Olympic Legacies

[Rookie]

Improve and increase sport both in schools and outside schools which can only be done though finance. Perhaps a 'fat tax' on unhealthy/fast food? Personally also bring back the competitive edge in youth sport. Don't let football anywhere near the Olympic Stadium either

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

need more universal access to sporting facilities for kids.........a lot of the sports we've won medals in you need to be pretty well off to get into and compete in and i'd imagine a large % of our medalists went to private school (nothing wrong with that, but there needs to be the facilities there for kids whose parents can't afford private education)

not sure how many kids from the poorer areas of our big cities have the ability to try dressage or rowing for example.

i also had an idea the other day and would like to throw it out there for criticism.......now that our universities are starting to charge shit loads to attend, how about an american sports scholarship style programme?

i'm not entirely sure how the system works in the US but it does seem to churn out shit loads of top athletes

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What should they be, in your opinion? I'll go for the following:

Keep lottery funding in place for sport.Put some mechanisms in place to promote some of the minority sports
A proper review of where we are going wrong in swimming. Oh and football.

And most importantly, increase sporting participation in schools. Boris has suggested two hours minimum. I'd say more than that.

Keep the levels as they are by all means but the money will have to be found from somewhere else as many other worthy and just as valid areas have taken a hit over the past 4-5 years by the routing of lottery funds to the Olympics.

 

[Gazwag]

No chance. Outside the Olympics, crowds of 60-80,000 won't turn up to athletics meets.

And I reckon it might work as a football stadium, you know.

They would need a decent roof, I was there on Tuesday and the roof only cover about 10% of the seats, a football crowd would look lost in there

 

[Simster]

They would need a decent roof, I was there on Tuesday and the roof only cover about 10% of the seats, a football crowd would look lost in there

I was there on Monday and I felt the roof covered the entire upper tier (which is where I was sat) and that the stadium had a surprisingly good atmosphere.

 

[Bwian]

I was there on Monday and I felt the roof covered the entire upper tier (which is where I was sat) and that the stadium had a surprisingly good atmosphere.

West Ham will kill that.

 

[Gazwag]

I was there on Monday and I felt the roof covered the entire upper tier (which is where I was sat) and that the stadium had a surprisingly good atmosphere.

I agree with the atmosphere, we were four rows back in top tier and it seemed as though the roof was miles back, maybe its a perspective thing

 

[Simster]

West Ham will kill that.

Yes. Replacing 80,000 chirpy, happy and encouraging people with 40,000 whinging cockney gimps would probably do that.

 

[Gazwag]

Yes. Replacing 80,000 chirpy, happy and encouraging people with 40,000 whinging cockney gimps would probably do that.

The thing outside could easily be converted into a giant bubble making machine as well

 

[ATFC Seagull]

All this stuff about "competitive element in kids' sports" is miles off.

Isn't that exactly what is wrong with football in this country? The technical element goes out the window in favour of hoofing the ball and out-muscling to win meaningless matches as kids? It's the same elsewhere. A lot of the cyclists that have won gold are not necessarily the most naturally gifted athletes in the world but ones who loved cycling, are willing to work hard, and have become the best. Add too much "competitiveness" as a young age and you just make sports a closed shop to the later developers. You've got to make the coaching available to all.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I would donate the 'temporary' venues to communities that lack decent sporting facilities. The Littlehampton Sportsdome was a temporary 10 year structure - it has been there nearly 30 years.

Certainly the Copper Box and the Basketball arena would make a fantastic facility for the children of a community that cannot afford to build their own facilities. I would ensure these facilities were run by local trusts - not profit making companies. Also, I would ensure the facilities are available for childrens sporting clubs, free to use, for a given amount of hours per week.

With care these structures can survive if cared for.

I have no idea how I would fund this plan.

Nice idea, but the basketball arena has already been sold to Rio 2016, and the Copper Box has secured a tenant - Milton Keynes Lions Basketball team are relocating there and rebranding as London Lions.

 

[strings]

[MENTION=2654]ATFC Seagull[/MENTION] It would seem that Jess Ennis agrees with this view. I saw an interview with her this morning, and she said that youngsters don't need competitive sports, instead we should focus on making sport fun for youngsters. She was of the opinion that the competitive element can be developed later on.

