Role Models causing the Death of Football?
Recent figures released by Sport England have led to speculation that football could soon be a rarity amongst the youth of England. Of all the people participating in football, the percentage of 16-19 year olds playing any amount of football went down from 30%(January 2009) now they make up just 22%(end of 2011). A further 160,000 16-19 year olds have been lost from once a week participation over the last 6 months with the percentage falling from 22.82% (Average from October 07-08) to 17.90% (Average 09-10) a drop of 4.92%. In which in a sport with over 3,000,000 active participants a week this is a very worrying drop.
So what is causing the drop in numbers? There are several factors that will be contributing to this, some more obvious than others. To me the most obvious reason why the decline may be happening is due to the absolutely appalling behaviour of the modern footballer. It seems that week after week there is story after story of a footballer who has been caught misbehaving in public. This generates a very negative aura around the sport and removes the ideal role model image footballers should have to encourage the youth to look up to them.
Quality not quantity?
Although on the whole the sport has dropped in numbers, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of 5-a-side competetions occuring at the moment. A possible reason for this may be down to national success, with England having gone nearly 50 years since their last tournament win. This has meant that teenagers are looking afield at Spain and their 'passing' football which is taught through 5-a-side. This has led to more and more teenagers seeking to play in this manner and hence, turned to 5-a-side football for inspiration. This has been aided by the recent uproar in court facilities provided by councils and Sport England recently. Take for example the new South Side Youth Centre in Bath, the total cost of that project was £1,400,000 and has a specially built 5-a-side court included. Hopefully this attitude could lead to our own national team eventually looking a bit more like Spain's history making team.
TV Deal sends Netball soaring!
Recent figures released have shown that since the Sky Sports deal signed in 2006 Netball partisipation rates in England have continuously grown. Karen Rothery, England Netball's Commercial Director, believes there is much synergy between the two brands:
"In addition to the awareness and education-building activity which this partnership will generate for both England Netball and The Co-operative, we believe that it is a clear opportunity to communicate The Co-operative's teamworking policy. Netball is the ultimate team sport, involving, as it does, all the members of the team on court, and this is an ethos which the Society is associated with, right across its business."
"Last season's Netball Superleague was a huge success at both an elite and a grassroots level," continues Rothery, "with our international teams performing better than ever on a world stage, thanks to the intense levels of competition they experience in the Superleague, and participation levels rising 6% year on year among our club and school playing members. There is no doubt that part of this success has been driven by the increased visibility of the game on television, thanks to the agreement with Sky Sports, and we are delighted that The Co-operative has recognised the opportunity which the Netball Superleague provides for key consumer interactions."
The Netball Superleague was established in 2005 as a vehicle to encourage improved playing and officiating standards across the country, which would enable England to compete more effectively in international competition. It features eight regionally-based franchise teams from across England and Wales. Since its inception, England teams have taken a silver medal at the World Youth Championships in 2005 and bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. Last season, more than 2.5 million viewers watched domestic and international netball on Sky Sports.
Lacrosse continues To Grow!
Recent figures released by SportEngland have shown a continuous trend in the growth of Lacrosse Partisipation. The report shows that Lacrosse have already reached their 4 year goal of partisipation of 29,000 people aged 5-19. This was meant to have been reached by 2013 and had already been achieved by the end of 2010. By the end of 2010 they already had 29,563. The reason behind this seems to be becasue of an increased level of advertising and pushing the sport have been doing recently, for example visiting schools to set up Lacrosse clubs. This could be largely down to the National Club Expansion Programme they have put in place. The National Club Expansion is designed to Grow and Sustain the sport geographically by creating new community clubs and enhancing the structures in existing clubs to provide more playing outlets for new players and hard to reach groups with the specific development of University clubs and women’s clubs to reduce drop-off.
Quality not quantity?
Although on the whole the sport has dropped in numbers, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of 5-a-side competetions occuring at the moment. A possible reason for this may be down to national success, with England having gone nearly 50 years since their last tournament win. This has meant that teenagers are looking afield at Spain and their 'passing' football which is taught through 5-a-side. This has led to more and more teenagers seeking to play in this manner and hence, turned to 5-a-side football for inspiration. This has been aided by the recent uproar in court facilities provided by councils and Sport England recently. Take for example the new South Side Youth Centre in Bath, the total cost of that project was £1,400,000 and has a specially built 5-a-side court included. Hopefully this attitude could lead to our own national team eventually looking a bit more like Spain's history making team.
TV Deal sends Netball soaring!
Recent figures released have shown that since the Sky Sports deal signed in 2006 Netball partisipation rates in England have continuously grown. Karen Rothery, England Netball's Commercial Director, believes there is much synergy between the two brands:
"In addition to the awareness and education-building activity which this partnership will generate for both England Netball and The Co-operative, we believe that it is a clear opportunity to communicate The Co-operative's teamworking policy. Netball is the ultimate team sport, involving, as it does, all the members of the team on court, and this is an ethos which the Society is associated with, right across its business."
"Last season's Netball Superleague was a huge success at both an elite and a grassroots level," continues Rothery, "with our international teams performing better than ever on a world stage, thanks to the intense levels of competition they experience in the Superleague, and participation levels rising 6% year on year among our club and school playing members. There is no doubt that part of this success has been driven by the increased visibility of the game on television, thanks to the agreement with Sky Sports, and we are delighted that The Co-operative has recognised the opportunity which the Netball Superleague provides for key consumer interactions."
The Netball Superleague was established in 2005 as a vehicle to encourage improved playing and officiating standards across the country, which would enable England to compete more effectively in international competition. It features eight regionally-based franchise teams from across England and Wales. Since its inception, England teams have taken a silver medal at the World Youth Championships in 2005 and bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. Last season, more than 2.5 million viewers watched domestic and international netball on Sky Sports.
Lacrosse continues To Grow!
Recent figures released by SportEngland have shown a continuous trend in the growth of Lacrosse Partisipation. The report shows that Lacrosse have already reached their 4 year goal of partisipation of 29,000 people aged 5-19. This was meant to have been reached by 2013 and had already been achieved by the end of 2010. By the end of 2010 they already had 29,563. The reason behind this seems to be becasue of an increased level of advertising and pushing the sport have been doing recently, for example visiting schools to set up Lacrosse clubs. This could be largely down to the National Club Expansion Programme they have put in place. The National Club Expansion is designed to Grow and Sustain the sport geographically by creating new community clubs and enhancing the structures in existing clubs to provide more playing outlets for new players and hard to reach groups with the specific development of University clubs and women’s clubs to reduce drop-off.
I feel Joe has explain the headline really well in the opening paragraph and has use good numbers but the second paragraph is not so good as he has not found a article to back it up.
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