Response to Department of Culture, Media and (DCMS) Sport Strategy Consultation RESPONSE FROM BASEBALLSOFTBALLUK Ariel House, 74a Charlotte Street, , W1T 4QJ T: 020 7453 7035 Lead: John Boyd and Jenny Fromer, Joint CEOs Whole Sport Plan Funded body, by Sport England, 2005-17

Introduction • and are one of the few examples of a successful outcome from the Olympic Legacy, having harnessed investment to more than double the number of people playing regularly from 10,000 in 2009 to 21,500 in Sept 2015. There are plans in place to reach 30,000 in the next couple of years. This has been facilitated through a focused and dedicated development agency – BaseballSoftballUK – working on behalf of the ’ governing bodies, the British Baseball and Softball Federations. • Since its formation in 2000, BaseballSoftballUK has a proven track record of delivering significant impact against exchequer and lottery investment for increasing participation and improving international performance. • The two sports, offered together, provide credible international sporting opportunities (through baseball and , which look almost certain to return to the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020) alongside the friendly, social and easy-to-access game of slowpitch softball, which is the most-played format in the UK. • Slowpitch softball participation is 49% female, and the format promotes and enforces equal playing opportunities for women within a co-ed sport. • Over 650 companies have slowpitch softball teams, offering an appealing sport, physical activity and social outlet to thousands of employees in London and across the country. • As active -- but not too aerobic -- sports, baseball and softball are appealing to people of all ages and body shapes. Our sports appeal to people who haven’t found an outlet in other mainstream sports; often, the people who take up our sports last did sport at school or university. Baseball and softball are simple and familiar to those who have played . • Baseball and softball, as stated, will almost certainly be included on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme, appealing to the hopes and dreams of thousands of aspirant youngsters.

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Participation If this country is to increase sporting participation, sports like baseball and softball have an important role to play in diversifying the sporting offer, particularly for those who don’t enjoy traditional sports. Softball can reach into the workplace to encourage a more active nation and both sports can help young people form and continue lifelong sporting habits through a environment that can range from social to highly competitive.

• Participation increase should be the key outcome from government investment. • A robust measure is needed to set the baseline from which growth in participation in sport can be monitored. While a national measure is important, measures appropriate to specific sports participation should be created, with the difference between sports factored in. • There should be a commitment to broaden the number of sports accessible to people, appreciating that there is a reason why so many people do not take up traditional sports. A varied sporting offer has to be at the heart of an effort to increase participation. • Funding should only be used where it is needed. Alternative means should be found to encourage larger sports to invest in their own participation increase. • Support should go to organisations that have demonstrated a strong focus and track record of increasing participation and, importantly, do not have the means to increase participation themselves. • There are many ways to reach people and we believe that not enough is done to encourage sport in the workplace. • Sport can be an important part of the community, and resources should be offered to help support volunteers.

Physical Activity As non-traditional sports in Britain but as sports known and played around the world, baseball and softball are particularly appealing to groups not traditionally well-served by sport – BAME, LGBT and women in particular. These groups are all less likely to do sport, and baseball/softball has an important role to play in helping people in these target groups to become more active.

• Sport plays a vital role in how physically active the nation is, appealing to people of all ages, abilities, interests and backgrounds; this should be recognised and supported. • Sports organisations are able to deliver fun, local community-based physical activity in a cost-effective way, contributing to social cohesion, the growth of local economies and the health of the nation. Sport is delivered for the most part by volunteers. Support should continue to be given to grassroots sports through Local Authorities and national governing and development bodies. • There should be a cross-departmental and apolitical approach to sports strategy and funding.

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• Minimum expectations for schools to offer physical activity as part of the curriculum are needed. • The Chief Medical Officer's guidelines on physical activity should be clarified so that everyone understands them. Links to ways to be more active through sport should be signposted and promoted. • Sport and physical activity should be embedded across government departments, with each measuring sports' contribution to their specific remits, including physical and mental health, economic development and social cohesion.

