DISSERTATION ASSESSMENT PROFORMA: Empirical 1

Cardiff School of Sport DISSERTATION ASSESSMENT PROFORMA: Empirical 1

Student name: Student ID: Abby Hicks St10001652

Programme: Sport Development

Dissertation title:

What are the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how do different areas of the community control these Supervisor:

Greg Dainty

Comments Section

Title and Abstract

Title to include: A concise indication of the research question/problem.

Abstract to include: A concise summary of the empirical study undertaken.

Introduction and literature review

To include: outline of context (theoretical/conceptual/applied) for the question; analysis of findings of previous related research including gaps in the literature and relevant contributions; logical flow to, and clear presentation of the research problem/ question; an indication of any research expectations, (i.e., hypotheses if applicable).

Methods and Research Design

1 This form should be used for both quantitative and qualitative dissertations. The descriptors associated with both quantitative and qualitative dissertations should be referred to by both students and markers.

To include: details of the research design and justification for the methods applied; participant details; comprehensive replicable protocol.

Results and Analysis 2

To include: description and justification of data treatment/ data analysis procedures; appropriate presentation of analysed data within text and in tables or figures; description of critical findings.

Discussion and Conclusions 2

To include: collation of information and ideas and evaluation of those ideas relative to the extant literature/concept/theory and research question/problem; adoption of a personal position on the study by linking and combining different elements of the data reported; discussion of the real-life impact of your research findings for coaches and/or practitioners (i.e. practical implications); discussion of the limitations and a critical reflection of the approach/process adopted; and indication of potential improvements and future developments building on the study; and a conclusion which summarises the relationship between the research question and the major findings.

Presentation

To include: academic writing style; depth, scope and accuracy of referencing in the text and final reference list; clarity in organisation, formatting and visual presentation

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS)

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

What are the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how do different areas of the community control these?

MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

ABBY HICKS

ST10001652

Abby Hicks

ST10001652

Cardiff School of Sport

Cardiff Metropolitan University

What are the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how do different areas of the community control these?

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd

Certificate of student

By submitting this document, I certify that the whole of this work is the result of my individual effort, that all quotations from books and journals have been acknowledged, and that the word count given below is a true and accurate record of the words contained (omitting contents pages, acknowledgements, indices, tables, figures, plates, reference list and appendices).

Word count: 11,983

Date: 20/03/2013

Certificate of Dissertation Supervisor responsible

I am satisfied that this work is the result of the student’s own effort.

I have received a dissertation verification file from this student

Name:

Date:

Notes:

The University owns the right to reprint all or part of this document.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER TITLE

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2 6

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 What is sport development and its purpose 6

2.2 The impact government has on sport 6-7

2.3 The Olympics having an impact on sport development 7-9

2.4 Barriers and gateway to participation for sport 9-12

2.5 Comparison of niche sports 12-14

CHAPTER 3 15

METHODOLOGY

3.1 General design 16

3.2 Research Approach 16-17

3.3 Participants 17

3.4 Instruments 18

3.5 Reliability and Validity 18-19

3.6 Procedure 19-20

3.7 Data analysis 20

CHAPTER 4 21

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 The main aim of organisations 26-27

4.2 The Olympics having an impact on participation 27-29

4.3 Cost of participation 29-31

4.4 Accessiblity of squash 31- 32

4.5 The infrastructure 32-33

4.6 Other barriers 33-35

4.7 Wales Squash and Racketball initiatives to increase 35-36 participation

4.8 Local authority initiatives to increase participation 36-37

4.9 Newport Squash Club initiatives to increase participation 38-39

CHAPTER 5 40

CONCLUSION

5.1 Concluding Remarks 41-42

5.2 Strengths 42

5.3 Limitations 42

5.4 Recommendations 42-43

CHAPTER 6

REFERENCES

Appendices

Appendix A Interview Guide

Appendix B Email sent to participant for consent

Appendix C Consent form

Appendix D Information form

Appendix E Table of results from interviews

Appendix F Transcripts

List of Tables

Table 1. Table of results (common themes) 22-25

List of Figures

Figure 1. Home page of the Newport Squash Rackets club website 38

Acknowledgements

Massive thank you to Greg Dainty for all his expert advice during this process, his constant level of support has been hugely appreciated. Also thank you to all the participants involved in this investigation, their willingness to relay their opinions, thoughts and feelings was also greatly appreciated.

Abstract

According to (Jackson, Marrow, Hill and Dishman, 2004) physical activity brings about the positive lifelong effects on health by reducing the possibility of physical diseases, decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol, also aiding social, psychological and mental health. With this being commonly known it brings about the question of why people don’t want to participate when it allows for a better health and overall life. Although there is much research focusing on the role of sport development and how it operates and even some of the barriers that exist to hinder people from exercise it is unclear on whether or not these barriers are the same for niche sports that lack attention from media, receive little or limited funding and aren’t a part of the Olympic movement such as squash. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to firstly highlight the barriers of participation in squash and then identify how the national governing body for squash, Wales squash and racketball (WSRB) could reduce these barriers.

To allow for a clear and reliable investigation four participants with a clear understanding of either sport development or squash were selected to participate in semi structured interviews, the questions being created to identify barriers and policies implemented to gain members. These participants belong to different areas of the community with Newport Squash Rackets club (NSRC) becoming the case study for this investigation.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Sport development is a term used to describe processes, policies and practices that form an integral feature of the work involved in providing sporting opportunities (Hylton et al, 2001) Although some regard sport development as being reliant on sport development officers, others believe sport development is a lot wider involving many more aspects (Hylton et al ,2001). This more wide- ranging view considers that PE staff, teachers, coaches, facility managers, community outreach workers, youth workers, health specialists, policy makers and many others are all engaged in sport development work. This argument suggests that all of these professions work towards increasing the profile of sport, and encouraging all ages of community and all groups to participate in sport or recreational activities. In order to do this effectively professionals in these roles, identify and attempt to understand and surmount the barriers that prohibit people from participating in sporting activity.

Participation in sport or recreational activity is seen as a useful tool for meeting government objectives such as lowering social exclusion, increasing the health of the population, reducing crime and improving education (Coalter, 2007; Hylton and Bramham, 2008). Being physically active may lead to a better quality of life due to being healthier. The world health organisation (1948) defined health as complete state of social, mental and physical wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Increased physical activity may lead to increased health. Not only can being physically active help an individual it can also help regenerate and improve communities. Being physically active allows communities to engage with each other through the help of sporting activities. Through improved health implications of being physical active work productivity can increase benefitting all areas of the community. Hoye et al (2010) argued that Sport is viewed as one of many sectors with the capacity to contribute to solving the problem of physical inactivity. The benefits of participating in sport, regardless of the activity and level of expertise are huge, the physical benefits include the reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 50%, the reduced risk of

suffering from cardio vascular diseases. A massive psychological benefit is that physical activity can decrease depression dementia (department of health, 2009).

Government policy has recognised the benefits physical activity and sport have on promoting healthier lives by engaging communities, as a result sport policies and initiatives have been integrated into political party manifestos. Hoye (2010) stated that ‘sport has become an important aspect of government policy intervention, as evidenced by the number of nations articulating a discrete sport policy with concomitant funding and support for elite and community sport development initiatives’ (Hoye et al, 2010) The importance of sport tends not to change but the importance of sport to individuals and organisation may differ from year to year, for example in 2008 when London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics the emphasis on sport was vast in order to build state of the art facilities and develop athletes in order to experience national success. The Climbing Higher document produced by the Welsh assembly government (WAG) is an example of a policy document that acknowledges the importance of physical activity in order to prevent inactivity in adulthood. In order to encourage adolescents to take part in physical activity Sport Wales introduced a number of initiatives to encourage the participation in sport. Examples include ‘Dragon Sport’ and the ‘5 x 60’ initative. Dragon sport was introduced in the year 2000 with its aim being to develop and encourage participation in extracurricular and sport activities between the ages of seven and eleven. Following this the 5 x 60 initiative was introduced to encourage children to be active for 60 minutes at least 5 times a week in all different activities implemented by 5 x 60 officers.

Even though there appears to be general agreement in the literature that having a physically active population has positive benefits and contributes towards other government objectives there are still many people who ignore this and are classed as physically inactive. Physical activity levels are at a low in the UK, only 40% of men and 28% of women meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity in adults (British Heart foundation, 2012). If the minimum recommendations are taken seriously, it is clear then that there is a mismatch between what is desirable within the general population and what is actually occurring in terms of sporting participation. Whilst there is much work in the

literature about the barriers to sport participation, there is a great deal of scope for studies to investigate barriers in the context of particular sports and contexts. This dissertation is the product of an investigation into the barriers that specifically affect niche sports and is a case study based on the sport of squash, a smaller sport operating in the niche market. This investigation will highlight barriers to the development of squash as a sport, and consider how these barriers differ from the usual barriers discussed in the literature. Subsequently, the investigation will focus on how different areas of the community tackle these barriers and reduce the number of reasons why people don’t play the game of squash. The investigation will consider the perspectives of the national governing body (Wales squash and racketball) a local squash club (Newport squash rackets club) and the local authority by looking at the community of Alway in Newport.

The overall aim of the project is to understand the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how stakeholders with different perspectives and responsibilities try to reduce these.

The following objectives have been identified:

1. To conduct a literature review to understand the academic theory relating to barriers to participation in sport in general and specifically relating to niche sports such as squash

2. To explore the perspectives of key stakeholders in the development of squash.

3. To identify, explore and evaluate the specific challenges faced by a private sector organisation attempting to address barriers to participation via a case study of NSRC.

Chapter 2

Review of the Literature

2. 0 Literature Review

2.1 What is sport development and its purpose

As explained by Collins, (1995) sport development is the process in which effective opportunities, processes, systems and structures are produced to enable and encourage people in all target groups and areas to participate in sport or improve their own performance. Sport development officers aim to encourage all groups in society to engage in life long participation. Hylton et al, (2001) explained that sport development officers possess a vast amount of experience and insight spanning areas as diverse as leisure and sports policy, community sports and recreation, equalities, law and health education. It is a naive approach to believe that the development of sport is solely reliant on sport development officers when in reality many other professions such as PE staff, coaches, facility managers, youth workers and even policy makers and members of parliament have the power to encourage children and adults to participate.

2.2 The Impact government has on sport

Sport Development can be considered crucial for reaching all of the government’s objectives such as having a healthier nation. If youngsters are involved in sport crime rates may reduce if they are preoccupied by participating in sport. Increase participation in sport would also lead to a healthier nation due to the health benefits that come with exercise. Sport development officers draw upon government policies in order to implement their plans to increase participation. Although all professionals involved in developing sport would like to encourage participation their efforts are dependent on what the government want and what policies they choose to reinforce.

This may only effect the public sector such as schools and leisure centres but it may suggest that clubs who operate in the private sector (for example the subject of this research project; Newport Squash Rackets Club) may be left to their own devices to develop their own objectives and aims. Therefore for many private clubs government

policy may not play such an important role in development of participation. The importance of this is to understand that even though the government introduce policies such as ‘Game plan’ (Prime ministers strategy Unit and department of culture, media and sport, 2002) which is a strategy to increase participation at grass roots level, which is then implemented by sport development officers, teachers and coaches, these policies may have little effect on clubs operating in the private sector as they have no obligation to work towards the governments agenda.

Bloyce & Smith, (2010) research led them to notice that over many years it has become obvious that governments are willing to use sport and physical activity as vehicles of social policy designed to achieve a range of other non-sporting objectives. The government perceptions on sport are continuously changing. Prior to London winning the bid to deliver the 2012 Olympics the governments focus was very much pinned on providing opportunities in sport for everyone, through the policy document of ‘game plan’ (DCMS, 2002). The document of Game plan suggested that sport was a potential instrument achieving wider socio political agenda of combating social exclusion. In 2008 the government then moved its focus elsewhere and implemented the policy documents of ‘playing to win’ (2008) this policy no longer wanted mass participation but instead had excellence at its core. This was implemented in 2008 ready for the 2012 Olympics to gain success and an Olympic legacy as discussed later on. The change in objectives in just these two policy documents is a great example of how the government change the role sport has on society, and how the government impact greatly on participation in sport.

2.3 Olympics having an impact on sport development

It could be argued that the government have little effect on the future and organisation of the smaller sports such as squash. An initiative made by the DCMS (Department for culture, media and sport) was that the ‘Government will be committed to driving a long-term Olympic legacy of more children doing competitive sport through the introduction of a new school sport competition’(DCMS, 2012) However, it is unclear how the legacy of the Olympic games will bring benefit to the sports that aren’t included in the games and aren’t involved in the everyday sporting activities for children in school controlled by the national curriculum.

