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Sport England today announced
an investment of £480 million to deliver grassroots sporting opportunities
and a lasting Olympic legacy of one million people playing more
sport.
46 sports, including all
2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports, have been awarded funding
on the basis of their ability to increase the number of people
playing and enjoying sport, and to create development pathways
for those with talent.
Judo will receive an
investment of £10.2 million for the period from 2009-2013.
Commenting Scott McCarthy said, "We are delighted that Sport
England has strongly endorsed our plan to grow the sport of judo
in the UK. Judo is a fantastic sport that provides key elements
of a balanced athletic platform such as core stability, strength,
balance, breakfalls, and tactics. Judo also plays
an important role in addressing some of the key issues that affect
our society by providing all participants the opportunity to be
constructively physical, and leads to personal development and
personal discipline. We can be very adaptable and the sport
can be delivered in almost any indoor environment. We very
much look forward to delivering our target objectives and thank
Sport England for the support to do so."
Click
here for the full list of NGB funding 2009-2013
The overall amount invested
directly into national governing bodies has increased from the
2005-09 allocation, and been brought into a single award for each
sport. Responsibility for delivery has been placed in the hands
of each governing body, with clear targets agreed on a sport-by-sport
basis.
The
investment decisions follow a rigorous assessment and
a four-month period of engagement with the sports focused on achieving
the ‘grow, sustain and excel’ outcomes at the heart of Sport England’s
strategy. This has ensured that the right funding is being invested
in the right places.
Sport England ’s Chief
Executive, Jennie Price, said:
“Sport England has
worked hard to ensure that our half a billion pound investment
in grassroots sport delivers value for money and, most importantly,
results.
“We believe that our partnership
approach with national governing bodies, and other parts of the
sporting landscape, will capitalise on London 2012 and leave
the first ever grassroots sporting legacy from an Olympic
and Paralympic Games.
"Together, we are
building the firm foundations of a world-leading community
sport system.”
The Secretary of State
for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham MP, said:
"Ahead of 2012, we
have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get more people participating
regularly in sport. This will be a tough challenge, but with this
huge investment in the broadest range of sports, we believe it
can be done.
"We want a world-leading
community sport system in this country driven by the expertise
of our national governing bodies, working with Sport England.
This will mean excellent sports clubs, quality facilities and
more opportunities for people to get involved in sport."
Each sport has developed
a plan which defines where it can contribute to the grow, sustain
and excel outcomes. Many exciting projects will be funded including:
British
Tennis will get thousands of people playing in clubs and in their
local parks where hundreds of courts will be upgraded and brought
back into use. At least 100 of the park sites will be developed
as thriving places to play with regular coaching, training and
competitions to encourage social activity. British Tennis will
invest £2 of partnership funding for every £1 of Sport England
investment.
Judo has
recognised that recreational space in London is scarce, and has
identified an opportunity to increase participation in the capital.
Judo can be played in a wide variety of venues from meeting rooms
to cafeterias and church halls, and lightweight ‘jigsaw’ mats
can be quickly laid down and pulled up at the end of each session.
British Judo plans to work closely with the London boroughs to
create dozens of new clubs to ensure more people have access to
the sport across the city.
Cycling aims
to unearth 140 athletes with podium potential over the next four
years, through the ‘Go-Ride’ network, which counts Olympic gold
medallist Jason Kenny as one of its successes. By expanding the
successful ‘Go-Ride’ network of child-friendly clubs and overall
participation, the sport plans to identify, and provide a pathway
for, talented riders to get to the top.
England
Handball plans to capitalise on the heightened interest shown
in the sport since London was awarded the 2012 Games. They will
begin a programme of development, setting up handball networks
to develop club structures. The work will be undertaken in a in
a small number of regions, starting with the North West , London
& South East and West Midlands . All this builds upon the
success Handball has enjoyed through working with teaching universities
and Street Games - at the recent Manchester Street Games festival,
the number of Street Games areas taking part in the Handball event
increased from 8 to 25.
Rugby League
not only plans to increase its adult male appeal through informal
alternatives such as tag rugby and the Masters of League for the
over-35s, but also to expand beyond its traditional heartlands.
The RFL plans to increase female participation across all nine
regions, through a mix of coaching and competition opportunities
– and at a faster rate than male participation.
England Athletics
will create a ‘Run in England ’ programme to encourage new groups
of people to take up running. Based on the women’s running network
founded in 1998, the focus is on people who would not traditionally
think of running activities. Using the original women’s network
model, ‘Run in England ’ will expand its focus to mixed groups
and young women, providing the opportunity to run together to
improve fitness, confidence and safety. The scheme aims to get
50,000 more people running at least once a week.
Sport England will monitor
and evaluate results on a quarterly basis, and will hold governing
bodies of sport accountable for their plans. We will know where
sports may require help and support in taking their plans to the
next stage, and we will provide advice and expertise to help them
succeed. Our Active People Survey 2 has provided a baseline for
participation in each sport against which specific growth targets
will be measured.
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