With 2024 being an Olympics and Paralympics year – the latter having just finished – it’s a good time to consider sports policy and independence.
Sport has long been one of the most important pillars of Wales’ cultural identity. As one of the main vehicles by which Wales acts independently abroad, sport also has some importance when it comes to “soft power”, “brand awareness” and low-level diplomacy (Part III).
That’s all well and good for athletes, governing bodies, sponsors and politicians – but what about the rest of us?
Part one (of three) will concentrate on sport and exercise as a public health matter.
We need to figure out where amateur/grassroots clubs fit
The vast majority of sports clubs in Wales are run by community-spirited volunteers. As noted earlier, this can be a strength, with a lot of positive outcomes and impacts.
If the goal is to play for fun, local bragging rights and the social factor then amateurism is fine. That can’t carry over when competitions get more serious, with professional and semi-professional athletes competing in a more complicated working environment.
We’re in love with the idea of amateur management in Wales – hence why we have so many committees.
A lack of professionalism (or professional support) can, nevertheless, pose serious risks. There are issues such as safeguarding, financial mismanagement (which can lead to clubs going out of business altogether) and being able to meet governing body regulations.
The idea that “grassroots clubs produce internationals” was once true. Now though, by the time they’re aged 16-18, any promising youth player capable of competing at a high level will either be at a full-time club’s academy, a prominent “sports” school or university (usually in England) or on one of the talent pathways of the sports governing bodies.
So we probably need to have a conversation about the role of amateur/community/grassroots sports clubs and how to separate them from the semi-professional and professional game without glossing over their positive impact socially.
Does Wales have too many sports clubs?
Related to the above – and a controversial statement, no doubt.
Having more clubs is better for participation and community representation, but it can be a bad thing when it comes to the quality of competition and talent development.
We’ve all read stories over the last few years about lower-level rugby games needing to forfeit due to a lack of players, as well as supposedly amateur grassroots clubs paying players “boot money” to turn out for them.
By my count, Bridgend County has at least 20 rugby clubs (Bridgend Athletic having two separate sides) playing in the National Leagues system for 2024-25 – about one team for every 7,200 residents. That doesn’t include reserve teams and youth teams. And that’s just one sport in one county.
Ireland (Northern & Republic) by contrast has just 50 clubs competing in the All-Ireland Leagues across 5 divisions – with plenty of smaller clubs below that playing in provincial-level competitions.
Admittedly, rugby isn’t as big in Ireland as it is in Wales and that would reflect the difference. However, each one of those clubs will be competing in the same pool for players, sponsors and grants and will also need to run their backroom affairs properly.
Each one of those clubs will have its own history, rivalries and passionate supporters of course. It’s not just rugby either.
While people will hate the idea of (dare I say it) mergers between clubs close to each other, if something isn’t done to address this then clubs are going to disappear anyway when fighting over fewer and fewer resources. You might see some communities no longer putting out teams in some sports.
Are minority sports being “crowded out”?
Rugby union and football get the lion’s share of media attention when it comes to sport in Wales.
A lack of media attention or “buzz” in itself doesn’t necessarily mean that people are put off taking part; (domestic) swimming, (amateur) boxing, distance running and martial arts get next to no coverage but have lots of participants.
While talent pathways exist for nearly all major sports in Wales, athletes competing in sports that have a smaller footprint might not get the resources and focus they need despite those relatively high levels of participation (based on the 2022 School Sport Survey). Schools might not offer them as an option and facilities might not be provided.
Obvious examples would include field hockey, basketball, netball, e-sports and street sports (BMX, parkour, skateboarding). Cricket is a bit of a weird one (it does get coverage despite “Wales” being sidelined) but probably counts here too.
Loss of sport spaces
There are many different angles to this.
Firstly, there’s the fractured management of sports facilities. Some will be local authority-owned and managed. Some will be privately leased by a sports club. Some will be co-located on school or college campuses. Some will be paid member-only access.
This can lead to arguments over who can use them and when. For example, a sports club may have a lease on a (publicly accessible) sports pitch from the local authority but faces constant dog fouling so wants to “close” the pitch off, leading to arguments with nearby residents.
Also, while Wales does have a law that nominally protects sports pitches from being disposed of/sold off without local consultation, in practice developers promising a replacement at some point down the line is usually enough to convince decision-makers. There are countless anecdotal examples of long delays in delivering playgrounds and new sports pitches on new-build estates.
One thing that’s not commented on as often is the loss of informal play spaces (i.e. large courtyards). Many may have been reconfigured to prevent them from being used – possibly for a good reason (i.e. to stop balls being kicked through windows). Most of us over a certain age probably did more physical activity during break times in school away from sports pitches than we did during PE lessons.
Commercial under-investment
As has long been the story in Wales, although many sports clubs successfully attract sponsors there’s a lack of private money and – maybe in some minority sports – an over-reliance on central grant funding or favourable terms on things like leases.
Amateur adult sports clubs ought to be pay-to-play, but that presents a Catch-22 because (for the sake of an example) if most of our grassroots rugby and football clubs started charging players membership fees to cover all of their costs you would see a sizable chunk of those clubs disappear.
It’s noticeable higher up as well. While the quality of the football in the Cymru Premier and Adran Premier has improved significantly over the last decade, the lack of investment to date is clear for everyone to see – and it does hold the domestic football pyramid back, not helped by the historic exiles situation.
Not every club can have a rich benefactor because rich benefactors often expect a return on investment – but there is a question as to whether there’s enough private money going into Welsh sport compared to our peers, and whether domestic sport is doing enough to become self-sustaining financially.
