L.0.2 - Barriers to participation-Mr. Davies.
Introduction.
In sport we have to take in a range of different performers, who come from various different backgrounds cultures and beliefs, each of these has its own demands and regulations for participation in sport and so it is the job of different organisations and sporting parties to overcome this, finding ways to include and allow everyone to participate in sport.
The sports Development / Performance pyramid is an explanation of how participation and ability can be measured in sport. It helps to highlight the route a performer can take to become an elite performer. It includes four different sections;
-The Foundation stage
At this stage sport practisers are classed as novices, where the achievement and learning of basic skills and techniques are achieved. A scheme run by the government which helps to widen the amount of children participating in sport is called the 5x60 scheme.
-The participation stage
This stage consists of anyone who participates in sport regularly, for reasons such as socialising, health or fitness or enjoyment, to develop their skills in an activity.
-The performance stage
The Performance level consists of anyone involved in sport who aims to improve their skills. A participant will show commitment to help perfect their skills and they will be at a club or regional standard.
-The elite stage
Consists of skilled performers who aim to achieve set standards that are measurable usually through competition. Activities at Excellence level usually have rewards that motivate the individual, such as trophies or money.
At each stage of the sports development continuum there are different factors which can sometimes prevent and hold back individuals from participating in sport, these are known as ‘barriers to participation’. Some examples of these would be as below, each of which will be discussed and explored within this essay;
-Cultural
-Economic
-Historical
As well as this I will be looking into the target groups within the sporting industry…the participants. Finding out how their different group types can affect them in a sporting environment. The three I will be exploring are as below;
-OAP
-Women
-Young people.
AGE-OAP.
The biggest differences in participation relate to age, the older people become the less likely performance at competition standard and elite activity occurs, this is why they aren’t associated with the elite stage of the performance pyramid, and instead fall into the bottom category - the foundation stage, it is here that sport is taken at the lowest form of its competitive and serious atmosphere, where participants play more for enjoyment and social aspects, with little technical and skilful actions/movements to follow. It is the least physically and mentally demanding sector, with little stress and pressure to succeed, meaning it does not require huge amounts of training and commitment from its members. The section below taken from a study found at (www.scotland.gov.uk) discus’s age differences in relation to participation, showing how it can be a major factor of concern within the sporting environment.
Age best predicts participation in sport, exercise or physical activity. The proportions in each age-group who exercise several times a week are:
- 50% of those aged 16-24
- 36% of those aged 25-34
- 38% of those aged 35-44
- 32% of 45-59 year olds
- 34% of 60 to 74 year olds
- 20% of those aged 75 and over.
Shows a significant drop in participation levels between the ages of (16-24) and (75 and over) stating that the older generation of people take part in a lot less physical activity than those younger than them.
Taking part in sport and exercise by age;
Base: All (2,077), 16-24 (179), 25-34 (257), 35-44 (394), 45-59 (541), 60-74 (454), 75+ (252)
Again the above picture outlines the decrease in participation partnering with an increase in age.
Reasons for exercising
The oldest group were much less likely than younger people to be exercising to keep fit, relieve stress/relax, keep in shape or lose weight but instead more likely to be taking part for enjoyment and social aspects or because it helps with an injury/disability
Reasons for not exercising
People in different age groups have quite distinct reasons for not exercising. This is illustrated in the picture below. Health is a barrier that increases steadily with age and is by far the main issue affecting the older generation.
Reasons for not exercising (% of respondents)
Views on exercising more often
When asked if exercising more regularly was something they wished to achieve the study found that; the oldest age groups were more likely to indicate that they did not want to exercise more: 58% of 60-74 year olds and 72% of those aged 75 or over did not want to exercise more.
Economical reasons.
Being an ‘OAP’ comes with many different discounted opportunities especially within the sporting environment, the older generation are often offered with a range of different options for sport. This is a great way in which to encourage elderly people to participate in sport. By reducing prises you widen the desirability of the opportunity and due to retirement=lack of money and funds…reducing prises makes sport more affordable and therefore doable to senior members of society.