 

[Storer 68]

What should they be, in your opinion? I'll go for the following:

Keep lottery funding in place for sport.
Put some mechanisms in place to promote some of the minority sports
A proper review of where we are going wrong in swimming. Oh and football.

And most importantly, increase sporting participation in schools. Boris has suggested two hours minimum. I'd say more than that.

For us, I always thought Withdean stadium was the best example of Olympic legacy.

In fcat, the Amex is the first BHA home ground NOT to have hosted an Olympic football match when the games have been held here. even the Goldstone hosted a game at the 19848 Olympic football tournament. Someone versus Afghanistan ( iseem to rememebr a picture in Tim carder and Roger Harris excellent hostory of BHA.

 

[strings]

Nice idea, but the basketball arena has already been sold to Rio 2016, and the Copper Box has secured a tenant - Milton Keynes Lions Basketball team are relocating there and rebranding as London Lions.

Arse biscuits! Every time I have a half decent idea, it gets foiled.

Unfortunately, I think a sports facility building budget for less well-off communities is many years away given our nation's finances. I still like the idea of doing something to develop sports in areas where young people don't have the opportunity to access decent facilities. I just don't have a clue how it could be achieved.

 

[Simster]

All this stuff about "competitive element in kids' sports" is miles off.

Isn't that exactly what is wrong with football in this country?

No, no it isn't. Discouraging competitive sports is completely unfair on those who are good at them. Of course, the results in matches for school kids playing competitive sports should be completely immaterial to the trained eye of the coach - kids need to discover a love for sport, and learn how to win and lose with grace. Coaches need to be able to pick up talent from a wide pool of interested players and see beyond the results to determine the real talent, because clearly those kids who are more physically developed at a young age are going to win, irrespective of how good they are.

 

[Simster]

Nice idea, but the basketball arena has already been sold to Rio 2016, and the Copper Box has secured a tenant - Milton Keynes Lions Basketball team are relocating there and rebranding as London Lions.

I think the basketball arena to Rio idea has collapsed.

 

[Storer 68]

I agree with the atmosphere, we were four rows back in top tier and it seemed as though the roof was miles back, maybe its a perspective thing

We were down the front (Row 15 in the lower toier) and it was loud enough for me. How will it cope with all the moaning cocknees ?

 

[ATFC Seagull]

No, no it isn't. Discouraging competitive sports is completely unfair on those who are good at them. Of course, the results in matches for school kids playing competitive sports should be completely immaterial to the trained eye of the coach - kids need to discover a love for sport, and learn how to win and lose with grace. Coaches need to be able to pick up talent from a wide pool of interested players and see beyond the results to determine the real talent, because clearly those kids who are more physically developed at a young age are going to win, irrespective of how good they are.

But this HAPPENS already. All these stories about "no winners at sports day" don't really exist outside of Daily Mail-land. School teams play in leagues and I can tell you from experience winning matters and they are made to feel like it does. But we need to engage and not lose the ones who, aged 12, aren't winning, because it doesn't mean that they can't grow up to be sportsmen/women with proper coaching. Making things "more" competitive to me just risks cutting in half the kids that are taking part at a very young age.

 

[Storer 68]

But this HAPPENS already. All these stories about "no winners at sports day" don't really exist outside of Daily Mail-land. School teams play in leagues and I can tell you from experience winning matters and they are made to feel like it does. But we need to engage and not lose the ones who, aged 12, aren't winning, because it doesn't mean that they can't grow up to be sportsmen/women with proper coaching. Making things "more" competitive to me just risks cutting in half the kids that are taking part at a very young age.

Indeed. I am just looking at a quote here "The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight. The essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well". Spoken by Pierre de Coubertain, founder of the modern Olympic Games and which is now of course the motto of the Olympic Games

 

[Postman Pat]

I saw a figure earlier in the week that half of our gold medalists were privately educated, this is dis-proportinate to the split between pupils in private and free education in schools. Facilities matter.

More should be done to engage local sports clubs into schools to identify talent. A P.E teacher may not spot a good tennis player for example as they just want to run a lesson and finish. If a local coach spots talent they can engage the pupil, encourage the talent and they have a familiar face at the club.