Tuesday 24 October 2000
"Good progress has been made in most areas of Scottish sport but we must pick up the pace if we are to realise the full benefits of sport for people of all age groups and walks of life throughout Scotland."
That was the message from Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport, Rhona Brankin today when she announced the publication by sportscotland of the 'First Review: Report on Progress' of Scotland’s national sporting strategy, 'Sport 21: Nothing Left to Chance'.
The outcome of the review was announced in reply to a Parliamentary question from Mary Mulligan, Convenor of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
The First Review outlines the clear progress that has so far been made in achieving the aims of Sport 21 in areas such as the delivery of School Sports Co-ordinators, the deployment of resources and equipment into every primary school in Scotland, a study of sports clubs and the formation of the Scottish Institute of Sport. The review also acknowledges that much work still has to be done if Scotland is to develop into a country that encourages sport from youth and community to high performance level, and continues to pursue the three visions central to making Scotland a sporting nation:
- a country where sport is more widely available to all
- a country where sporting talent is recognised and nurtured
- a country achieving and sustaining world class performances in sport.
Rhona Brankin commented: "Sport is intrinsic to Scotland’s culture and its sense of pride and can also make a unique contribution to building a modern and inclusive society. I look forward to working alongside all the various agencies and sports bodies in Scotland to drive forward the implementation of Sport 21 and achieve our ambitions for Scotland as a sporting nation."
Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, continued: "The recent Olympic Games demonstrated how sport has the power to inspire us all. Sport can provide far reaching benefits in terms of health, education and creating a more socially inclusive society, however, both participation in sport and success in sport depend on having the resources to invest.
"The review document provides a framework for the continued development of sport at all levels, but the bottom line is that if we want to be a nation that achieves in sport then we have to be prepared to be a nation that invests in sport."
- Following the widest ranging consultation ever undertaken in Scottish sport, Sport 21 was published in May 1998 setting out detailed targets for taking forward the ambitions of sport in Scotland to 2003. sportscotland set up in 1999 an open and wide-ranging process for reviewing the progress in implementing the strategy. It involved over 80 people in five Sport 21 Forums, covering topics such as Sport and Social Inclusion, Sport and Schools and Sport and High Performance Sport.
- The review identifies a number of key actions needing to be undertaken now to ensure the national strategy is achieved including identifying new funding opportunities through the New Opportunities Fund, investing in IT to 'wire up' Scottish sport, examining and addressing the needs for local authority spending on sport and recreation, developing an 'entitlement' for physical activity in school education and accelerating efforts to increase participation in sport across the age bands and involving people from socially disadvantaged communities.
- The review of Sport 21 highlights the way in which investment in Scottish sport is helping to achieve the aims of Sport 21. Scotland now has over 200 School Sport Co-ordinators in place with more being appointed as more funding is made available. A number of new community sports centres have been opened, while a new strategy for the distribution of Lottery funds to sport, ‘Levelling the Playing Field’, is helping to ensure that links between school and community sports facilities are strengthened.