Children and Young People There are few summer team sports in the UK and therefore is an important role for baseball and softball in offering strong local activity to young people. The international significance of the sports can power the dreams and sporting habits of many young people who hope to represent their country at the Olympics, attend university on a sporting scholarship or play professionally. Fastpitch softball could become the girls’ summer team sport of choice in this country, similar to the rise of in the past decade.

• There is a need for community youth sport for children under the age of 14 to be supported with investment by Sport England. Sporting habits start at a young age and the current system is failing many. Sport England's remit should be extended to start at age 5 so that there is full integration of community sport and school sport from an early age, thereby encouraging children to develop a sporting habit for life. • All young people (aged 5 and upwards) should be entitled to a minimum of 2 hours of high-quality PE each week, as part of the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation for 60 active minutes a day. • Further accountability needs to be applied to the PE and School Sport Premium, with a specific focus on teacher training. Ofsted should provide a clear reporting and inspection framework, underpinned by an understanding of high-quality PE provision. • There should be a move to ensure that more children below the age of 14 are exposed to a wider range of sport so they can develop more positive experiences from an early age. Focusing funding only on participation rates for children 14 years and upwards restricts sport’s ability to address drop-off rates, which often take place before this age. Too many people have had negative experiences from the more traditional sports generally offered during the primary and early secondary years. • Increased investment in teacher training for primary school teachers and incentives for extra-curricular sporting contributions from teachers are needed. • Sport would welcome investment into community sports organisations supporting physical activity for school pupils. • National Governing Bodies of sport should be enabled to increase the number and quality of coaches to help build expertise in classroom teachers, extend the extra- curricular programme and create links to community provision. • There needs to be a lead person in every school responsible for the PE and sports programme across the school, to ensure that all opportunities are maximised

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and links to community sport are built, and to champion the role of sport as part of a healthy lifestyle. • Programmes generating and building school-to-club links should be extended. Clear pathways from school to community sport are a key part of embedding a sporting habit. • A commitment to deeper and broader professional development for teachers and coaches delivering PE and school sport in schools is needed. • Secondary schools need additional resource and encouragement to broaden the range of sports offered to young people. • There should be a heightened emphasis in Ofsted inspections on young people’s physical, emotional and social outcomes through high-quality PE and school sport provision. • Funding should be provided for local clubs to support schools in broadening the number of sports available to young people. • The role of School Games should be to add to the school sport offer, rather than being the school sport offer. School Games should be retained and organiser funding extended to ensure supply meets the increasing demand.

Financial Sustainability Through a special-purpose development agency, baseball and softball have developed a strong and financially sound approach to using investment into the sports to produce desired outcomes.

• The sector recognises that the current funding climate is challenging and that there is a need to look towards diversifying income away from reliance on continued government support. • However, targeted and sustained investment in women’s and minority sports is essential to develop a product that is attractive to broadcasters and sponsors, and a long-term view should be taken. • There is a strong case for adjusting the lottery shares to an equal 25% split among the Big Lottery Fund, sport, the arts and heritage. In addition, the rules on additionality should be relaxed. • Government should introduce a sports betting levy to channel back into sports development a percentage of the significant revenue generated by sports betting.

Coaching, Workforce and Good Governance

• We recognise the need for good governance to underpin progress in all areas of sport. • Sports organisations know their sector best, and are therefore best placed to develop the practise of good governance in their sport and to adopt models of good governance inspired by best practice. • This includes consideration of long-term structural, procedural and behavioural changes in sports organisations, not just short-term adaptations.

