WITH more funding cuts, extremely loud rumblings from GB basketball players and accusations of favouritism for one Scottish runner, it is definitely the summer of discontent for sport.
UK Sport cut the budget for several Winter Olympics sports – short track speeding, bobsleigh, figure skating, and wheelchair curling – and all four are set to be “transitioned off” funding.
The basketball players accused the home nations organisations of cutting funding to “save money while large salaries are paid to managers”. Meanwhile, Lynsey Sharp accused British Athletics of breaking the rules and showing favouritism to Laura Muir.
All the drama seems to be happening “off court” at the moment, especially if you take the small matter of the World Cup out of the equation!
Many of our sporting bodies are run entirely through the “thank you” system. By that I mean if you have been there long enough, you will be rewarded for the length of your commitment to the sport by being given a seat on the board. No matter what your strengths are, or whether can add to the business side of sport, this is a reward for longevity. This is one of the reasons women are not “invited”, or indeed may not want to, take a seat at the top table as it can be an extremely frustrating task trying to change the mindset of those who are still living in the Dark Ages.
However, at least one body is making good progress “off the court” and that is Boxing Scotland. We often hear the phrase “just ticking a box” and with the sporting equality agenda that has perhaps been the norm for quite a while. But things are changing and and an example of that is Boxing Scotland. They have created an Inclusion and Participation Advisory Group, which I am proud to say I am a member of.
With a membership of more than 200 registered women boxers, the feeling within the boxing community is that there are many women and girls who would enjoy and benefit from participating in a boxing club and they aim to ensure that they can offer them an opportunity to do so. This sounds like a knockout idea to me!
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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