An example of where this applies would be at the lc2 Swansea
Young people.
Young people are the most active and involved with sport in the There are many different factors and barriers which prevent young people from sometimes reaching their full potential in sport. Below these are listed and explained, evaluating how these problems can be and are resolved.
Economical.
The are a number of different economical reasons that affect young people in the UK, if the child comes from a not so privileged background where money is a major issue, performing in sport can be an extremely difficult task to complete, Not having enough money/funds to attend outside school clubs, afford correct equipment and uniform etc will prevent the young person from reaching a possible talent.
There are a number of different schemes that are put together to overcome barriers such as these, an example of this would be the 5x60 scheme, who are an organisation with the main aims of increasing mass participation with young people, they help to get children involved in sport no matter what their background to encourage them into participating in sports. By the 5x60 scheme coming in and offering these opportunities, this ecological barrier is broken as no money and funds are needed from the participants.
As well as this the ‘dragon sports’ organisation also help to overcome young peoples sporting barriers. They to offer a range of different sporting activities and through these they can identify potential talents of participants and help to feed them onto further possible success.
As well as the sporting organisations there are a number of different offers provided by sporting clubs and industries that are aimed to encourage the participation of younger people. An example of where this is present would be the lc2 who by offering a discounted price widen the amount of young people interested in sport increasing their motivational levels regarding participation.
Lc2 offer a range of different activities for younger people, an example is as below taken from their website;
Pay and Play – from £2.50 per visit.
As well as the money issues young people are often faced with the barrier of being too young to attend certain clubs and sign up for different memberships. For example most gyms don’t allow people under the age of 16 to enter. A way of overcoming this would be to offer young people classes only, where they have set times and designations to participate in sport. An example of this would again be at the Lc2 who offer a club for young people only.
IZone (11 - 15 yrs):
Monday – Friday: 6.30am – 10.00pm
Saturday – Sunday (including Bank holidays): 8.00am – 9.00pm
By doing this it gives young people the reinsurance that they can part take in sport just as much as any other social group.
Women
The last few decades have shown a rise in levels of participation in existing areas of sport. Many sports have been and still are ‘gender stereotyped.’ Meaning that they are commonly thought of as favored towards one or other gender. This is a major consequence for the sporting world of development as it restricts talents and opportunities for both gender parties.
Historical.
Historically it had been thought of and acceptable for sport to be associated with male domination which of course led to serious discrimination towards women in sport. It was believed that the concept of feminism and fertility could be threatened by participation in all but the most genteel of sports.
In the Victorian era is was thought of as unsuitable, undignified and even dangerous for women to participate in any form of sporting activity and during the Nineteenth century women were not only constrained by societal attitudes but also by the lack of opportunity and provision. There were was no support both financially or socially and it was strongly thought of as being morally wrong for them to behave in such a way.
During the late 90’s female champions started to emerge, but were highly criticised for their ‘’ aggressive and extremely competitive behavior’’ (advance pe for OCR and A2, Daniel Bonney, John Ireland etc…2004) they then had their sexuality questioned and were labeled with the term of being ‘butch’
Cultural.
The are many different people who participate in sport, all coming from different backgrounds and beliefs. Culture and religion can determine the path of one sporting participation. Each religion and belief comes with its individual set of rules/guidelines / beliefs that followers must honor and for some religions such as Islamic there are a few rules which affect how women participate in sport. Below are some of their beliefs and an outline on how it can affect them in sport.
All Islamic observances must be followed, regardless of any school policies or social stigmas. It is very important to ensure that there are no males watching. Mixing of sexes is forbidden in normal situations. When participating in sports, the clothing must be islamically acceptable. This would therefore exclude shorts, t-shirts, leotards, swimming costumes etc. Wearing even body suits is sometimes not sufficient enough for their culture.
