in winning his 23rd grand slam title last weekend, the Serb has gone quite some way to establishing himself as the greatest male tennis player of all time.
The number of astonishing statistics the Serb has notched up during his career shows quite what a remarkable athlete the 36-year-old is. But there’s one statistic in particular from his most recent French Open win that is even more remarkable than all the others.
Bearing in mind that tiebreaks are perhaps the most high-pressure portions of a tennis match, it’s not unsurprising that many of them are tense, nervy and often scrappy affairs.
Which is why the statistic that in Djokovic’s six tiebreaks, consisting of 55 points, at the 2023 French Open he made no unforced errors at all is quite so breathtaking.
Djokovic’s ability to focus his efforts and tighten up his game when it’s really needed is unmatched not only in tennis but perhaps in sport as a whole.
All world-class athletes can do exceptional things. But to do it in the most high-pressured situations of them all is a skill that so few have.
Of all Djokovic’s attributes – and he has many – it’s this that has made the difference between him being great, and the greatest of all time.