The Coalition’s Programme for Government (May 2010) committed the Government to producing a safe and secure Games that would leave a lasting legacy. A key feature of London’s bid and subsequent planning for the Games was a commitment to “inspire a generation” and create a sporting legacy. Woodhouse (2012) discussed the plans the government put in place once the games had finished, these plans included; £125 million worth of funding every year for four years for elite sport, providing world class facilities to support community sport as well as elite and encouraging community sport through a ‘places people play’ programme, a youth sport strategy, and a ‘join in’ programme amongst other plans. All of these plans were made to ensure participation rates in sport continue to grow and the development of sport.

DCMS, press release (2010) stated that ‘In June 2010 the Government announced that funding for the free swimming initiative was being withdrawn as part of a package of Departmental savings, It also dropped the Labour Government’s target of increasing sporting participation by two million’. Therefore it can be argued that having the Olympics may mean less funding and time spent on mass participation schemes such as the free swimming. This could result in participation levels not increase as a result of hosting the Olympics.

Much research has been focused around identifying if the host national of the Olympic Games has seen an increase of participation in sport in their country. This research analysed past Olympics and their measured effect on sports participation. One such example was Australia's hosting of the games in 2000. An academic study ‘Tracking change: leisure participation and policy in Australia 1985-2002’ (2003) analysed several years of Australia's national leisure participation survey. They found that, in 2001, seven Olympic sports had seen small increases in participation, however nine had seen decline. Therefore from such studies it can be argued that the Olympics fail to increase participation.

A major barrier for squash in particular has to be the fact that at present it isn’t involved in the Olympic Games. At present Britain are celebrating the glory and success they encounter during the 2012 games in London while the squash world are still watching from the outside fighting for the chance to show itself as a worldwide event. Coalter (2007) discusses that a successful bid for the Olympics

games would contribute to the governments physical activity and health agenda by acting as the catalyst that inspires people of all ages to lead active lives. Although the Olympics games may act as the ‘catalyst’ it won’t benefit the sports that aren’t involved in the Olympics such as squash and cricket. The Olympics is broadcasted worldwide allowing children and adults to watch the events and admire their role models, this may lead to increased participation in these sports as the public thrive to perform like their role models. This is similar to the short lived increase in participation in tennis after Wimbledon. This increase in participation is harder to gain in sports such as squash as they don’t benefit from this extra coverage or national success that arrives due to the Olympics. This may also affect the elite end of the continuum for squash players. If they are deprived of the chance of representing their country in the Olympics they may cut their professional career short. Nicole David world number 1 and a World Squash Federation (WSF) ambassador was quoted to have said ‘I would trade my six world titles for an Olympic gold medal’ (India Times, 2012) this is just one example of the desire professional squash players have to be part of the Olympic movement.

2.4 Barriers and gateways to participation for sport

Before being able to understand what effects participation in smaller sports such as squash it is important to understand the gateways and barriers to participation in general. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (2011) conducted research into participation levels. They discovered participation in sport is higher among younger people, those with a car, students and those in higher income bands. Also People in managerial positions tend to take part in sport more frequently than those in other socio-economic groups and people in full-time employment are more than twice as likely to cycle for health and recreation as retired people (DCMS, 2011). Their key finding in regards to barriers was that the decision to participate in sport is affected by a wide range of demographic and socio-economic factors. For example the likelihood of an individual taking part in sport is affected by many factors such as age, gender, economic circumstances, ethnicity, health, life stage, available time and other responsibilities. Less obvious influences include, peer group participation, participation as a child and location. This highlights the fact that even though the

government encourage participation in sport with their aim being ‘to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, support the pursuit of excellence, and champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries’ (DCMS, 2011) some people may not want to participate because of the wide range of demographic and socio-economic factors.

Much research has suggested that if people are given the opportunity to participate they will. Robert Siu Kuen, (2010) conducted a test in which a rowing programme was implemented into a school to see who would then have a desire to participate in rowing activities. Results showed that women responded positively towards the initiative. This is important because if women enjoy rowing activities or sport in general the gender gap which is extremely visible in many sports may shorten. The gender gap refers to the evidence that more men participate in sport than women. Sport England (2012) claimed that only 13% of women take part in 30 minutes of sport three times a week compared to 20% of men. The data also revealed that 30% of women take part in sport once a week whilst 37% do sport once a month, many of whom would like to participate more but face real barriers in doing so. This is an example of how opportunity can lead to a realisation that it is possible to enjoy many sports, including the smaller sports discussed later on. Therefore this could mean that an important part of sport development is to ensure that opportunities are offered to everyone for them to want to participate. In the context of this study it is important to understand what opportunities niche sports present to the general public to encourage them to participate in sport.

Brudzynski & Ebben, (2010) conducted research into body image as a motivator and barrier to exercise participation. Their research led them to discover that body image was a significant factor in determining the amount exercised for a majority of participants (58.3%), as well as the location of exercise for some (22.4%). Their research emphasised the fact that body image can either motivate people to participate ‘The relationship of body image and exercise participation is manifested in the fact that related issues such as weight management, appearance, and body dissatisfaction have all ranked consistently high as motivators to exercise participation’ (Brudzynski & ebben, 2010 pg 1). Or it can hinder their willingness to participate; ‘Individuals with high levels of social physique anxiety including those

who perceive themselves as overweight, are less likely to place themselves in situations where their bodies may be evaluated negatively’ (Brudzynski & ebben, 2010 pg 1).

Bracewell and Hall (1983) believe that children’s experiences in school influence how they participated after finishing school. Their research led them to believe that school is an important influence upon the development of recreational interest and post school participation. This would mean if the government want to see many adults enjoying sport they need to ensure children are having positive experiences in school. Bocarro et al (2008) also showed interest in examining the role of school- based extracurricular initiatives in facilitating immediate and long-term positive impact on physical activity, healthy behaviour, and obesity in children. Research has shown that well-designed school-based physical activity programs can have a significant impact on the physical activity levels of young people (USDHHS, 1997), although this research may be accurate it still doesn’t support niche sports such as squash which isn’t played in many schools across Britain, this links back to the problem with the initiative for the Olympic legacy carrying on in school competitors. Participation levels in squash could see a huge rise if it was involved in any school sport programme. Hoffman et al (2005) believes recreational sport participation among middle-school students suggests a positive correlation between regular sport participation and increased physical activity. If this is seen to be correct middle school students being introduced to squash could lead to regular participation and maybe lifelong involvement.

Cerin et al (2010) conducted research into perceived barriers to participation and considered them in the context of personal factors, social factors and environmental factors. Some participants considered lack of social support being a barrier, they believed that factors such as neighbourhood safety and access to facilities affected their ability and willingness to participate. Caperchoine et al (2009) conducted research to attempt to identify what barriers and challenges women may face. They discovered a perceived lack of time due to family and work responsibilities was a major psychological barrier to engaging in physical activity. They also discovered sociocultural factors such as finding affordable facilities and trained employees to look after their children whilst exercising.

Allender et al (2006) conducted Qualitative research to provide an answer as to why adults and children do or do not participate in sport and physical activity. Their findings showed people recognized that there was health benefits associated with physical activity, but this was not the main reason for participation. Other factors such as weight management, enjoyment, social interaction and support were more common reasons for people being physically active. They found young children were having a more enjoyable experience when they weren’t being forced to compete and win, but encouraged to experiment with different activities. Macphail et al (2003) supported these findings and found providing children with many different types of physical activity and sport-encouraged participation. Maihan et al. (2006) research discovered that both boys and girls agreed that boys can be a barrier to participation as boys don’t encourage the girls to participation in any kind of recreational activity or sport. A key theme was identified in three different pieces of research, Sleap and Wormald (2001); Grieser et al. (2006); Maihan et al. (2006) all found that girls were self-conscious about their own ability which effected the time they spent participating.

These factors discussed may influence peoples’ participation in sporting activities and niche sports will be affected by similar factors. Due to the smaller amount of resources generally available for niches sports it may be difficult for them to change and adapt to overcome difficulties related to participation and this is perhaps why some sports for example, squash, suffer when participation rates fall. However, there are clear examples of opportunities for participation provided by niche sports that address some of these issues and provide successful and sustainable opportunities for people to engage with the sport. The case study of this research project (Newport Squash Club) is one such example.

2.5 Comparison of Niche Sports

Comparisons with other niche sports can help to understand the pressures faced by squash in providing successful and sustainable opportunities for participation. It is fair to say smaller sports such as badminton and squash don’t gain the media attention as other sports, this automatically means the smaller sports are faced with fierce competition that benefit from media coverage. Milne et al (1996) completed

research on a Niche-Based evaluation of sport participation patterns he aimed to discover the advantages of viewing competition from an ecological niche perspective. In his findings Hawley (1968) explained how ecological science is concerned with how populations of organisms interact with each other through niches and adapt to their environments. This metaphor is then applied the context of sport development. The interaction over resources results in levels of competition and cooperation, which can hinder or help the growth and survival of each sport within a population. This refers back to the problem of media coverage because without that much of the popular won’t interact with the smaller sports.

Nichols & James (2008) expressed their concern with the government’s policy to promote sports participation in sports club who use more formal management practices and the possibility of the government ignoring the contribution of smaller clubs and their distinctive culture. It is evident that NSRC are an example of just this type of club and may be in danger of being ignored by government initiatives to promote sport across the country. Nichols & James (2008) use netball as their example, they believe netball as a sport isn’t given the help it deserves from the government even though ‘the sport ranked 13th in popularity by participation in clubs’ (Nichols & James 2008, pg 1). Netball can be classed as a smaller sport but is played in every school in Britain and the sport is involved in the national curriculum whereas squash is rarely played at all in schools. The literature clearly indicates that children are influenced by what they have learnt in school in respect of their participation in sport. Squash and smaller sports that aren’t taught to children in school suffer because for some young people, physical education remains their only structured or organised, regular physical activity. It is therefore crucial that pupils receive their entitlement of at least 2 hours of physical education a week and that this is of the highest quality (Association for physical activity, 2008).

This outline literature review has added to the realisation that smaller sports such as squash have many barriers to overcome in order to gain participants and therefore become a popular and successful sport. There are successful examples of this however, and the subject of this research project case study (Newport Squash Rackets club) is one such organisation. The proposed research project will examine NSRC in detail and consider the sport development policies and systems in place to

ascertain how the club has achieved its success and whether the success is sustainable in the medium to long-term future. This led to the motivation and rational of conducting research into Newport squash rackets club and Squash Wales to discover what they are doing in order to reduce any barriers and difficulties they may face. The link between the two is that Squash Wales acts as the national governing body for squash that over sea and feed through aims, objectives and support to all clubs in wales , Newport Squash Club being one these.

Chapter 3 Methodology

3.0 Method 3.1 General Design This methodology has been designed to extract data from different stakeholder perspectives concerning the sport development principles that are applied in a case study organisation. As explained in the introduction this investigation focuses on three areas of the community, these being; the national governing body of Wales Squash and Racketball, Alway Community Centre and Newport Squash Rackets Club. The methodology builds on the information presented in the literature review to identify key individuals who have a stake in the case study organisation’s future. Subsequently the study used a series of semi-structured interviews with these individual stakeholders to identify and explore key themes related to the research project. These key themes then became the structure for the results and discussion. In this chapter of the dissertation the methods used in the research will be detailed and justified and the limitations of the research project will be discussed.

3.2 Research Approach Given the nature of this research a qualitative design was considered more appropriate rather than selecting the opposite approach being the quantitative design which involves the use of numbers, emotions and experiences (Berg and Latin, 2008; Gratton and Jones, 2010). An interview based experiment is very much a qualitative method which involves investigating phenomena and answering questions, rather than collecting numerical data. Sofaer (1999) conducted research into what exactly qualitative research was and why it should be used. She concluded that ‘Qualitative research methods are valuable in providing rich descriptions of complex phenomena, tracking unique or unexpected events and giving voice to those whose views are rarely heard to conduct initial explorations to develop theories and to generate and even test hypotheses (Sofaer, 1999). This relates directly back to this experiment as the purpose is to develop a theory in exactly what the barriers are in niche sports.

Interviews were the main source of information throughout the investigation as it allows for better scope of understanding. Questions were planned before meaning it was a semi structured approached but questions were altered or new questions

asked when and if appropriate. The structured stayed the same for all participants but some questions were altered to make it specific to their organisation, whether it was WSRB, NSRC or the sport development industry.