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• It is also necessary for organisations to have a way of displaying their commitment to good governance. This will boost the reputation of organisations that are well-governed, and encourage all organisations to take action where necessary. Good governance should be a reputational issue, not just a tick-box condition of funding awards. • The Voluntary Code of Good Governance provides the best foundation for tackling these needs and promoting the development of unified best practice in sports governance. • Investment in clubs should be directed at those that can demonstrate a minimum level of operating standards but should also be used to help clubs falling short of those standards to attain them. • Schemes like Clubmark and Club Matters are integral to supporting clubs with governance issues. These should continue to receive investment and should be made as accessible to all as possible. • NGBs are critical to the success of club governance and development. They are also best-placed to help clubs move to a way of thinking that is more participant-centric than is often currently the case. • The development of coaches should focus equally on people management skills needed to break through barriers to participation, especially for women and girls, along with the technical skills associated with being a coach. • There needs to be an understanding that not all sports are equal in terms of the level of technical knowledge and expertise required to deliver an enjoyable session. Therefore, the expectations on a coach should not be the same across all sports. This particularly applies when introducing sports that are not considered part of the British mainstream. • Investment should be directed towards attracting more entry-level coaches and supporting the higher-performing coaches who can then serve as coach educators and mentors. This will attract a much-needed workforce of people able to increase participation in sport. It will also support those coaches raising the level of coaching, and in turn support athletes in talent pathways so that the UK can maintain its position as a world leader in sports development and performance. • There should be continued investment in NGBS and other organisations that can provide a framework for coach development. • Local coaching bursaries are extremely important and valuable. They should be extended to provide CPD for officials, administrators and volunteers.

Elite and Professional Sport

• While recognising that growing participation is a very different activity to high performance sport, the strategy should recognise the link between the two. A fun activity can be more appealing if it is seen to be part of something bigger. Connection between the world stage and local activity is important to increasing participation. • The strategy should encompass a broad view of what constitutes sport, recognising that there are many sports in which Britain achieves international success but which are not part of the formal UKS/SE funding/pathway model.

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• Funding should be spread outside the traditional Olympic/Paralympic sports and access to support structures -- e.g. sports science and medicine – should be similarly extended. • Talent development should incorporate other routes outside of the traditional NGB/club structure, including schools and higher education.

Infrastructure

• There is a need for a coordinated analysis of the country’s sporting facility needs and from this should come a strategy of investment that considers the full range of sports. • Where funding is given to private and for-profit organisations, it should generate a greater investment back into sports participation. • The divesting of sports facilities and cuts to Local Authority sport must be stopped if sport is to play a significant role in tackling obesity. • Decent, sustainable and appropriate facilities are an essential part of enabling people to get and stay active. Facilities across the country have been under considerable pressure and this has resulted in a number of issues with a negative effect on participation, including closures, maintenance failures, restricted availability and increased user charges. • Infrastructure owned and run by NGBs and the wider sport and recreation sector is an essential part of the sporting fabric of the country and must have adequate investment, protection and support. • Current provisions around community assets are potentially a helpful and under-used legislative provision that could give the sport and recreation sector greater say and influence over the future of local provision. • In order to ensure the sustainability and future quality of infrastructure, the sector recognises the potential for greater collaborative working.

Fairness and Equality • Increasing the spread of sports on offer is important to increasing fairness and equality in sporting provision. • A focus on women and girls is needed, specifically related to increasing participation in sporting activities that are wider than physical recreation. • More attention needs to be given to under-represented groups, specifically LGBT and BAME, using outcome targets and advanced monitoring and evaluation for funded projects.

Safety and Wellbeing

• Duty of care must include safeguarding, but this cuts across themes such as children and young people and workforce.

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• The change to DBS that means that organisations no longer receive a copy of a disclosure. This is problematic in terms of managing safeguarding and should be reconsidered. • More legal protection is needed for volunteers running sport.

International Influence and Major Sporting Events • Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and Glasgow in 2014 and the 2012 London have marked an era of substantial international influence. This should be maintained and developed through a continuation of focus and investment. • International representation support – training, grant aid and CPD -- should be extended to all British sporting bodies with roles to play in Europe and across the world, rather than being focused only on Olympic and Commonwealth sports. This is particularly important for organisations whose resources are limited (smaller and middle-sized bodies). • Major sporting events are vital to the nation’s perception of sport and provide economic and social benefits. Support for such events should be extended to smaller sports. • There is a need for additional help to promote sporting events in smaller sports to cut through what remains a very narrow media focus. This will help the nation to accept and embrace a wider and more diverse range of sports.

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