Sailing's done ok: a slight cut, from £9.6m over the period 2009 - 2013 down to £9.3m (about $15m), a similar trimming exercise to that done on rowing, though canoeing is slightly up.
Of the £9.3m the majority, £5.8m, is to go towards "participation" i.e. getting the new generation out on the water via schemes such as the RYA's OnBoard programmes. The remainder is to go towards "finding the next Ben Ainslie" including:
- Developing the existing network of Volvo RYA Champion Clubs which identify and nurture young talented sailors in their early years in the sport
- Enhancing partnerships with Junior Class Associations to provide junior racing and training programmes and optimal race training environments
- The creation of six to ten regional high performance clubs
- Training squads and support at regional and England national junior level
- Exposing young talented sailors to appropriate international regatta experiences
- Support to develop the coaches working with young talented sailors
More detail here which was also the source of the pic above.
Hopefully all this will help boost participation in sailing and also success at Rio.
Updated: the £9.3m above was the funding in England to get the next generation out on the water sailing. Today in this announcement the UK's budget for the next Olympics was revealed and sailing's getting a £24.5m ($39.2m) war-chest for the Rio campaign. That's up 6.8% and makes sailing the 4th best funded sport, after rowing, cycling and the whole of athletics.
Go Team GB etc
4 comments:
Not aware of any similar mechanism in the US for channeling government money directly to programs that promote individual participation in sports.
It looks like Sport England gets it funds from national lottery money and from the UK treasury itself.
I wonder if the continuity that this encourages in sailing programs partly explains the success the UK has had in international sailing competition.
That's the aim. After each event such as the Olympics they do a cost-benefit analysis of performance vs. investment and sports that do badly can get less.
It's really transformed Team GB and led to the most recent success, and the system was set up after the fiasco of the single gold medal Atlanta games.
Who were the winners and losers after the most recent review?
The BBC web site has the full list, and some changes were quite dramatic.
Swimming was one sport to lose out, which was expected as its medal haul was well below target.
The biggest shocks were Basketball / Handball which went from £8.6m / £2.92m to zero.
The biggest rises were all in the Paralympic sports, funding up 43%, as they really came into their own this summer.
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