3.3 Participants Sampling is a process for selecting respondents from a population (Multiple-indicator survey handbook, 2008) In this case a small sample of 4 participants were gathered from the organisation of Newport Squash rackets club, the governing body of wales squash and racketball and a sport development officer from the local community of Alway Newport. All participants have a large amount of knowledge about all organisations, what current situation the organisation is in and what policies they have in place to encourage participation, therefore the selection was organised rather than random to ensure the correct information was gathered and that it was reliable and valid to this experiment. All participants must be willing to share the information they process. As this experiment is based upon barriers to participation it is important to know how national governing bodies support and fund local clubs, therefore interviews will be conducted with people who are in both organisations. Therefore the technique used during selecting the participants was ‘opportunity sampling’. Mason (2002) describes the technique as taking the sample from people who are available at the time the study is carried out and fit the criteria you are looking for. This is of relevance to this investigation as the sample selected consisted of participants who were firstly available to take part and secondly who had knowledge of the subject area and therefore fitted the criteria. Although opportunity sampling allows investigators to collect a large amount of data in a relatively short time period it is difficult to measure the reliability, it becomes difficult to access to how representative the sample is of the population being studied (eHow, 2012) Participants will consist of Newport squash clubs head coach who is also one of squash wales’ national performance coaches, Squash Wales’ director and development and talent ID officer, lastly a senior player in the welsh squad who is involved in sports development in Newport. All participants are adults who have worked within the organisation or been a member of for many years. 2 of the 4 participants were male; the talent ID officer from squash wales and the sports development officer selected were female.

3.4 Instruments For the purpose of this experiment firstly interviews were used to determine the knowledge and opinions of the participants. It is said that Interviews are one of the strongest forms of data collection in qualitative research (Patton, 2002, Gratton and Jones, 2010). Open questions were used to ensure participants could explain in detail what they knew, and also so they had the chance to give their own personal opinion on the successes or failures of the organisation. The interview was semi structured defined as an interviewee with the purpose of obtaining descriptions of the life world of the interviewee with respect to interpreting the meaning of the described phenomena (Kvale, 2007). Questions were identified and written beforehand but questions were adapted during the interview with accordance of what was being said or discussed. Denscombe (2007) believes that semi structured interviews allow for more scope allowing a greater amount of information to be collected. The interview was set in key themes each theme having relevant sub questions. This meant the interview was a thematic approach meaning the researcher had a number of topics, themes or issues they wished to discuss (Mason, 2002). An example of a key theme and relevant question are; Personal experience: ‘In your own experience what are the most common reasons as to why people don’t participate in squash?’. Secondary data was also used in this experiment to determine the number of current members and participants all organisations currently had.

3.5 Reliability and Validity Reliability refers to the stability of findings (Whittemore et al, 2001) and also refers to the ability of another researcher to obtain similar information obtained by the main researcher (Gratton and Jones, 2010). This meant that if another investigator desired to conduct a similar investigation into Squash Clubs around Wales for example their findings would be similar to that presented in this investigation. The use of semi structured interviews allowed for reliability as it allowed the interviewer to ask the same or very similar questions to each of the four interviews. This also made the data analysis easier as similar opinions became evident. During the interviews reliability was obtained by firstly ensuring all participants understood their role and the procedure of the interview, recording the interviews using voice memos and

lastly ensuring the interview took place in a private area with only the interviewer and interviewee present.

According to Altheide & Johnson (1994) validity represents the truthfulness of findings. It ensures that the information obtained is that of relevance and is valid to the research question being asked. In order to have gained validity in this research the first interview in particular became a trial run to ensure the questions being asked were valid and the answers given were information that aided to the learning in order to answer the initial research question. Also prior to the interview the interview guide was sent to participants to ensure they could plan their answers and a brief discussion took place beforehand to confirm what they were about to discuss was that of relevance in order to address the research question. The main challenge to ensure validity was whether or not the participants felt able to present their opinions honestly without any repercussions. This was counteracted by ensuring interviews were conducted in a private area where only the interviewer and interviewee were present, also participants names remained confidential and were represented by a letter during the results and discussion section. Lastly all participants were reminded that their opinions were only to be used for this investigation and were confidential to this investigation only.

3.6 Procedure Data was collected during the period of October- December 2012. These dates were chosen because this was when members renew or start their membership for a year. It made it easier to see how many new members the organisation had and how they encouraged these people to join. The chosen participants were contacted by phone or email to ensure they were willing to participate and if they had the time to be part of such an investigation, after they had agreed they were given an information sheet to ensure they understood what the experiment entailed and a consent form was signed to ensure permission was given to use them in this given experiment. After consent was given and the interview guide had been written up an email was sent to the four participants with the interview guide attached a week prior to their interview to ensure they could plan their answers allowing for a more accurate and reliable interview, and also to ensure they had time to make contact if they were unsure of

any of the questions used during the interview. The interviews took place immediately when this procedure had been completed to ensure the data was collected early in order to start the analysis. It was important to ensure all participants knew they had the right to drop out of the interview at any point even after consent was given. The interviews were recorded using voice memos on the iPhone to allow the interview to be reviewed at any given point in the future.

3.7 Data Analysis The qualitative data collected from the interviews was collated and then compared to one another. This took place once the interviews had been Tran scripted. This made the findings more reliable and accurate if two or more participants agreed on the same policy. Coding was used during the Tran scripting of the interviews to ensure all participants had confidentiality to ensure they feel comfortable when giving their opinions. From making a comparison it become evident what policies squash wales were implementing to help and aid the success in smaller communities such as Newport Squash Club and the community of Alway in Newport, it also highlighted if Squash Wales policies were actually used in practice or were simply just a requirement that isn’t met in local squash clubs. Key themes were identified to see if participant’s opinions on the barriers conflict or meet. Post interviews the themes became evident if they were mentioned by two or more of the participants. Some of the barriers met with the hypothesis given post interview others became a new realisation and which weren’t mentioned in the hypothesis. These themes were then discussed in detail discussing how the barrier affects participation in squash, When possible journal articles and theories were used to back up or criticise the point given by the four participants, this allowed for a critical evaluation.

Chapter 4

Results and Discussion

4.0 Results and discussion

After interviewing the four participants many barriers became apparent, some of which were common, and others depending upon position and opinions associated with the sport. These barriers were discussed further with participants to gather an understanding on what the national governing body (NGB) of wales squash and Racketball, and organisations of Newport squash rackets and Newport city council were doing and implementing in order to tackle these barriers and still encourage people of all ages, gender and ability to participate in sport, particularly in squash. These barriers, initiatives and policies will be discussed later on within the findings. Throughout the discussion there will be reference to existing research associated with barriers and participation and also reference to sport policy documents in order to understand whether or not Organisations associated with squash work accordingly with what the government aim to achieve from the sporting environment. The data collected was analysed using a thematic approach as described in the methodology section. This was a multi-step process and the output of this can be seen in the appendices at the rear of this dissertation along with the transcripts of the interviews undertaken in the date collection stage of the investigation. In the table shown below the results of the thematic analysis are presented. The discussion of these results will use the theme titles as a structure and refer to the typical comments listed in the table and also to further comments of interviewees sourced from the transcripts presented in the appendices. The themes that have emerged will be discussed in the light of the theory presented in the literature review in order to identify areas of congruence and dissonance.

Table 1. Table of results (common themes)

Theme Description Concluding quote

1. Participation being the  All four interviewees ‘To increase main aim of the stated their main aim participation is essential organisation. being to increase because the statistics participation rather than show there’s only 2% of making a profit. people who actually  Measurement of stay’. (Respondent A) success came from membership figures. ‘Yes massive, absolutely it doesn’t get any bigger really. Participation is

what it’s all about’. (Respondent C)

2. The Olympics having  Not being part of the ‘Not being in the an effect on Olympic movement was Olympics doesn’t help. participation. a huge barrier faced by TV profile doesn’t help, the squash community. if we were in the  All interviewees felt that Olympics and squash the sport would greatly was on the TV every benefit from the extra day our membership funding and coverage would be fantastic’. that occur due to the (Respondent C) sport competing in the Olympics. ‘Olympic sports get more money so we would get more as a governing body which would solve a lot of our problems’. (Respondent A) 3. Cost and finance.  Although this barrier ‘Play quite a large fee may be experienced by for an hour’s court in a many other sporting public leisure centre’. communities it seemed (Respondent B) to be more dramatic for squash due to the fact it is a facility based sport and can’t be played elsewhere to cut costs.

4. Accessibility of the  Requires specific ‘I think accessibility, due sport. equipment and facility in to the nation of the sport order for it to be played. it can’t be played  Interviewees discussed anywhere’. that even though they (Respondent B) were able to take ‘mini squash’ into school it ‘Facility based sport that didn’t provide a true doesn’t help us, can’t experience of the sport pick up a squash court therefore wasn’t always and take it to a school effective. we are in buildings and we totally rely on leisure centres for 9/10s of

that’. (Respondent C)

5. Infrastructure of the  Interviewees felt that ‘We have a capital sport. capital investment was problem at the moment lacking which meant in that many clubs are money couldn’t be spent tired because they were on improving facilities built many years ago’. and the overall look of (Respondent A) squash clubs.  Due to a lot of squash ‘Main barrier is the clubs now being infrastructure, not fit for situated in leisure centre purpose. Plus its 35 this meant the years old, its four courts infrastructure was poor, it’s a basic club. There with a lack of coaching has been no investment support and internal either from the club or leagues in order to allow the governing body or for competitive matches. from the council or the local government to update the facilities’. (Respondent D)

6. Other Barriers found.  Squash isn’t played in ‘Another barrier is school. If families can’t schools, it’s a massive afford to send their barrier for us, if you’re in children to outside clubs school you automatically for coaching they can have a PE teacher to take advantage of after play football, hockey, school clubs where cricket , rugby but we children can learn the don’t have squash, and basic skills and it’s a massive barrier for techniques needed to us’. play football, netball, (Respondent C) hockey, rugby etc.  Lack of interest due to ‘our main barrier lack of advertisement. probably is advertising, People passing through so our lack of interest or parks and playing field lack of particularly in this are a subject to area, being a community advertisement of the first area means there’s sports played, squash a lot of deprivation a lot doesn’t benefit from of people don’t have the this. internet’.

(Respondent B)

7. Policies and initiatives  Squash wales run ‘Mini squash programme to tackle the barriers. school festivals to into schools, we see encourage school about 7,500 children children to participate, annually, and out of that they also run a mini 2% come into our squash scheme. They programme’. also ensure all squash (Respondent C) clubs have a community chest and help them ‘Ensure that every club towards gaining other has a community chest sources of funding from but there are other grants available. revenues of funding’.  Local authorities ensure (Respondent A) that there are equal opportunities so no ‘We have 3 junior discrimination against squash sessions a anyone relating to their week, we have an adult age, disability, race, programme, we have sexuality or religion. It open days, we have an was discovered that active website, we have there is no link between 10 active teams, and we the local authority of participate in all squash Alway and squash wales events’. wales to create squash (Respondent D) in the community.  Newport squash rackets club the coach met with a sport development officer to create a school scheme where 8 schools in Newport took part in squash coaching once a week for 5 weeks. Newport also engages in open days to welcome possible new members in, they also have an active website which can be accessed by anyone.

4.1 The main aim of organisations

Firstly it was important to identify what the main aim of the NGB and Newport squash rackets club was in order to understand further the barriers they may face. Encouragingly all organisations interviewed claimed that increasing participation was their main aim and was at the fore front of their organisation. The overall opinion on whether or not participation is important was:

‘To increase participation is essential because the statistics show there’s only 2% of people who actually stay’. (Respondent A)

‘Yes massive, absolutely it doesn’t get any bigger really. Participation is what it’s all about’ (Respondent C)

From these responses it became apparent that success amongst the organisation was measured by the numbers of participants and not merely the amount of money made. Even though participation is essential for sports to grow it also became apparent that without financial support it is extremely difficult to grow as a sport. Even though respondent D agreed that increasing participation was of a great importance they also understood the importance of being financially stable in order to survive, when asked if the organisation aimed to increase profit or increase participation they responded:

‘I think they both go hand in hand in our organisation, to continue we need to increase the player pool’ (respondent D).

This led onto the understanding of funding and cost being a possible barrier hindering low profile sports such as squash to grow and gain members. The government’s views with regards to participation are forever changing. For example in 2002 the ‘Game Plan’ policy was written with its underpinning tackling social exclusion and encouraging participation (DCMS, 2002). Later in 2008 the ‘Playing To Win’ sport policy document was written which moved its emphasis away from participation and instead moved toward excellence and elite (DCMS, 2008). This change of emphasis seems to have had little impact on the NBG and Newport squash rackets club as they keep participation as their main aim regardless of what the government is focusing on. This may be the case for NSRC due to the fact they are a members owned club and the committee make the decisions rather than the

local authority or government. This is promising for NSRC as they can make plans for the future without the external environment being the government disturbing them. The changing emphasis by the government may have more impact on clubs that operate inside leisure centres as they are controlled by local authorities.

