UK Sport has launched a new 10-year plan that hopes not only to push the UK to the forefront of sporting success with major sporting events and great athletes. They also hope to inspire people with the aim of ‘winning with integrity’ and creating collaborative community environments through sport.
The funding body will, of course, remain focussed on ‘winning and being competitive at the highest level’, but will be widening their focus to recognise the platform sport has to create ‘positive change for individuals and society’.
Nick Gates, CEO of Coaches Across Continent, is well-versed in the impact that sport can have on a community when it does well. He explains the significance of creating a lasting impact for Coaches Across Continents on The Drive Phase podcast:
“…it’s more than just going into a community for a week and doing some work and leaving and thinking you’re going to have real change. It has to be a sustainable project.”
For Chair of UK Sport, Dame Katherine Grainger, the importance of this plan lies in what the UK has shown they can achieve with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It however is a place to start, not a place to loiter,
“…we are very aware there is no room for complacency and that we must build on our success to create the next exciting phase of high-performance sport. One, where we work even more collaboratively and inclusively to win well, in ways that will inspire more people and have a broader impact on our society.”
The strategic aims of the plan include inspiring young people through a broader range of sports with a view to creating more diverse champions and a ‘diverse, ethical sustainable agenda for tomorrow’.
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