The Government's investment in PE and sport in schools has had significant success in increasing participation in these sports.
Schools were asked to indicate the range of sports provided by their school during the academic year. Details of the percentages of schools which provided the indicated sports are provided in the following table, highlighting the progression of school participation annually (academic year).
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 Athletics 90 91 92 93 93 Badminton 31 32 35 37 39 Basketball 65 63 67 69 69 Cricket 85 85 89 90 90 Cycling 21 27 34 42 46 Gymnastics 94 93 95 95 94 Hockey 77 74 77 78 77 Netball 84 81 81 81 81 Rugby League (inc tag rugby) 12 11 12 133 34 Rugby Union (inc Tag Rugby) 67 71 74 66 68 Squash 5 5 6 7 7 Tennis 70 71 76 79 79 Volleyball 27 25 28 30 30 1 Surveys prior to 2006/07 did not include ‘tag rugby’ in definition. Base: All schools (2003/04—6,574; 2004/05—11,498; 2005/06—16,898; 2006/07—21,745; 2007/08—21,631).
The following table shows the sports or activities which schools had club links to during the academic year.
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 Athletics 32 33 38 40 43 Badminton 10 10 12 14 17 Basketball 27 25 28 28 30 Cricket 45 46 52 56 57 Cycling 4 5 6 8 10 Gymnastics 24 26 31 35 40 Hockey 20 19 22 23 25 Netball 26 26 29 30 32 Rugby League (inc. tag rugby) 10 9 10 118 20 Rugby Union (inc. tag rugby) 39 41 46 44 48 Squash 3 3 4 5 6 Tennis 27 30 36 39 40 Volleyball 3 2 2 3 4 1 Surveys prior to 2006/07 did not include ‘tag rugby’ in definition. Base: All schools (2003/04—6,574; 2004/05—11,498; 2005/06—16,898; 2006/07—21,745; 2007/08—21,631)
Our PE and Sport Strategy for Young People will continue that success story, and we are investing over £780 million to 2010-11 to offer five hours of sport a week. The National Governing Bodies of Sport will receive ring-fenced funding as part of their Whole Sport Plan budgets, aimed at developing further links between schools and clubs, and increasing the number of young people involved in volunteering and leadership in sport.
Badminton and volleyball are also among the four sports which will benefit from ‘Premier League 4 Sport’, a new scheme launched this month, which will drive participation among young people in partnership with the 20 Premier League football clubs.
The challenge for all these sports is to make themselves attractive to young people, so that young people choose to take them up.