4.2 The Olympics having an impact on participation

A well discussed subject amongst the squash community is whether or not squash being in the Olympics will drastically increase the number of participants. A key feature of London’s bid and subsequent planning for the Games was a commitment to “inspire a generation” and create a sporting legacy. Kolt (2008) critically evaluated the effect the Olympics have on sport in general. He discussed the possibility that elite sport can feed down and help smaller sports and non-elite athletes claiming that perhaps the technological and physical developments which are researched and developed for elite sports performance are also helpful for the lower level athlete or those participating for other purposes (Kolt, 2008). Meaning that the research completed for sports and athletes competing at the Olympic Games can be used and adapted for smaller sports, increasing the sports technology and equipment.

Not only do Olympic sports reap the benefits of extra funding and media attention they also greatly benefit from the state of the art facilities built. The squash community would greatly benefit from a new squash centre being built to attract new participants. Respondent D feels many squash clubs are old and are ‘unfit for purpose’ stating that:

‘Main barrier is the infrastructure, not fit for purpose’ (Respondent D).

Respondent D feels this may be the main reason as to why people aren’t attracted to play squash as the many few squash clubs left aren’t visually attractive and therefore welcoming. Therefore if squash was part of the Olympic Games 2012 in London it would have greatly benefitted from new facilities that would have improved the infrastructure and would have definitely been fit for purpose.

It was interesting to find that all four of the interviewees discussed the Olympics in a positive way. All four participants felt that the Olympics games would increase

participation due to increase knowledge of the sport from extra TV coverage, and the increased funding it would receive if it was known as an Olympic sport. This would help the grass roots level end of the continuum but it can also be argued that it would also increase participation at the elite end if professional players prolonged their playing careers in order to compete at the Olympics games, making professional tournaments bigger and more competitive. Respondent A discussed how funding for the sport was a major problem as it hindered how well they were able to implement policies and develop players but they stated that:

‘Olympic sports get more money so we would get more as a governing body which would solve a lot of our problems’ (Respondent A)

Therefore it could be argued that this extra funding could lead to increased participation as the NGB would be able to spend more money on resources and equipment to encourage new participants. Squash clubs such as NSRC could greatly benefit from extra funding, using the money to tackle the barriers already in place, such as lowering cost for members, and improving the infrastructure of the club, this could possibly lead to an increase in the membership figures. But on the other hand extra funding could be spent on developing the elite athletes to reach top 20 in the world rather than increasing their player pool.

A common barrier associated with squash is the lack of media attention, it very rarely benefits from being shown on TV practically at peak times. Respondent B acknowledges the fact that squash is part of the commonwealth games and therefore is shown on TV at this time stating that:

‘it is in the commonwealth but not in the Olympics so it doesn’t get that sort of media attention’ (Respondent B).

The fact that squash is in the commonwealth games allows people to watch elite athletes perform, increasing their awareness of the sport. Squash not being in the Olympics means yet another missed opportunity for people to see squash being played on the biggest stage of the sporting world. Barriers discussed later on in the findings include ‘people not being aware of the sport’; the number of people unaware of the sport could possibly become decreased if players performed on TV at the Olympic Games.

Respondent C was extremely confident that if squash was in the Olympics it would lead to increased participation, stating that:

‘TV profile doesn’t help, if we were in the Olympics and squash was on the TV every day our membership would be fantastic’ (Respondent C)

Kolt (2008) discusses the ‘extensive television coverage’ as being a massive positive affect of the Olympic Games that leads to a surge in sport post-Olympic games, therefore adding to Respondent C’s opinion. Kolt (2008) believes this increased participation is viewed as a result of younger children wanting to emulate the performances they have seen on television. This links back to respondents A, B and C opinions that increased media attention would help the sport beyond recognition. This led to the reality that ‘lack of media attention’ was a barrier agreed by all participants which could be resolved by squash being added to the other 26 sports already competing at the Olympics.

4.3 Cost being a barrier

A common barrier found when analysing the results was the cost of playing the sport. It has become a sad reality in many leisure centres in Wales that squash courts are being used for other activities such as spinning that attract more people and thus make more money for the leisure centre. Although there is no membership fee at leisure centres the court price can range from £5-£9 for a 45 minute slot and with many more people having less deposable income due to the recent recession people can’t afford this type of cost. Respondent B recognises this initial cost as being a huge barrier to people wanting to play a recreational game of squash, discussing:

‘Either you pay a large fee to be part of a club which might include a swimming pool or those benefits, or play quite a large fee for an hour’s court in a public leisure centre’. (Respondent B)

NSRC are an example of a club constantly battling against the cost of maintaining the club, which involves running the bar, maintaining the look of changing rooms and of course the up keep of the courts. In recent committee meetings it was decided

that court price would increase to £5 for 45 minutes rather than £4 in order to create revenue for the club. For some members this cost has become more of a barrier due to the fact they feel they can’t afford the added cost, or simply don’t see it being cost effective. Although it is hard to evaluate due to it being so recent this price increase could possibly lose the club members and consequently money.

This highlights the fact that a game of squash has a large initial cost whether it is a membership at a private club or a one off cost before each game of squash. Steenhuis et al (2009) conducted a study investigating the importance of economic restraints for taking part in sport activities as well as perceptions of low income people toward different pricing interventions. Their results found that respondents considered finance to be an important barrier for participating in sport activities, together with some individual barriers. This showed the importance of using pricing strategies as a promising intervention to increase physical activity particularly for people with low income, with has become more apparent during this economic recession. This study backs up and supports the reasoning behind all interviewees expressing finance and cost as a main barrier.

The fact that many squash courts are now situated in leisure centres with a ratio of 18:89 squash clubs to leisure centres this makes a tough task for the national governing body to monitor the usage figures and create a number of how many people participate in squash, also they have very little control of the price of the court as they are owed by the local authority. Respondent C recognises this problem stating that:

‘For us a barrier is that there’s more leisure centres there not enough squash clubs, the sport is not rich enough’ (Respondent C).

If there were more squash clubs WSRB would be able to access the members playing squash and may also have some control on the cost of the court and membership. It would also help WSRB implement their strategies and coaching schemes in local clubs as they would have specialised and qualified coaches working in the squash clubs. Not being able to access these recreational players’ causes WSRB problems as they can’t use them in their membership count. Respondent C discusses how frustrating this can become, stating that:

‘There’s probably 50,000 of them out there in leisure centres all over wales, what is frustrating is that I can’t access those people, I’ve never been able to do it the 15 years I’ve been in post’. (Respondent C)

If the national governing body could say they had 50,000 members rather than the small number they do have squash may no longer be known as a ‘smaller’ sport.

4.4 Accessibility of squash

A barrier that became evident post interviews was accessibility. Interviewees described this as a barrier to participation due to the fact that it is a facility based sport and therefore has to be played in a structured and organised environment with specialised courts and equipment. Respondent C recognises this being a problem stating that:

‘Facility based sport that doesn’t help us, can’t pick up a squash court and take it to a school’ (Respondent C).

For clubs such as NSRC this is an obvious barrier as it limits the number of people aware of the sport due to the lack of advertisement, but on the other hand due to the nature of the sport and as mentioned previously it has to be played in a control environment NSRC fits this description perfectly. Although accessibility is an initial barrier faced by the sport, participants who still have the desire to play squash will search for a location to play at. Due to the advantages of being a member at a squash club opposed to a leisure centre these people may choose to become a member at NSRC.

Recapping on the literature, research has suggested that if people are given the opportunity to participate they will, therefore if squash was accessible to everyone in every community people will have to opportunity to participate and therefore may participate long term and increase the number of squash participants.

Sports such as football and rugby may be forever growing due to the fact that it is accessible to everyone and can be played in parks and on the streets without having to pay to used specialised facilities. Respondent B recognised this as being a problem stating that:

‘I think accessibility, due to the nation of the sport it can’t be played anywhere’ (Respondent B)

Due to the nation of the sport squash cant benefit from certain scheme that aim to increase participation such as ‘street games’ which brings sport to the door of young people in disadvantaged communities across the UK. When this charity was discussed with the national governing body it became obvious that this was frustrating for the sport that it couldn’t benefit from the help that these charities bring. Respondent C stating that:

‘I know this is challenging sport, challenging communities and challenging life’s, but I guess it comes back to the barrier for us being a facility based sport we can’t just take it to the streets’. (Respondent C)

Cerin et al (2010) also conducted research into perceived barriers to participation and found some participants considered lack of social support being a barrier; they believed that factors such as neighbourhood safety and access to facilities affected their ability and willingness to participate. This literature reinforces the opinions given by the interviewees that because squash isn’t easily accessible this may act as a catalyst as to why people are unwilling to participate.

4.5 The infrastructure

Wicker et al (2009) seen the importance of improved infrastructure for promoting sport for all age specific target groups. In the journal of ‘promoting sport for all age specific target groups: The impact of sport infrastructure’ on sport participation had been analysed. The results found that the availability of sport infrastructure, regardless of other economic condition or social barriers, influences patterns of sport activity significantly. This research agrees with respondent D’s strong and passionate opinion that participation rates lie within the quality of infrastructure. Respondent D very much felt that poor infrastructure of squash clubs in wales such as NSRC is the main barrier to participation. This argument centred upon NSRC was that:

‘Our club is old, tired and it’s not a place people want to come. Unless the club is brought up to scratch and it’s a place people want to come and a clean and nice environment the membership is just going to decline because people don’t want to be in organisations that look like they are dead and dying’. (Respondent D).

Respondent D argues that if money is spent on infrastructure at NSRC, improving the facilities and courts but also the overall look of the squash club then membership figures will improve due to it being an attractive and busy place for people to be a part of. For some local authorities and countries mass participation is focused around infrastructure, with research leading to the realisation that German public authorities invests around £3 billion a year in sport facilities (Wicker et al, 2009). Wicker (2011) also conducted research in analysing the impact of sport infrastructure on sport participation using geo coded data, amongst its findings it mentioned that policies in several countries such as the UK, Australia and China aim at increasing mass participation in sport and sport population at a club level. Within in these policies, the importance of sport infrastructure (the sporting facilities) for sport participation has been stressed. NSRC is a prime example of an organisation that would greatly benefit from increased participation at club level, but respondent D feels as though the club have had little help on improving the infrastructure to see the benefits through increased membership.

Research led to the realisation that despite of other constraints and barriers faced by people wanting to participate in sport, such as the barriers discussed through this section sporting facilities, or in fact lack of sporting facilities can be at the forefront of the main barrier to participation, completely agreeing with Respondent D. Norman et al (2006) concluded that similar to the concept of constraints, a lack of adequate sport infrastructure can also represent a restriction to sport participation.

4.6 Other barriers

Other relevant barriers were identified during the interview process. Although these weren’t common and therefore couldn’t be categorised into a sub heading they were still of relevance and valid to the investigation adding to the discovery of what the

barriers are to participation. One barrier discussed linked back to the problem of accessibility that squash can’t easily be adapted into the school environment and therefore may be one of the reasons why it isn’t involved in the national curriculum. Respondent C felt this was an important barrier to consider stating that:

‘Another barrier is schools, it’s a massive barrier for us, if you’re in school you automatically have a PE teacher to play football, hockey, cricket , rugby but we don’t have squash, and it’s a massive barrier for us’ (Respondent C).

Much research suggests that children’s experiences of sport during school time affects their sporting choices after school (Bracewell & Hall, 1983). Therefore with squash not being available in schools it is unlikely children will choose this sport to compete in. The main aim of schemes such as dragon sport is to encourage participation but to also create exit routes into local clubs and national governing bodies. The School Sport Partnership Programme (SSPP) aims to make links between school physical education and out of school sports participation. National evaluations of the SSPP show that it is beginning to have positive impacts on young people’s activity levels by increasing the range and provision of extracurricular activities (Flintoff, 2008). Even though this research shows that this is having positive impacts it has little or no affect for sports such as squash that aren’t involved in the national curriculum.

At present NSRC have to implement their own initiative if they desire to have school children participating in school activities at the club. In order to do this they have to devise a plan with the local authority in order to contact schools. Once the schools are on board four full times coaches have to be appointed to coach the five week scheme, for Newport Squash Rackets club this has become extremely costly, one for having to pay coaches and two the cost of lighting the courts. Due to the small figure cumulated from the interviews of just ‘2%’ that stay participating in squash at Newport it is difficult for NSRC to decide whether or not this scheme is cost effective and beneficial for the club in the long term.

