At the FT Sport Industry Summit on Tuesday a very interesting topic was raised but never fully explored.

Roger Draper, Chief Executive at the Lawn Tennis Association and famous for his hunger for change, said that when he left Sport England he had presented a document to Government which recommended that the UK should have just one sports body – instead of the proliferation of bodies which now exist.

A number of us in the industry have always been baffled as to why so many different bodies exist within sport in the UK but, with the realisation that turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, we have long accepted that the current scenario is unlikely to change.

However, and slightly ironically, it may be that a change is just over the horizon.  I say ironically because it is the very fact that Team GB was so successful in Beijing that sport really is now at the top of the Government agenda.  There is a genuine belief that sport is good for the country, for morale and health reasons and more, and ministers are keen to associate themselves with success.  Let’s face it, there’s pretty little else in the way of success to which they can nail their colours at the moment.

So, we might be witness in the next four to five years to a move to streamline the administration of sport in this country.  It’ll probably take that long for Government to address the issues and there will be a feeling that there is so much else to do prior to London 2012 that rocking the boat now would be detrimental.

But, picture the scene after 2012 and after (we hope) more medal success for Team GB.  We could find ourselves with one UK Sports Association (or other appropriate title) responsible for all things ‘sport’ across the UK – and that includes Scotland, Ireland and Wales.  Governing bodies through to local clubs would know where to apply for financial and all other assistance instead of the myriad of different institutions currently in existence.  The system would be straightforward, which it’s not now.

Roger Draper said his report had identified £80 million of administrative savings if the plan was embraced.  Imagine what sport could do with that sort of money – from medals at the top to community sport at the grassroots.

You never know, one of the political parties might put the notion in their manifesto for the next general election – it could make them very popular.

By Karen Earl on November 7th, 2008

Tags: community, DCMS, grass roots sport, London 2012, Olympics, Team GB

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