Tracey Crouch: new sports strategy to ditch binary focus on participation and medals
by Tom Walker | 20 Oct 2015
Crouch has previously said she will 'rip up' the existing strategy
The government’s public consultation on a new sports strategy has ignited a "great response" from the sector, according to sports minister Tracey Crouch.
Speaking at the Beyond Sport event in London, Crouch said the positive reaction has reinforced the government’s view that the new strategy shouldn’t be based on a binary approach – simply looking at participation and medals when measuring success.
“My inbox has been full of enthusiastic responses,” Crouch said. “As those who have read our consultation will know, we have not been looking at just participation alone.
“For too long, success in sport has been based only on two crude measurements: participation and medals.
“The strategy of course includes these but will also look at maximising sport as a force for good. It will look at the overall value of sport and what it can bring to the wider community - including improving health, inequality and educational outcomes.”
“Sport can have a positive impact on issues as diverse as employability, tacking inequality, and addressing anti-social behaviour.”
During her speech, Crouch also renewed her earlier call for the football’s world governing body FIFA to “sort itself out” for the good of the game.
“It is safe to say that public trust in FIFA is at an all time low,” Crouch said.
“It is my hope that FIFA will have been completely reformed by the time the next World Cup kicks off in 2018, and that by then, there will be a world governing body for football that we can all trust. We want our home nation FAs alongside football associations around the world to help ensure good governance and transparency is imbedded in FIFA.
“But it is hard to believe that change will happen if the men at the top of FIFA appear to be corrupt and corruptible. Whoever is elected the next FIFA President must have wide scale reform at the heart of their manifesto.”
The Beyond Sport Summit is taking place in London this week. For more info on the event, click here.
10 Jun 2015
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05 Jun 2015
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13 May 2015
‘Sports mad’ Tracey Crouch named new sports minister
The government’s public consultation on a new sports strategy has ignited a "great response" from the sector, according to sports minister Tracey Crouch. Speaking at the Beyond Sport event in London, Crouch said the positive reaction has reinforced the government’s view that the new strategy shouldn’t be based on a binary approach – simply looking at participation and medals when measuring success. “My inbox has been full of enthusiastic responses,”
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