Another barrier discussed was the lack of advertisement for squash. Sports such as football and rugby are recognised without effort. For example people are made aware of the sport by simply walking through a park and seeing it being played. Squash doesn’t have this luxury, people need to make an effort to watch squash, for

example attend a local squash club or leisure centre to watch it. Due to the fact that it isn’t broadcasted on TV people are made to pay a subscription to sites such as ‘Squash TV’ if they desire to watch live or previous events.

4.7 Wales Squash and Racketball initiatives to increase participation

From the interviews it became evident that the national governing body’s main emphasis was centred on getting themselves into schools in order to promote the sport. One of their important target areas is young children and these are easily accessible when going into schools. Mini squash was used in schools which involves using an artificial squash wall of a smaller size to emulate the game of squash. The children were taught the basis of squash such as holding the racket, and the forehand and backhand swing. Initiatives such as ‘mini squash’ encourage participation as it allows children to become aware of the sport and learn the basic fundamentals; it also allows Wales Squash and Racketball to create exit routes for school children to attend coaching sessions at local squash clubs. After making contact with schools, it allows the national governing body to organise festivals to bring all of the schools together. Respondent A describes this process:

‘School festivals at the end of a batch of school programmes, say there 6 schools in the area at the end of that I organise with Llantrisant leisure centre that all schools come over for the day where they have a day’s playing’ (Respondent A).

Although mini squash is successful at getting children involved the draw backs are that it doesn’t emulate the game of squash completely, therefore if children were to attend a coaching session at a local club they wouldn’t be fully prepared. Also from the interviews it was noted that only 2% from the school programme will continue to engage in squash post school programme. Respondent A explains:

‘The statistics show there’s only 2% of people who actually stay’ (Respondent A).

Therefore it is questionable whether or not it is feasible for Wales Squash and Racketball to engage in such a programme, taking into consideration the cost and time of implementation.

Wales squash and Racketball also ensure all clubs have access to sources of funding through grants. They advise clubs what grants to apply for and what routes to take. They ensure that all clubs take advantage of the ‘community chest’ of £1,500 which every club is entitled too. Respondent A describes another source of funding:

‘There’s a development grant that goes up to £25,000 which you can apply for towards projects, as a national governing body I think we’ve applied for 5’ (Respondent A).

This indicates that the national governing body are actively seeking ways to accumulate money to spend on new projects, increasing participation or to spend on the infrastructure. This initiative of applying for grants is encouraging for increasing participation as it means Squash Wales and Squash clubs will have more disposable income to spend on improving facilities, advertising the coaching and products available. Also if squash clubs become richer this may mean costs to members will decrease, meaning the membership cost will be lower. This may encourage more people to become members if the initial cost of joining is low. The downside of this initiative is that it requires a person from the club to take interest and time in applying for these grants, if members of the committee don’t have the free time to communicate with local councils and authorities to advantage of such grants then the club may miss out. It requires dedication and commitment from the committee and members of the club.

4.8 Local Authority policies to increase participation

To understand the policies used within the local community to increase participation a sport development officer was interviewed. The local community are passionate on increasing participation and to ensure they are meaning targets they take registers before every session to ensure the targets are met, if sessions aren’t well attended they need to address why and how they can improve. Respondent B explains this process:

‘Each session we take a register and that’s how we manage performance across our activities and yeah it’s how we measure performance of that activity based on participation.’ (Respondent B)

Therefore it becomes clear that the number of participants is their key to success rather than money made or the performance of participants. In order to ensure they maximise potential and lower any barriers to ensure participation increases they incorporate policies that include equal opportunities meaning no discrimination against anyone relating to their age, disability, race, sexuality or religion. This may lead to increased participation due to the fact that the community will feel welcomed and free to participate without being discriminated, leading to increased confidence. Another policy that contributes to increased participation is the fact that employees in the sport development industry can work flexible or loan working hours that allows them to work after school for a long period of time rather than the normal 9 to 5 working hours. This in particular helps participation amongst younger children who are likely to be participating in physical activity 4pm onwards after school commitments. These flexible working hours allow sport development officers to run evening clubs as well as day time clubs, therefore leading to increased opportunity for children and adults to participate in physical activity.

An interesting fact drawn upon from the interviews was that at present Wales Squash and Racketball haven’t created a link with the local community centre situated in Always. Respondent B explains:

‘In terms of policies for squash as far as I’m aware there’s none what’s so ever involved in Newport city council, so in terms of that increasing participation in squash I’m not aware of it at all’ (Respondent B).

Even though WSRB implement policies to increase participation they have failed to look at the wider community to offer squash to the less privileged areas of the community. This has a negative knock on affect to the national governing bodies as they aren’t able to access people in the community meaning they are missing an opportunity to attract new members who could engage in lifelong participation.

4.9 Newport Squash Rackets Club policies to increase participation

Newport Squash Rackets club is a members only club, meaning in order to play squash or use the bar facilities a membership fee has to be paid. At present membership can cost between £150 for a full adult membership to £10 for a social member for a year. This refers directly back to previous research that indicates cost is a barrier apparent in the squash community; therefore Newport Squash Rackets club may struggle to gain new members due to the cost of membership. This leads on to why having effective initiatives in place to gain members and also retain current members is of such importance. Newport squash rackets club boast that they participate in the South Wales Premier and County Squash Leagues, fielding more teams than any other club in the country (Newport Squash Rackets club, 2012). In order to ensure members have the opportunity to compete and play at every level they run several internal leagues for juniors and adults, they also organise several annual internal competitions for individuals, including doubles and teams. In order to ensure the club had a structure in terms of organising internal leagues, and fielding teams to compete in the south wales premier and county squash leagues they appointed a full time professional coach. They were the first squash club in wales to take such a step. This encourages participation due to the service available. The coach is responsible for running the junior squash skills development programme as well as providing individual tuition.

As discussed earlier in the discussion a barrier faced by the squash community is the ‘lack of advertisement’ it receives, in order to overcome this barrier and to make people aware of the club and it services available they have an active website:

Figure 1. Home page of the Newport Squash Rackets club website

On the website there is information on the services available and how to become a member. Current members can also access the court booking system and book a court online. This encourages participation by advertising the club so people are aware of its presence; it also allows the club to broadcast its success to people allowing the club to create a good reputation for elite and beginner players to become a part of.

As discussed prior to this, Wales squash and Racketball encourage and help clubs to apply for grants to help improve the infrastructure of the club. Respondent D explains how Newport Squash club are trying to receive help through such grants:

‘We are going for a CAFAB grant which I believe is now going up from £350,000 to 1 million, so we are actively looking at that to cure and safeguard the future of our club’ (Respondent D).

It is unimaginable how being successful in gaining this grant would increase participation. Improved infrastructure would attract more members; the bar would become more welcoming to people of all ages including families increasing the revenue made. Improved court facilities would ensure elite players would continue to play at the club as facilities would be ‘fit for purpose’. This would also secure the future of elite adult and junior tournaments being ran at the club, again increasing knowledge of the club and the revenue.

Chapter 5

Conclusion

5.0 Conclusion

5.1 Concluding Remarks

All participants interviewed expressed that increased participation was the main aim of their organisations, therefore identifying barriers that hinder participation in squash became highly beneficial not only for the purpose of this investigation but also for their own knowledge on how to address barriers in the future with the policies they implement. It became evident that some barriers identified were true for many sports, such as cost of participation but others were more individual and unique to the squash community such as the barrier of being facility based and the infrastructure of many squash clubs including NSRC in Wales. The findings suggest that squash is becoming increasing unpopular with many squash courts now being accessible only at leisure centres, and for the few remaining Squash Clubs such as Newport Squash Rackets club it is a constant battle to obtain the infrastructure and attract new members. This highlighted again the importance of conducting this research to identify the barriers and to also answer and critically evaluate the initiatives used.

The clearest conclusion to draw from this investigation is that barriers such as cost, accessibility, infrastructure and squash being a non-Olympic sport were the factors affecting participation the greatest. Cost was highlighted a barrier by all participants but it became evident that this barrier is difficult to address due to the lack of control of the cost of courts in leisure centres, also linking with the barrier of infrastructure It becomes extremely difficult to improve the infrastructure without the revenue of courts and membership fees. As discussed during the findings NSRC are actively looking at ways to encourage participation but with the current economic environment the club profits are in decline meaning they have had to increase the court fees. Due to this being recently introduced it is not yet clear whether this added cost will lead an decrease in participation. With regards to squash being an facility based sport and not easily accessible this made it difficult for organisations to implement some strategies in place due to the fact it’s a case of bringing people to the squash court rather than taking the squash court to them. Initiatives were highlighted throughout the interviews from the ‘mini squash’ programme to take a version of squash into schools to increase participation amongst children. Advice and support with regards to applying for grants which consequently can be spent on

addressing the barriers highlighted, internal leagues in Newport Squash Clubs with 8 teams competing in the wales leagues constructed by the national governing body to the use of an active website to make people aware of services available possibly reducing another barrier discussed of lack of advertisement.

5.2 Strengths

Using semi structured interviews with open questions allowed for an in-depth evaluation and allowed participants to express their opinions which were constructed from their large amount of experience. Due to using opportunity sampling it meant all participants were valid to the investigation making their findings reliable and important to the investigation. Secondly the research is new and inclusive to squash, at present research centred on squash and its barrier are extremely limited therefore this investigation allows an opening for new research.

5.3 Limitations

The largest limitation to this investigation is regards to the data collection phase, although the participants selected were of great help and relevance interviewing more participants within the community such as Squash Club members, junior elite and beginner squash people would have allowed for a greater critical evaluation to understand whether or not initiatives introduced help all areas of the community and how these initiatives help participants individually. Another limitation was that due to the nature of the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee the interviewees may have been apprehensive to give their full opinion.

5.4 Recommendations

There are a few recommendations that would aid future research and learning. A recommendation would be to firstly use a larger sample in order to collect more data through the use of interviews. Using a larger sample would make the findings more accurate due to the common themes being agreed or criticized by more participants.

Secondly asking different people within the community, in this investigation only the elite end of the continuum were interviewed, for example they were all elite players, or high up in their position within the organisation, it would have been useful to also interview the beginner end of the continuum to see if barriers and opinions differed. Lastly to contribute to the findings already identified from this investigation, future research could be centred on whether or not the initiatives discussed are successful and whether or not they have led to an increased participation in squash. Although this research has identified barriers and initiatives it hasn’t evaluated the impact the initiatives have had.

Chapter 6 References

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Appendices

Appendix A

Interview Guide

1. Hello, Firstly thank you for coming today. As you know I am Abby Hicks and I am currently in my 3rd year in Cardiff metropolitan university. As part of my sport development degree I am to conduct research into a chosen field which will make up my dissertation. As I am on the sport development degree I chose to make this my discipline and as I have a large interest in Newport squash club and squash wales I found it interesting and beneficial to centre my research around the barriers Newport squash club may face and how Squash Wales devise strategies to tackle these issues. The title of my dissertation is: How do sports and national governing bodies operating in the niche market such as squash reduce barriers to maintain success? Case study into Newport squash rackets club and Squash Wales.

2. Firstly do you understand the purpose of my investigation and understand the role you have in this interview?

3. Do you have any apprehensions or worries about what I am about to discuss with you?

4. In simple terms from this interview I would like to understand what you feel the barriers are firstly in your organisation and secondly in your personal experience and if you benefit from any extra help from either the national governing body or government schemes, is that ok?

5. Just to inform you, you have no obligation to complete this interview. If you feel uncomfortable at any point you are entitled to leave the interview without presenting a reason.

Ok so if everything is ok I will commence with my questions:

6. Firstly what position do you have in the organisation?

7. What are your roles and responsibilities within this organisation?

8. Does your position give you much authority to implement change?

9. How important is it to you and your organisation that you increase participation? (Is this one of your main objectives? If not what is?)

10. What policies if any does your organisation have in place to increase participation?

11. What are the main issue/barriers your organisation face in relationship to gaining new members?

12. In your own experience what are the most common reasons as to why people don’t participate in squash?

13. What does your organisation implement to reduce these barriers?

14. From your own experience what are the barriers you have faced when wanting to participate in squash?

15. Do you as an individual benefit from any help from the national governing body? OR when speaking with NGB members:

Has squash wales benefited from any help from the government /funding schemes?

16. Has your organisation benefited from any help from the national governing body?

17. Are you aware of any strategies/ initiatives squash wales have in place to help your local squash club?

How do you inform local clubs of the strategies you have in place?

18. Do you feel your organisation have benefitted from these strategies that you are aware of?

As a national governing body do you accumulate usage figures from all junior sections in wales? (If so, what do the figures represent)

If not is this something you’d be interested in doing?

