Sports development is a wide subject and involves lots of different aspects of sport and development. Because sports development is an important and varying subject, there is not one single definition of what sports development involves as a whole. Sports development is not just for people with the ability to play at a certain level, but also for the people that are generally not interested in sport, it gives them the chance to participate and to get involved in sport. It is also about providing communities and sports organisations the opportunity and ability to support their local area.
To explore and discuss sports development there are certain areas that need to be analysed. These areas include the individual definitions of sport, development and sports development as a whole. The benefits that playing sport brings to an individual and the role sports development plays in giving people the opportunity to gain the benefits from playing sport. The different sports development models such as the sports development continuum, house of sport and active framework (sport England 1999) will also be considered.
As sports development is such a big subject it needs to be dissected to fully identify the aspects it contains. To do this each term needs to be defined separately. As sport is such a general term it is hard to define and may not have a fixed meaning. The Oxford English dictionary defines sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others,” This is compared to the writings of John Horne who suggests that,
“Sport has no such fixed meaning-it has had different meanings in different societies and refers to different activities at different historical moments. ” (Horne, J. 1998) Neither of these statements can be deemed as right or wrong but can both be linked together to form a relatively correct definition of sport. Sport involves both physical activity (any form of exercise or movement) and physical recreation (“the physical re-creating of the body and the person”). (Watt, D. 2003) These both need to be considered when discussing sport as they are both major elements that influence the definition of sport.
Sport can generally be defined as competitive rule-governed games with a set structure and an aim of a successful outcome, whether intrinsically or extrinsically. The European Sports Charter (1993) states that, “Sports means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels. ” This suggests that there is more to sport than just a competitive rule governed activity and that it is very flexible when defining.
Development can simply be defined as when someone grows or changes and becomes more advanced, suggesting a new and improved outcome. This can be linked to sport as at some stage anyone participating in sport would have had to develop their skills to a sound level. Sports development is a vast subject but can generally be summed up as, “getting more people to play sport,” (Houlihan, B. 2003) This definition is generally correct although there is a lot more depth to the aims of sports development and the processes and structures that have been set up, as B.
Houlihan (2003) continues, “Sports development is a process by which interest and desire to take part may be created in those who are currently indifferent to the message of sport; or by which those not now taking part, but well disposed, may be provided with appropriate opportunities to do so; or by which those currently taking part may be enabled to do so with meaningful frequency and greater satisfaction, thus enabling participants at all levels to achieve their full potential. ”
Therefore, sports development can be summed up as devising better and more effective ways of generating interest and increasing the levels of participation, or supporting performance within sport. Also to aid and support organisations to better provide people with the opportunity to participate in sport within their organisation and the local community. Sports development is about increasing participation within sport and advertising the benefits that playing sport has on people’s lives.
Currently, “only 46% of the population participate in sport more than 12 times a year” (Game Plan, 2002) There are many benefits that sport brings to individuals, such as health, economic and social benefits. The benefits of physical activity on health are clear, “30 minutes of moderate activity five times a week can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, strokes and obesity”. (Game Plan 2005) Regular participation in sport can help reduce these risks and support healthy growth in young people, and encourage a healthy lifestyle, to take into adulthood.
Sport can also help reduce healthcare costs and workplace absence and present a “feelgood factor” to people that take part in sport. When people adopt this “feelgood factor” they are generally happy with the way they are and present a good image within their social community. This can then lead on to reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour and improving the quality of environments and creating a sense of peace, “some practitioners also report positive results from schemes that use sport to help to reduce crime and social exclusion. “