Sporting Independence: Sport for All

Ultimately the format of competitions and its constituent teams are a matter for governing bodies and individual clubs, but how domestic sports competitions fit within an overall sports policy is worth considering.

The Future of the Sports Club

The building blocks of any sports competition are the member clubs.

The predominant type of sports club in Wales is the community club (Part I) – but there are many different types of club models, each with their own pros and cons.

Competitions made up of community clubs are only viable if there’s a strong pyramid (meaning relegation and promotion based on sporting performance), high numbers of participating players, good retention rates between youth and senior/adult teams and strong governance.

The only sport that comes close to that in Wales at present (and even that’s debatable) is football.

Rugby union’s problems have been well documented, largely due to a failure to adapt to professionalism and the fallout from the creation of the regional teams. Hence the WRU has moved towards a hybrid model where amateur community game competitions (National Leagues) are largely separate from the semi-professional (Super Rygbi Cymru) and professional game (URC regions and national teams).

Multi-sport clubs are not common in Wales. However, it could be an option for towns and villages that face losing sports clubs if they can no longer sustain multiple separate teams playing the same sport (as they all compete for the same pool of players), or where facilities can be readily shared between different clubs playing different sports.

Regional or local athletic conferences would be an alternative to the above if clubs wished to retain their separate identities. Wales already has five regional sports partnerships that could form the basis of athletics conferences/unions.

Franchising is never likely to be popular in Wales unless they’re created from scratch – as opposed to a merger between existing clubs or an elevation of an existing club (which is what happened with the rugby regions).

Sports in which franchising might work (if we wanted to create a domestic/all-Wales semi-professional competition) include cricket (particularly short-form), basketball, handball, netball, volleyball, hockey, and futsal (FIFA’s official version of 5-a-side).

The Pros and Cons of Cross-Border Competition

Much like Canada with respect to the United States, there’s a long-standing history of Welsh (professional) sports clubs playing in English or UK-wide competitions.

I’ve already looked at the history behind the select group of Welsh men’s football clubs playing in the English pyramid (IndyWales & The Football Exiles). Ironically, only yesterday it was reported that the four Welsh English Football League clubs were weighing up the option of competing in one of the Welsh knockout cups as a possible means to qualify for European competitions. It still seems unlikely, but I did look at that as an option at the time.

Also, the URC is a cross-border rugby union competition by design, as are the lower levels of the rugby league pyramid (RLC Conference), the Netball Superleague, Superleague Basketball and the Elite Ice Hockey League. By default Glamorgan Cricket Club is a cross-border club even in Wales doesn’t exist in cricket terms as a separate entity.

There’s some debate within the rugby community over whether the Welsh regions would be better off playing in an Anglo-Welsh or Britain & Ireland league.

Much like the Canadian example, the main benefit of cross-border competition is access to a bigger competition pool, more financial benefits and greater exposure (i.e. more likely to have a significant broadcasting deal). Hence, it’s unlikely (understatement) that the likes of Cardiff City etc. would want to swap the English Championship for the Cymru Premier.

Like it or not, there are cons to it as well. Cross-border competitions may set an artificial cap on the number of Welsh players who can play top-level sports within Wales – which may hinder our national teams and player development.

Domestic competitions may be an afterthought as most of the attention is focused on cross-border teams (much as has happened with men’s football in Wales). What’s good for an individual cross-border club or “franchise” (such as increased income) generally isn’t good for the sport as a whole.

All things said, cross-border competition is here to stay and you can make a strong argument to keep it if:

• The sport has always allowed cross-border competitions (i.e. ice hockey, basketball, both codes of rugby).
• A new cross-border competition is being established with the presence of a Welsh franchise/team from the start (i.e. The Hundred in cricket).
• Cross-border competitions wouldn’t threaten the independence of Welsh teams competing internationally in the same sport (i.e. football).
• A national top-tier domestic competition/league of semi-professional and professional teams would not be viable in Wales.
• The elite-level player base in Wales is only large enough to support a small number of competitive top-level teams.

How many teams do you need for a decent national league?

There’s no easy answer to this as it depends on the sport.

Factors to consider include: the potential for fixture congestion (cups, leagues, European competitions), the traditional length of the season (a longer season supports a larger competition), the physical demands of the sport (high demand supports a shorter season/fewer clubs), squad and staff numbers, supporter base and the model for the clubs.

A sport like football – which has a long season, medium-to-high physical load and a larger support and player base – can support larger leagues. 16-18 clubs will probably be considered the ideal balance, though if you want to improve the quality of the competition, there may be an argument for a smaller league of 10-12 clubs (as in the Cymru Premier until the 2026-27 season and Adran League).

Sports based on franchises rather than community clubs generally lend themselves to a smaller, closed league.

So, for argument’s sake, if one of the sports governing bodies decided they wanted to set up a national competition for cricket or basketball (probably as a feeder to a professional cross-border team), then you would expect it to have between 8-12 teams.

Netball already has something similar (National League) and it’s also similar to what’s happened with Super Rygbi Cymru.

There are, of course, plenty of sports which are individual and have different competition formats – many of which Wales or Welsh sportspeople do well in. These include darts, motorsports (particularly rally), cycling, swimming, athletics and para-athletics, boxing etc.