Thank you for agreeing to participate in my investigation, I look forward to analysing this data in my discussion and conclusion.

Appendix B

Email sent to participant

Appendix C

Consent Form

Cardiff metropolitan university Informed consent form

CSS Reference No: Title of Project: ‘What are the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how do different areas of the community control these?’

Name of Researcher: Abby Hicks

Participant to complete this section: Please initial each box.

1. I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet dated September 2012 for this evaluation study. I have had the opportunity to consider the information, ask questions and have had these answered satisfactorily.

2. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that it is possible to stop taking part at any time, without giving a reason.

3. I also understand that if this happens, our relationships with the Cardiff Metropolitan University, or our legal rights will not be affected

4. I understand that information from the study may be used for reporting purposes, but I will not be identified.

5. I agree to take part in this study on How clubs specialising in niche sports such as squash reduce barriers to participant and therefore gain success?

______Name of Participant

______Signature of Participant Date

______Name of person taking consent Date

______Signature of person taking consent

* When completed, one copy for participant and one copy for researcher’s files.

Appendix D

Information Sheet

Imformation Sheet

Cardiff School of Sport Research Participant information Sheet

Project Title: ‘What are the barriers faced by sports operating in the niche market such as squash and how do different areas of the community control these?’

This document provides a run through of:

1) the background and aim of the research, 2) my role as the researcher, 3) your role as a participant, 4) benefits of taking part, 5) how data will be collected, and 6) how the data / research will be used.

The purpose of this document is to assist you in making an informed decision about whether you wish to be included in the project, and to promote transparency in the research process.

Background and aims

It has become obvious that smaller sports operating in a niche market such as squash have a much lower participation rate than the bigger sports such as football. This can be blamed on the fact squash is extremely unpopular in the media with professional matches very rarely being played live on TV as you see with many other sports having prime time viewing on free view channels and sky sports. As a keen squash player myself I am interested to identify the barriers squash clubs and the governing body face and what policies they have in place to overcome these problems and still maintain membership numbers.

My role as a researcher This project involves me (Abby Hicks) conducting an interview with yourself and others at different times to ask about your knowledge of the organisation and to draw upon your own experiences as a member/squash player.

Your role as a participant Your role as a participant is to complete the interview as honest as possible, with as much detail as you can. It would be appreciated if you could give all the information you know including numbers and details of policies. Questions will mostly be open meaning you have plenty of opportunity to develop upon your answers and draw upon your own experiences in order to understand how policies apply to members.

Benefits of taking part From the information I obtain it will make it easier for squash clubs to understand exactly what barriers they have to beat in order to become successful. If squash clubs choose to examine my research they will understand what policies work in order to gain new members and keep existing ones happy. As members of Newport squash club or Squash wales it will make you realise exactly what you are doing well as a club and what you can improve on, therefore this research may really benefit your organisation.

How data will be collected Data will mostly be collected from the interview process which will be recorded in order to allow myself to access and listen to the interview at any time. Data will also

be taken from secondary sources such as membership numbers which will make my research accurate and reliable.

How the research/data will be used In agreeing to become a voluntary participant, you will be allowing me to use your responses to the questionnaires and include them within a larger data set that includes the data of other participants. Your personal data will be anonymous and will not be reported alone, but within the total sample of participants.

Your rights

Your right as a voluntary participant is that you are free to enter or withdraw from the study at any time. This simply means that you are in full control of the part you play in informing the research, and what anonymous information is used in its final reporting.

Protection to privacy

Concerted efforts will be made to hide your identity in any written transcripts, notes, and associated documentation that inform the research and its findings. Furthermore, any personal information about you will remain confidential according to the guidelines of the Data Protection Act (1998).

Contact

If you require any further details, or have any outstanding queries, feel free to contact me on the details printed below.

Abby Hicks Cardiff School of Sport

Cardiff Metropolitan University CF236XD, United Kingdom Email: [email protected]

Appendix E

Table of results from interviews

Respondent A Respondent B Respondent C Respondent D

Theme 1- Regional development A sport activity worker for The director of coaching and High performance coach Position within officer, used to be national communities first based in development of squash in in squash wales, and organisation. coach and a national Alway, it’s funded by the wales. director of squash in coach for the under 11s. welsh government but paid Newport squash club. by Newport city council.

Theme 2- Role as a development Initiating and developing a To deliver wales squash I’m responsible for each Roles and officer is to encourage as broad range of activities and vision, Also we provide a age group at the elite Responsibilities. many people to play sports in the community of system to nurture elite players level, basically trying to squash as possible and to Alway and then include to fulfil their potential, from ensure medals for wales help clubs develop and if a volunteers then to involve grass roots right the way in the 5 nations and to club has a problem they and take over the coaching. through to top 20 in the world. secure and put players on should come to me and the footing for the ultimate discuss a way forward, I’m goal of top 20 players. also responsible for giving Develop squash in advice on funding whether Newport squash club and that be capital or revenue to safeguard the future of and I’m responsible for the club and to develop organising tournaments the game in Newport and and seeding, doing the the wider area. draws.

Theme 3- To increase participation It’s my major objective, Yes massive, absolutely it No I think they both go Increasing is essential because the clearly at each session we doesn’t get any bigger really. hand in hand in our participation statistics show there’s only take a register and that’s Participation is what it’s all organisation, to continue being a main 2% of people who actually how we manage about. we need to increase the aim. stay. performance across our player pool. Without that activities and yeah it’s how pool of players increasing we measure performance of I predict within 5 or 10 that activity based on years that Newport participation. squash club will be closed. Theme 4- School festivals at the end Policies that include equal We’ve got 180 to 190 squash We have a schools Policies in place of a batch of school opportunities so no leagues playing on a weekly programme, we have 3 to increase programmes, say there 6 discrimination against basis, and that’s across the junior squash sessions a participation. schools in the area at the anyone relating to their age, whole of wales, that’s 7 week, we have an adult end of that I organise with disability, race, sexuality or counties running their own programme , we have llantrisant leisure centre religion and also one of our leagues, plus our own south open days, we have an that all schools come over employee policies is that we wales leagues, and premier active website, we have for the day where they can flexible or loan working leagues. 10 active teams, we have a day’s playing. policies that allows us to Grass roots, schools, mini participate in all squash Sent squash wales into work say after school for a squash, schools going back to wales events. I believe we schools so they set up long period of time rather the squash clubs. do our upmost for the after school clubs so the than the normal 9 to 5 , in Mini squash programme into benefit of the game. We children can carry on terms of policies for squash schools, we see about 7,500 also have close links with playing, even mini squash as far as I’m aware there’s children annually, and out of Newport council who also if they can’t get to a club. none what’s so ever involved that 2% come into our sort of facilitate us in our Ensured that every club in Newport city council programme. schools programme. has a community chest whether there’s a link higher Our domestic tournament but there are other up between squash wales calendar, that’s another area revenues of funding as and Newport city council I’m where we can increase well, there’s a not aware of, so in terms of participation because we development grant that that increasing participation encourage adults, ladies, men goes up to £25,000 which in squash I’m not aware of it of all ages and gender to

you can apply for projects, at all. compete once a week and as a national governing Myself, the head coach from play team squash, we body I think we’ve applied Newport squash club and encourage them so that’s for 5. two members of squash another way of trying to recruit Made sure every club has wales met for a formal people. had a community chest meeting to discuss options We’ve got a new talent ID grant every year which is for primary provision in programme in wales , we are £1500 so that’s raised I squash. During that meeting in year 2 now where we recruit think £41000. we set in place 6 week all the 11 and under children Organise the focus group project where we would from all the regions, and we invite all primary schools in take from into a north, west , Newport into that Newport south, mid wales squad. club we would put in a place First class UKCC coach a schedule where they could education programme. pick a time which would suit them best, what day in the week it would suit them best and that would run once a week for 6 weeks, so all in all we approached the whole of Newport, 8 schools signed up and it was roughly 400 pupils attending each week so over a 6 week period that’s a lot of participants involved in Newport squash club. Theme 5- I don’t think there are Main barrier probably is Not being in the Olympics Main barrier is the Barriers to barriers to starting you just advertising, so our lack of doesn’t help. infrastructure, not fit for gaining new have to work, set up a interest or lack of particularly TV profile doesn’t help, if we purpose. Plus its 35 years members. school scheme and then in this area, being a were in the Olympics and old, its four courts it’s a you work hard you ensure community first area means squash was on the TV every basic club. There has

there’s an out route into a there’s a lot of deprivation a day our membership would be been no investment either club, you then make sure lot of people don’t have the fantastic. from the club or the that the club is a internet so whereas other How do we measure governing body or from welcoming place. organisations advertise a lot recreationally players? the council or the local parents maybe don’t want by website , face book or For us a barrier is that there’s government to update the to take their children they social networking sites like more leisure centres there not facilities. don’t want to commit twitter they haven’t got that enough squash clubs , the Competing against clubs there’s always an excuse need here they haven’t got sport is not rich enough , in England, who have kids are used to sitting in internet they haven’t got whereas England have lots of massive investment, they front of the telly now and computers , also other squash clubs, if we had more have capital investment. not doing any exercise. barriers would be transport, Newport’s, we’ve got 13 clubs Our club is old, tired and We have a capital problem a lot of people haven’t got and the other 89 are clubs it’s not a place people at the moment in that cars or limited bus services , within leisure centres. want to come. Unless the many clubs are tired cost for any activities a lot of We are a minority sport. club is brought up to because they were built the timetable we have here Another barrier is schools, it’s scratch and it’s a place many years ago. are free or maybe 50p a massive barrier for us, if people want to come and entrance you’re in school you’re playing a clean and nice and you atomically have a PE environment the teacher to play football, membership is just going hockey, cricket, rugby but we to decline because people don’t have squash. don’t want to be in organisations that look like they are dead and dying. Theme 6- People just don’t know, I think accessibility, due to Facility based sport that Saturated market, you’re Reasons why they naturally assume the nation of the sport it can’t doesn’t help us, can’t pick up competing against a lot of people don’t because it is gaining more be played anywhere so a squash court and take it to a other sports, a lot of participate. and more profile. Olympic you’ve also got fixed courts school we are in buildings and leisure time, other sports sports get more money so in certain areas. we totally rely on leisure are much more high we would get more as a I think it’s not a well-known centres for 9/10s of that. profile. I think if squash governing body which sport, it’s not a popular sport, What the local authorities are gets into the Olympics would solve a lot of our obviously not advertised on working on at the time and that will help. But again if

problems. TV, it is in the what the current drive is, and you go to England and commonwealth but not in the current priorities. look at the clubs that are Olympics so it doesn’t get Cost of courts. successful like that sort of media attention. Never seen it, never tried it, Nottingham , like Also the cost of joining I never heard of it, not everyone Edgbaston there squash think, either you pay a large goes to leisure centres. is actually growing and fee to be part of a club which thriving , and if you go on might include a swimming the continent because pool or those benefits, or their facilities are fit for play quite a large fee for an purpose. hour’s court in a public leisure centre. Theme 7- N/A in terms of the programme I We are now trying to break Yes as a club we met last Reducing run here like I said a lot of into the TV market with live night, we formed a barriers. the projects are free so like streaming. subcommittee looking into the 14 aspects we’ve got on For us to profile it put it on the the possibilities of moving our projects say 10 or 11 are website we’ve now got a full the club. We are going for them are free activities for time press officer , whose job a CAFAB grant which I anyone to participate where is to twitter, and use all the believe is now going up ever they are whether its social networking sites so we from 350,000 to 1 million, Alway, Sommerton or are out there, people are so we are actively looking Ringland. When we go and seeing it, they are reading it, at that to cure and visit a football tournament we what’s going on, they are safeguard the future of put on transport for them so looking at our activities. our club. But as of yet we they just meet here at the Flyers, press releases, we’ve have had no tangible help centre , we’ll drive a mini bus even been on the radio. of anyone else other than or we’ll get coach for them to ourselves. get there, so unless it’s a specific fee to get somewhere we’ll also look at external funding to cover those costs

Theme 8- N/A when I was junior yeah I N/A I’ve had conversations Gaining help received a lot of funding and with the NGB and I’ve from the NGB. a lot of help for tournaments wrote 3 letters into the whether they were UK or NGB, 2 into the local European, and training government, 2 into the camps that sort of thing yeah council, 2 to the local MP I received funding then but and 1 to the local MEP. as an adult now maybe I’ve had nothing tangible limited funding if I was going off anyone, I’ve just had to go to a tournament they lip service, and I think might cover the cost of that’s criminal. transport, or help with the cost of accommodation. So apart from that no funding. Theme 9- We are grant aided from N/A Yes we do, we are totally N/A Gaining help sport wales, sport wales absolutely efficient on it, and if from the get their money from the we had to rely on our government. government so we have to memberships it might be one put in a 5 year strategy part time administrator. We when I organised the rely on ex checker money focus group that from the Welsh assembly influenced what was put in government, we rely on lottery the 5 year plan, that 5 money and coach Cymru year plan then goes to money and without it we sport wales and they ticker would not exist, the governing with it saying we don’t like body would not be there. that, yes we approve with that, we think that’s great and that’s a process of negotiation then they decide how much to give us and we work with that.

