May be but I think it's very apt.

OK - my take...

Don Valley is a wasted asset - it has been poorly / under used and its current condition is a little sad. However, with a little imagination / some decent events and positive marketing it could / should have been the Athletic Mecca of the North (not inc the North East with Gateshead - a town synonymous with Athletics due to the stadium there).

Sheffield has missed the boat - failed to get people to love the facility and now the pitiful numbers signing the petition speaks volumes.

On the wider issue of sport I would like to make one comment which is a credit to both governments - that the volume / quality of newly built sports halls / pitches & MUGA's (Multi-Use Games Areas) has been immense - I should know as we build them! This is an industry which was tiny 10-15 years ago and now, with PFI / BSF (whatever your opinions on those are), there are literally thousands of bitmac / rubber / artificial and natural grass pitches up and down the country available to schools and communities. These just didn't exist and, if they were there, were poor quality and often off-limits to those outside of school life. Sure there is more that can be done, but it's not the end of the world and much good work has been carried out.

One final point I picked up from the thread - the one bemoaning the fact that it is only interested parents that keep all this alive - when / where was this any different? This is how these things work the world over! I am not involved in amateur sport - my son doesn't like much sport (but he does do gym) - my daughter does netball in and out of school (with Mrs TRB involved in running Phoenix Netball) and Hockey in school (Silcoates - and only because her indoors teaches there), but... I am community minded and I have put 100's of hours into getting a new Community Stadium - because I can and because that's what interests me. So whilst there is a need for professional support and clubs need all the help they can, I can not agree that any government / local authority should replace the honest, dedicated, motivated and interested citizen - this is how it works the world over!

(Takes cover )

I agree with much of what you say but there's a much improved and more enlightened Physical Education curriculum nowadays. Adapted and modified games make school PE far more inclusive than ever before.
The improved knowledge of PE Teachers over their 70s & 80s counterparts allows them to create groups of mixed abilities therefore engaging those who struggle to compete whilst not compromising the development of the more athletically gifted.

There’s also a wider variety of sports available than ever before meaning there's generally something for everyone, the facilities at some schools are improved over those of the 70s & 80s and PE teachers are often the masters of at least one sport whilst also being the Jack of many others, this once again allows them to engage just about everyone in something.

The standards of PE in this country were making great strides but that all been stymied by ill thought out budget cuts.

Totally agree

Cutting budgets in PE, in the current climate, is a modern day scandal.
The need for people to be involved in a healthy lifestyle is more critical now than ever before.
Although we all have personal responsibility for ourselves and our own kids, it's simply not an area where
we can afford to cut back.

Thanks for this, I don't have your depth of knowledge on the curriculum and it's great to read what you write about it's wider appeal. My point though is that participation in whatever activity kids enjoy and can take into their adulthood is something that we as a society should all vote for and strive to correct.

I have no doubt what you say about the change in teaching emphasis is correct, but I'm struggling to see how the competitive element is an essential component for every child. I'd be happy if all the kids looked forward to their games lessons and badgered their parents to help them get involved in activities outside of school. I think that this is critical in fighting obesity, but it's only one factor.

It's a real shame to read that it's being thwarted by cuts. Many of us are victims of the drip feed of the current government in that we now readily accept "that cuts have to be made somewhere" when in fact the desire to cut the deficit so quickly is an ideological one rather than an immediate necessity, there has after all, never been a cheaper time to borrow money. The price we will pay in 20 years time is a nation with the body shape of the current day USA and a privatised NHS will certainly not be looking to provide care for people with these essentially preventable symptoms that have their roots in social policy and lax regulation of the fast food industry.

In reference to TRB's point about newly built mixed use facilities, whilst it's great that they;re being built. I wonder whether they are being used by existing active people/clubs or whether they are genuinely attracting new participants. It's not something I know the figures for, however my instinct is that they probably attract the already active kids, and as a generalisation adults that were active as kids. How we tackle getting inactive kids and adults that were inactive as kids into some form of participative exercise perhaps holds the key to the obesity epidemic. Again I've not got the stats but I would bet that if you were inactive as a kid then there's a pretty high chance that you won't be as an adult.

Well back to Don Valley, is it really a facility that has ever promoted participation by the masses or elite athletics? The latter I would suggest and pretty poorly at that too. Fans of Trinity will have visited Gateshead, and from my memory of two visits there (one where we got absolutely hammered out of sight) was that it was a much more elevated view than at Don Valley. In short the Don Valley is/was awful for watching field sports, and below average for athletics. I can't say I'm sad that the bricks and morter are going, but I worry for the Eagles long term future as Sheffield United will have their own ambitions which will not include them and I am sad that the venue will not be used/recycled for sport of some kind.

I remember the days when the Eagles played at the Owlerton Stadium. I believe that stadium is now long gone too.

You can't make people like exercise - end of. You are right though - some of these facilities are not as well used as they should be, but then that is a whole other issue as to who / how to get them used to their full potential.

On that we certainly dissagree!

The whole point of making school sport inclusive is to make it available for EVERYONE!

The whole point of adapted games is to make it accessable to EVERYONE!

The whole point of modifying games is to make it enjoyable for EVERYONE!

When this is achieved from a very early age you create an individual who values and enjoys the benefits of an active lifestyle and all the research data points to that person being far far more likely to continue that active lifestyle throughout their life.

The knock on effect is less obesity along with it's related ilnesses and therefore less strain on the National Health in years to come.

If you're wealthy enough to attend private schools then you're less likely to be affected by the cuts to school sports budgets and the removal of the SSPs who were credited with a monumental improvement in the weekly participation statistics and engagement in community sports.

If you're wealthy enough to have sufficient private healthcare cover to never have to rely upon the National Health then the increase in Obesity related ilnesses are will have very little impact on your life.

As I said earlier Michael Gove made an instant decision to cut the sports funding of thousands of schools, he did'nt look at any research because he did'nt need to, he already knew which section of society would be hit by his cuts.

It was pure ideology, Im reminded of a line from the movie Titanic when Rose tells Hockley that
"half the people on the ship are going to die"
His reply?
"Not the better half"

I agree you cannot make them exercise, but you can try your best to make them like it and guess what - if their experiences of exercise are rewarding and fun, then they are surely much more likely to want to take part in some activity; hopefully for the rest of their lives. Its in all our interests to provide as much varied and enjoyable exercise experiences to youngsters in pre-school, and throughout their school years with the target being that they we can foster a life long love of it.

Nobody is talking about making people exercise, but plenty of people in society are talking about withdrawing NHS treatment to obese people.

I applaud the ideal - and I certainly wasn't offering a cop-out for school kids - they have to do it - but beyond that there are so many choices for individuals to make and not all of them / us will chose to be active / sporting, no matter how much we want it. It doesn't mean good people like yourself shouldn't strive for it though.

I knew I would be open to criticism as my kids are outside the system, but I was being honest about it. I can honestly also say that they are not at Silcoates through my being 'wealthy' - the discount we are on was based on terms and conditions set many moons ago and we were extremely fortuitous to get it! And I don't have private healthcare either - Landscaping is not that wealthy a business!

In no way was my last post aimed at you, sorry if it came over that way!

Tell that to Capability Brown!

I'm just an over-sensitive old booby!