Distinction between Muslim women and other women is intended to safeguard Muslim women against the influence of women who do not follow their way of living. According to Ibn 'Abbas "...a Muslim woman is not allowed to display herself before the women of the unbelievers any more than she can display herself before other men"
Another strong belief of the Muslim culture is where ‘Allah’ has commanded the believing women to lower their gaze, this meaning that it is another barrier for Muslim women when watching sport. It is frowned upon for the women to watch men in shorts and small amounts of clothing.
Women Conclusion.
In today’s society there is a strong desire to address and over come the sexist issue, there are many different programs and opportunities out there to help increase the participation levels with women in sport. Offering separation classes for those with various cultural and religious believes, school activities to help provide and encourage women from an early age and sports centers offering crèches for woman with young children.
Below are some examples of where these plans are put into action.
An example of where sporting organisations produce women with the opportunity to exercise as a group would be at the lc2, who offer women only spa session; Female only sessions: Fridays from 5.00pm – 6.00pm
In schools, sport education programs are mixed whenever possible a project which helps to do this would be the 5x0 scheme, a government run program which offers a range of different activities for mixed classed school children. As well as including both sexes it is a great way to spot future talent and help feed children up through the sports development continuum .
Female role models are used frequently in the ‘sports person in schools’ project- a project used in an Australian school named ‘Victoria’ who brings in both able and disabled athletes on a regular basis to advice and act as role models. (Advance pe for OCR and A2, Daniel Bonney, John Ireland etc…2004)
As well as the above, national heroes such as dame Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliff and Mary King are advertised and showcased in the world of sport to act as role models and inspiration to women everywhere.
In the USA
‘’No person in the United States
(Advance pe for OCR and A2, Daniel Bonney, John Ireland etc…2004)
It is from opportunities such as the Title IX law that provide women with that reinsuring sense of equality and rightfulness within the sporting environment, therefore encouraging a greater amount of participation = more talent identification = more success (medals, trophies, awards) hence greatly supporting the sports development continuum.
Bibliography.
(Advance pe for OCR and A2, Daniel Bonney, John Ireland etc…2004)
Classroom notes
http://www.thelcswansea.com/
The different types of sport governing bodies are all shown below.
-International Federations are responsible for one sport (such as aquatics or skiing). They create a common set of rules and organise international competitions. The promotion of the sport is also a task of an international federation. ‘
-National Olympic Committees and National Paralympic Committees are both a type of National Federation, as they are responsible for a country's participation in the Olympic Games and in the Paralympic Games respectively.
-Professional leagues are usually the highest level of play in sport, particularly if they consist of the best players around the world in a certain sport.
L.O.2. – Mr. Davies - Know the key providers of sports development.
During the course of this L.O. I will be exploring 3 of the key sporting development providers, outlining their aims, incentives and objectives with regards to the sporting world. Below is a list of the 3 I have chosen to research;
- National Organisations
- Governing bodies
- Private sector providers
National Organisations
National organisations help to assist with a variety of different goals, from producing world class athletes to increasing general participating in schools and locally run sporting projects. The following bullet points help us to acknowledge what National Organisations offer;
Providing general advice
Promoting National sport and exercise strategies
Promoting participation
Development of future professionals
Distributing of funds
Enabling elite training and development
Providing advice, technical or otherwise
Development of training facilities
I have chosen to look at Sports council for Wales
The Sports Council for Wales Wales
Sports council for Wales’s main focus is to increase the ‘frequency’ of participation within young people, they can achieve this by persuading those who are not participating in little or no exercise a week, to become more active. They also encourage people, both young and old people, to develop a wide range of activities that they can participate in during the week to bring their standards of living up by increasing general health in Wales
The Council is fully dedicated to the Welsh Assembly Government’s vision for a physically active and sporting nation; this is seen within its strategy document ‘Climbing Higher’, and its main goal is to rapidly increase the participation of sport and for people who do not take part in sporting activities to encourage them to become more active, they do this by various different schemes as mentioned further
Sports Council for Wales
-Table tennis
-fencing
-netball
-Hockey
-Football
-Wrestling
The following is a list of a few of Sports Council for Wales
- More young people than ever before are members of sports clubs
- More than 134,000 primary school children take part in Dragon Sport – the Sports Council for Wales
- Since 1999, the Sports Council’s small scale National Lottery grant, Community Chest, has injected more than £9 million into more than 12,000 community projects. A large emphasis of the programme is training volunteers so that clubs do not have to pay for coaching courses.