Theme 10- Yes, because if you think Within the community centre N/A They have a good Do organisations about it what we need are setting From what I’ve heard programme, the Benefits from the members because we or not heard squash wales development programme strategies. have to hit targets at haven’t got that link I don’t is good but unless you squash wales we need to think with Newport city have the facilities or get so many junior council, whether it’s infrastructure you are members and senior something they are doing in swimming against the members so many clubs separately in might be tide. I personally believe coaches that’s life in any more beneficial because like is the strategy of sport job you have to hit targets I’ve said a lot of people in wales where the funding so it’s in our interest to this area wouldn’t play comes from is help clubs, that’s where squash, don’t go to squash fundamentally floored. the experience is you can and are probably unaware of Their strategy is to invest come part of a club rather the opportunities here in in people, not in the than part of a national Newport. infrastructure or capital governing body so we investment. Whereas in have to make sure all Scotland it’s to invest in clubs are comfortable and infrastructure and capital if they need help we help projects and as a result them. their clubs are fit for purpose. Again the emphasis there is right. In wales we are losing squash courts at the rate of 20 a year , we’ve had one squash club close last year, we’ve had no new courts build, or no new investment in the existing infrastructure as

far as I can see for the last 10 years.

Colour coding:

 Cost of courts  Olympic affect  Accessibility  Participation being the main aim  Capital investment for old clubs- infrastructure

 School programmes.

 Using sources of funding.

 The use of mini squash.

Appendix F

Transcripts

Interview Transcript 1 - 23.10.2012

Respondent A:

I: thanks for coming today. As you know as part of my sport development degree I am to conduct research into a chosen field .As I am on the sport development degree I chose to make this my discipline and as I have a large interest in Newport squash club and squash wales I found it interesting and beneficial to centre my research around the barriers Newport squash club may face and how Squash Wales devise strategies to tackle these issues. The title of my dissertation is: How do sports and national governing bodies operating in the niche market such as squash reduce barriers to maintain success? Firstly do you understand the purpose of my investigation and understand the role you have in this interview?

R: Yes I do

I: Do you have any apprehensions or worries about what I am about to discuss with you?

R: No, none at all.

I: Ok, so in simple terms from this interview I would like to understand what you feel the barriers are firstly in your organisation and secondly in your personal experience, is this ok?

R: yes that’s fine

I: Just to inform you, your interview is confidential and your name won’t be brought up in this interview, you have no obligation to complete this interview. If you feel uncomfortable at any point you are entitled to leave the interview without presenting a reason. Ok so firstly what position do you have in the organisation?

R: Im a regional development officer, and I used to be national coach and um im a national coach for the under 11s now

I: And what are your roles and responsibilities?

R: my role as a development officer is to encourage as many people to play squash as possible and to help clubs develop and if a club has a problem they should come to me and discuss a way forward, I’m also responsible for giving advice on funding whether that be capital or revenue and I’m responsible for organising tournaments and seeding, doing the draws and making sure the tournament is run properly and dealing with any fall out. I’m also responsible as under 11 coach for choosing teams for under 11s and taking them away to events so they can experience high level squash at a very early age because the representative age is under 13 and we were finding that they go away for the first time when they are 13 and they haven’t got any independent skills so we are taking them away at u13 now so they can cope with the personal aspects of being away from home.

I: ok so at the beginning you said about getting people involved in squash what is your first protocol to doing this?

R: it started about 5 years ago and when I first joined squash wales I had a bunch of rackets and some balls phone the schools up go into the schools put on a display with the kids and then encourage them to go back to the nearest club and hand out flyers, so it was a very amateur sort of set up. Then I persuaded mike to buy me a portable squash wall and we used that and we now used these portable squash walls and I just applied for a grant for a blow up squash court so that’s my next phase, I’ve applied for two at 5,000 each so I’m crossing my fingers that I can have that then we can put those up in places like shopping malls, railway stations, events like the eisteddfod where we can attract far more people, getting them to go to a club isn’t really a problem because it’s something new and it’s something they want to experience so getting them to a club isn’t a difficult move its holding onto them, do they enjoy that experience at the club? Is it what they thought it would be? So it’s holding on to them that’s the trick.

I: With your position in squash wales does it give you authority to implement change?

R: Um, there’s two sides to this story, on the one hand I don’t have any authority, I don’t line manage for high performance coaches, I don’t line manage Mike Workman, Sue Evans is the office manager so she’s in charge of the office, um so for example when mike was off on holidays and left me in charge I coped because

I’ve always done it, but if you was to say to me what’s your authority I don’t have a position. If I was the assistant director of coaching then that would solve that problem but for some reason that’s never happened , it’s to do with funding and also the way my job is structured, I’m a community coach activator , a national coach and a development officer so I’m paid by the hour so I don’t have a post as such, I don’t have a pension or holidays, if I go to Australia for two weeks I don’t get paid, which is something that’s not a good place to be in but on the other hand I can always walk away whenever I want to, and informally I do a lot of things, because I was a barrister I give them legal advice write all the letters and things like that but they are trying to appoint a policy officer now so I won’t have to write all the policies, you know it’s a piece meal job and its fun and when it stops being fun I’ll walk away.

I: How important is to you personally and your organisation that you increase participation, is it one of your main objectives?

R: absolutely , to increase participation is essential because the statistics show there’s only 2% of people who actually stay, say we do a big school project you know full well that 2% will stay and that’s what you’re fighting against, problems are not that the kid doesn’t want to go, maybe the parents don’t want to take them, in this present economic climate we’ve cut back on everything the costs we are actually charging children now are zero so we’ve never made a profit, we’re not a profit making organisation.

I: so making profit for you isn’t important at all, just participation?

R: no we use up our entire grant but we are grant funded so we aren’t allowed to make any profits and put them back in the company. To say that we were a charity, we aren’t even as good as charity because a charity collects money we can’t do that, when the money comes in it is completely allocated and goes out the other end, the only thing we are allowed to do is raise sponsorship and you know how hard that is now we just can’t get it.

I: ok, as this is obviously one of your main objectives to increase participation what policies do you have in place to do this?

R: well the policies are mainly the ones I created because when I moved into post there was a guy in the post before but he didn’t focus on development it was on elite

so it wasn’t getting people into play squash so we did these massive school programmes, we’ve also done school festivals at the end of a batch of school programmes, say there 6 schools in the area at the end of that I organise with llantrisant leisure centre that all schools come over for the day where they have a days playing that doesn’t cost the schools anything we pay for that out of our grant that’s a way of getting good will out of schools and making sure we maximise our potential. The other thing we’ve done is sent squash wales into schools so they set up after school clubs so the children can carry on playing, even mini squash if they can’t get to a club, and the other thing we’ve done is, part of my job is funding so I’ve ensured that every club has a community chest but there are other revenues of funding as well, there’s a development grant that goes up to £25,000 which you can apply for projects, as a national governing body I think we’ve applied for 5 so you know I’ve maximised that potential we have a huge scheme here it was a couple of years ago we had all the schools from the area come here, they used to walk here and play every Friday and one of the teachers said it was the first time they’ve ever had a full attendance in a class because the kids knew they were coming here, so I’ve maximised that, I’ve made sure every club has had a community chest grant every year which is £1500 so that’s raised I think £41000, and I’ve just put in now for a junior teams grant because we’ve had junior team leagues because I see that as a stepping stone between junior squash and senior team squash because I’ve started a junior team in the vale and they had to play old men and they didn’t like it they struggled to adjust so if you have a junior team structure then they’ll be able to play get comfortable with being a team then they could take on older players, it would give them a chance for transition. The other thing I did was organise the focus group where we had parents, coaches people from everywhere come here and I organised speed dating so every table had a different topic say referring, junior development, elite so we did that and we had lots of ideas come from that to get implemented so I do lots and lots of things and I don’t actually see it as a barrier to getting more children to participate I think the barriers are set up by people who are finding an excuse not to do it and that is the part I find frustrating.

I: Ok so going onto barriers what do you actually think the barriers are getting people firstly to start squash and then keep them, what do you think the barriers are?

R: I don’t think there are barriers to starting you just have to work, just like everything we set up a school scheme and then you work hard you ensure there’s an out route into a club , you then make sure that the club is a welcoming place , so the actually route is there it works all over wales it’s not a problem I think if there are barriers it’s the parents maybe don’t want to take their children they don’t want to commit there’s always an excuse kids are used to sitting in front of the telly now and not doing any exercise once you’ve actually got them there and you’ve got them hooked they want to come, it’s enjoyable you know you’ve played at every level there’s nothing like beating someone it’s a buzz or learning to hit a shot properly so that’s not really the problem. We have a capital problem at the moment in that many clubs are tired because they were built many years ago so for example your club Newport its tired, its got four great courts but the changing rooms are lacking , the bar is a nice bar but you could make it a little more family friendly, it’s the men at the end of the bar playing cards swearing you could make it more of a friendly environment because what you’ve got to appreciate is when parents bring their children along they either use it as a cliché dump them go shopping and come back or they actually want to stay and do something themselves, so you need to neuter that you need to make an environment where the parents can play as well or they can do something so they feel comfortable there. There’s a grant called CFA which is an acronym for communities, facilities, activities grant that you apply to the welsh assembly government and it’s a maximum of £3000 ,now the only barrier is that you have to be company limited by guarantee what that means is in Newport squash club should it be wound up the profits wouldn’t go to the shareholder or members it goes to a charity so if you were to bequeath Newport squash club to squash wales then you would be entitled to apply for that grant and I have told Jim and Greg that I think that’s a good thing to do , Llanelli have listened they’ve put in and they are going to build another court , so they will have a 4th court there. So it’s there you just have to have the will to do it, but Cardiff have gone professional really with them being more of a gym type club and that’s how they’ve survived, that’s how they’ve upgraded their facilities , Llanelli have gone down the CFA route I think Newport should , Rhiwbina are on about building another court and I’ve given them a price on this grant as well, um if you have a rule there’s none there, Newport has a great location people can walk to it , it’s got a lot going for it but it needs tarting up, its tired so I’d say there’s a barrier there.

I: In relation to Newport having to spend money on the bar and parents not being able to commit is there anything squash wales do to reduce these barriers?

R: Yes, we always make sure parents are made welcome, at tournaments I spend most of my time talking to kids I get to know their parents and I use their parents and teach them how to ref and the lee’s , Paul lee and Tracey they are coaches, as soon as I met them I put them on a coaching course because they are great so you have to network and get to know people and if you have a passion for your sport then that just comes out, there’s a way of handling people you get down to their level and you work it out and I hope that’s how I make parents feel welcome so they want to come out. For a club like Newport, Rhiwbina and Llanelli you have to do that, in a leisure centre you don’t have to because its pay and play.

I: ok so you’ve talked about in general but in your own experience what do you think are the most common reasons why people don’t want to play squash?

R: I’ve never experienced that.

I: well do you think if squash was part of the Olympics it would reduce barriers?

R: People just don’t know, um I’ve got a shirt that I had from the Dutch and it’s got 2020 on the front and wherever I wear it people say I didn’t know that I didn’t know it wasn’t in the Olympics they naturally assume because it is gaining more and more profile and also because if it was in London they would have won medals straight away, you would have had what 4 gold medals? Or two silver two gold. So no the only barrier is funding. Olympic sports get more money so we would get more has a governing body which would solve a lot of our problems, staff wise we don’t have enough staff and the staff we do are employed on the same terms we are um so I started off on 5 hours a week and built it up and that’s all you can offer so unless they are totally committed to squash if I full time job comes along your going to take it so we need more funding to solve staff problems and that’s where the Olympics comes in, for example sailing has got stacks of money.

I: So in your own experience is there anything that’s stopped you from having a game of squash, is there anything barrier that’s been placed in front of you personally that’s stopped you at any point, whether its cost or time or personal problems.

R: well not me but I’m a determined person, the barriers we now have is the cost of a of game in the leisure centre, I think its £8.10 for 45 minutes, and you have to join as well but I’m not sure what the annual fee is.

I: so cost is a massive barrier?