- The number of sporting opportunities available to people with disabilities has massively increased since the launch of the Disability Sport Wales community programme in 2000. In 2008-9, there were more than 350,000 opportunities for disabled people to get involved in sport.
Governing bodies.
A sport governing body is seen as ‘’a sports organisation that has a regulatory or sanctioning function.’’ As quoted by (en.wikipedia.org) and come in various different forms. They aim to;
-run their sports smoothly
-Promote development of the sport
-Organise competitions and events
-Select teams at all levels
-Arrange coaching and training
-Organise award schemes
-Enforce rules and laws
-See that they meet the rules of the international federation
-Negotiate with television and sponsoring companies
-Distribute funds for the world class programmes
-Produce detailed plans with clear targets for participation and excellence.
The national governing bodies are responsible for their own sports throughout the country. Those that have large numbers of member clubs need to split up the country into smaller area associations. These area associations carry out the policy of the national governing bodies. They organise coaching, training and competitions for clubs and individuals in their own areas.
The different types of sport governing bodies are all shown below.
-International Federations are responsible for one sport (such as aquatics or skiing). They create a common set of rules and organise international competitions. The promotion of the sport is also a task of an international federation. ‘
-Trusts are organisations or groups that have control over money that will be used to help someone else, an example of this would be Youth Sport Trust. Who aim to ‘’support the education and development of young people through physical education’’ The above statement from the following website (en.wikipedia.org) shows how the different sections and sectors of governing bodies all aim to achieve the common goal of the development of athletes. We can conclude this because of the below quotations taken from (The world of sport examined 2nd edition Paul Beashel et al 2001) who state that it is the role of National governing bodies to ‘’ select outstanding sportspeople to receive funding from the national lottery to support their training and preparation for international competition, providing them with the opportunities to become successful on the world sporting stage.’’ They do this through the means of different sporting programmes;
-Worlds class start; promising young sportspeople
-World class potential; for talented sportspeople with poetical to represent their country
-World class performance; for elite sportspeople able to succeed in international competition.
Some continuing types of governing bodies are as below;
-National Federations have the same objectives as an international federation, but within the scope of one country, or even part of a country, as the name implies. They support local clubs and are often responsible for national teams. -National Olympic Committees and National Paralympic Committees are both a type of National Federation, as they are responsible for a country's participation in the Olympic Games and in the Paralympic Games respectively.
-Professional leagues are usually the highest level of play in sport, particularly if they consist of the best players around the world in a certain sport.
Private sector providers
A private sector with regards to sport can be seen as a Company whose fundamental aim is to make money, but who also often help to fund sports.
The private sector “Is made up of the two main groups: commercial enterprises that provide facilities for the public in return for payment. And companies that provide facilities for the unemployed” (Physical education and the anatomy of sport).
Private sector sporting facilities and centres are owned and run by completely independent private companies, whose funding comes largely from the owners/ stakeholders. The privately run sports specific centres operate all around the UK
Their main focuses and drives are;
• Profit making
• Increase sales
• Increase market share
• Focus on quality
• Improve status
Money In
• Sponsorship to individuals/teams
• Sports aid grants
• Buying TV rights
• National Sports Foundation
• Running and maintaining private sports clubs and facilities
Money Out
• Business profit
• Ticket sales
• Sale of TV right
Bibliography.
- Sports council for Wales
- A Level textbooks
- (Physical education and the anatomy of sport).
- (The world of sport examined 2nd edition Paul Beashel et al 2001)
- (en.wikipedia.org)
Olivia McCarthy 12PDL.