R: yes massive, also there is problem with perception, if you walk through a leisure centre and saw an empty swimming pool they say god look empty swimming pool they walk through and an empty squash club and they still erm why aren’t they being used, so it’s a perception thing. Leisure centre managers and local authorities are under pressure because the money they receive comes from the welsh government but it’s from the UK government, the UK government cuts the money they give to the welsh government massively, the welsh government then gives it to the local authorities which is 22 authorities but it isn’t a statured provision, what do you cut? You cut the things you don’t have to provide by law, leisure being one of these, so on the one hand the UK government are saying they want everyone to be fit create a Olympic legacy, get off your sofa get fit , lose weight but on the other hand they are cutting the money so out of 22 authorities Bridgend is one of the few local authorities that have put all their leisure services into the hands of a social enterprise, social enterprise it’s called halo what they done is now they are refurbishing all the leisure centres in the county , we still own them but they don’t have the responsibility of capital funding which they couldn’t do they would have had to have closed them , other local authorities haven’t been so forward in their thinking so what you will find soon is that these leisure centres will close due to the economic barrier so that’s a barrier because you can’t go in the street and play squash you need a court so I can see that that is going to become a barrier, what I’ve done is in Porthcawl I’ve managed to get a proposal through the local council to build a sports centre its very much blue sky thinking at the moment but the town council have accepted the idea, so 6 glass back courts, why not. So I have to find funding now for 660,000 and if it works if I can do it why can’t other people do it?

I: so you’ve talked about some help you get from the government, do squash wales benefit from anything in particular that the government have funded?

R: We are grant aided from sport wales, sport wales get their money from the government so we have to put in a 5 year strategy when I organised the focus group

that influenced what was put in the 5 year plan, that 5 year plan then goes to sport wales and they ticker with it saying we don’t like that, yes we approve with that, we think that’s great and that’s a process of negotiation then they decide how much to give us and we work with that.

I: so this 5 year strategy how do they broadcast this to local clubs and members, how are they aware of strategies?

R:well it’s on the website we use the website a lot to try and tell people what we are doing and hopefully they can appreciate the constraints we are under.

I: constraints as in what?

R: As in there’s only a limited amount of funding we have to make sure we have a pathway so from picking up a racket to representing wales there’s a pathway, and squads and training nights are a very good part of that and coaches are so we have to make sure coach education is in place with a tutor assessor as well so I’ve got that to do , you have to have coaches for athletes then another pathway they go through sometimes people don’t understand because they haven’t really thought about how it happens they just turn up with their child at a tournament and they think aw that happens by a miracle somehow , so we need to create awareness or raise awareness for parents of all the work that actually goes into it.

I: And you’re doing that by focus groups?

R: by communicating yes and by all the newsletters we hand out, all those that people do or don’t read, sometimes also in general we have good parents by others we have a couple you know you’re never going to please so you just have to accept that and please the ones that do appreciate you and there are lots more of those.

I: ok so do you feel this 5 year strategy has been successful so far and do you think it’s helping local clubs?

R: yes, because if you think about it what we need are members because we have to hit targets at squash wales we need to get so many junior members and senior members so many coaches that’s life in any job you have to hit targets so its in our interest to help clubs, that’s where the experience is you can come part of a club

rather than part of a national governing body so we have to make sure all clubs are comfortable and if they need help we help them.

I: ok, thank you for agreeing to participate in my investigation we have been extremely helpful and I look forward to collecting all this data and doing my discussion, thank you.

Interview Transcript 2- 26.11.12

Respondent B:

I: thanks for coming today. As you know I’m Abby Hicks and am currently in my 3rd year at Cardiff metropolitan university, as part of my sport development degree I am to conduct research into a chosen field .As I am on the sport development degree I chose to make this my discipline and as I have a large interest in Newport squash club and squash wales I found it interesting and beneficial to centre my research around the barriers they face. The title of my dissertation is: How do sports and national governing bodies operating in the niche market such as squash reduce barriers to maintain success? Firstly do you understand the purpose of my investigation and understand the role you have in this interview?

R: Yes

I: Do you have any worries about what I’m going to discuss with you?

R: No

I: In simple terms from this interview I would like to understand what you feel the barriers are firstly in your organisation and secondly in your personal experience, is this ok?

R: Yep

I: Just to inform you, you have no obligation to complete this interview. If you feel uncomfortable at any point you are entitled to leave the interview without presenting a reason. So if everything is ok I will commence with my questions.

R: yep ok.

I: firstly what position do you have in the organisation?

R: I’m a sport activity worker for communities first based here in Alway, it’s funded by the welsh government but paid by Newport city council.

I: ok and what are you roles and responsibilities within this organisation?

R: Roles and responsibilities include initiating and developing a broad range of activities and sports in the community of Alway that can be anything from recreational sport healthy living to develop certain clubs or activities that would be sustainable for a long period of time that can range from 0 year to 100 years and then include volunteers then to involve and take over the coaching.

I: Does that involve squash at all?

R: not within my specific Alway project no that’s a separate project.

I: ok, does your position give you much authority to implement change within your area?

R: Um yes I believe so, because I’m a community worker for Alway and sport my programme is completely up to me with what I do, basically with the needs of the community, so if they’re interested in a squash project id put squash on , if there’s no need for it or no desire for it and there’s need for football or something then that’s how it gets put in place.

I: how important is it to you and your organisation that you increase participation; is this one of your main objectives?

R: Yeah, it’s my major objective, clearly at each session we take a register and that’s how we manage performance across our activities so if something’s not well attended then there would be reason to change or wed investigate that and yeah it’s how we measure performance of that activity based on participation.

I: what are your participation levels like? Are they good, healthy?

R: yeah at present I like we have 14 activities from Monday to Saturday just here at Alway, and that ranges from football say to school sessions to fun clubs or over 50 bowls and approximately during a month I think its roughly between 900 usage participators each month so yeah on a monthly basis about 900 people participate in that.

I: what policies if any does your organisation have in place to increase participation especially in squash?

R: as a Newport city council worker there’s obviously a lot of policies that include equal opportunities so no discrimination against anyone relating to their age, disability, race, sexuality or religion and also one of our employee policies is that we can flexible or loan working policies that allows us to work say after school for a long period of time rather than the normal 9 to 5 , in terms of policies for squash as far as I’m aware there’s none what’s so ever involved in Newport city council whether there’s a link higher up between squash wales and Newport city council I’m not aware of, so in terms of that increasing participation in squash I’m not aware of it at all.

I: ok have you set up any schemes to get people involved in squash?

R: yeah, um recently back in I think it started in September myself, the head coach from Newport squash club and two members of squash wales met for a formal meeting to discuss options for primary provision in squash. During that meeting we set in place 6 week project where we would invite all primary schools in Newport into that Newport club we would put in a place a schedule where they could pick a time which would suit them best, what day in the week it would suit them best and that would run once a week for 6 weeks, so all in all we approached the whole of Newport, 8 schools signed up and it was roughly 400 pupils attending each week so over a 6 week period that’s a lot of participants involved in Newport squash club.

I: would you say it was successful and will lead to increased participation?

R: from what I’ve gathered I obviously attended a number of the sessions and ive gathered back from the head coach is that yeah it ran very successfully, most of the pupils that were supposed to attend their slot did, apart from one or two due to sickness or absence from school. So about 400 attended each week and following that I think its lead onto an increased participation over there Saturday sessions for juniors at the club, and hopefully they’ll stick there for some coaching and maybe then feed into Newport squash club for the future teams.

I: ok, were squash wales mostly involved in this?

R: during the meeting we had like I said we sat down with two members of squash wales initially I was approached by Newport squash club coach and that was through a personal link between myself and him because he knew I worked for Newport city

council, so he initiated the meeting, I met with them and squash wales representatives so during the meeting we also had our structured what we wanted to do and squash wales members obviously inputted to that quite successfully , following that meeting I then went away and set up the whole project they had no involvement with that process what so ever, I then emailed out to all the schools got all the feedback back from the school put it into a timetable sent it to the squash coach at Newport and also copied in the members of squash wales but in terms of planning it into a complete timetable then there was not much help no.

I: moving on from that, what are the main issues or barriers your organisation face in relation to gaining new members?

R:our main barrier probably is advertising, so our lack of interest or lack of particularly in this area, being a community first area means there’s a lot of deprivation a lot of people don’t have the internet so whereas other organisations advertise a lot by website , face book or social networking sites like twitter they haven’t got that need here they haven’t got internet they haven’t got computers , also other barriers would be transport, a lot of people haven’t got cars or limited bus services , cost for any activities a lot of the timetable we have here are free or maybe 50p entrance which if you’ve got four kids the costs add up, and probably cost of equipment as well so everything Is supplied for our sessions and the kids just turn up and participate.

I: in your own experience so from you playing national level , what are the most common reasons as to why you think people don’t participate in squash?

R: I think accessibility, due to the nation of the sport it can’t be played anywhere so you’ve also got fixed courts in certain areas, I know they’ve got the mini squash now but that’s not exactly the same for a proper match. I think it’s not a well-known sport , its not a popular sport , obviously not advertised on TV, it is in the commonwealth but not in the Olympics so it doesn’t get that sort of media attention. Also the cost of joining I think, either you pay a large fee to be part of a club which might include a swimming pool or those benefits, or play quite a large fee for an hour’s court in a public leisure centre so I think cost is a major factor as well.

I: obviously you’ve just named these barriers to participation in general, what does your organisation do to reduce these?

R: in terms of the programme I run here like I said a lot of the projects are free so like the 14 aspects we’ve got on our projects say 10 or 11 are them are free activities for anyone to participate where ever they are whether its Alway, Sommerton or Ringland. When we go and visit a football tournament we put on transport for them so they just meet here at the centre , we’ll drive a mini bus or we’ll get coach for them to get there, so unless it’s a specific fee to get somewhere we’ll also look at external funding to cover those costs.

I: From your own experience are there any barriers you’ve faced personally when wanting to play squash?

R: personally probably maybe the costs, particularly when you’re a student , being able to travel places to get to tournaments and probably lack of others not knowing or not wanting to place squash, so if you’re in a specific group of friends , particularly when I lived back with mum and dad a lot of my friends would play other sports and its quite difficult then as well.

I: ok so you’ve named cost as a barrier to you, do squash wales do anything to help with this?

R: when I was junior yeah I received a lot of funding and a lot of help for tournaments whether they were UK or European, and training camps that sort of thing yeah I received funding then but as an adult now maybe limited funding if I was going to go to a tournament they might cover the cost of transport, or help with the cost of accommodation. So apart from that no funding.

I: so you think they help the junior section more than transition section?

R: yeah, unless your elite elite, or a junior there seems to be a gap there I think.

I: so as your organisation being the community centre, have you benefitted from any help from squash wales or any national governing body?

R: within the community centre setting , although I’m based here I’m also a large member of the sport development team based at sptty so we get a lot interest off

organisations and national governing bodies regarding specific courses , so for example we got approached by the FAW to put people on courses there , so they get in touch with the hub and they send out information so if there’s anyone putting them on , I know there’s other courses coming up now, the WRU were doing something for junior coaching. From what I’ve heard or not heard squash wales haven’t got that link I don’t think with Newport city council, whether it’s something they are doing in clubs separately in might be more beneficial because like I’ve said a lot of people in this area wouldn’t play squash, don’t go to squash and are probably unaware of the opportunities here in Newport.

I: are you aware of any strategies or initiatives squash wales have in place to either help your community or even vale resort?

R: id probably say the junior coaching schemes that are in place maybe say at the vale, where they obviously put some coaches on , there’s a small fee then they can all attend but that’s obviously something very diverse to the area I work in , because that’s where it’s a private club so they’ve got the money to go and pay a small fee to attend coaching, but in my area here we’ve had no links with squash wales, im unaware of any initiatives they’ve got for maybe deprived areas to get involved whether it be they put on transport to come and put a bus on to collect the kids to go to the squash club there’s nothing like that which maybe some organisations do.

I: so as an organisation you don’t feel you’ve benefitted from any strategies they have in place?

R: as an organisation no.

I: what about a squash club?

R: at my home squash club maybe more so, but again as a private member I’m unaware of what goes on up above, I go there to play.

I: thank you for agreeing to take part in this interview, I look forward to analysing this in my conclusion, thank you.

Interview Transcript 3- 14.12.12

Respondent C:

I: Hello, Firstly thank you for coming today. As you know I am currently in my 3rd year in Cardiff metropolitan university. As part of my sport development degree I am to conduct research into a chosen field. As I am on the sport development degree I chose to make this my discipline and as I have a large interest in Newport squash club and squash wales I found it interesting and beneficial to centre my research around the barriers Newport squash club may face and how Squash Wales devise strategies to tackle these issues. The title of my dissertation is: How do sports and national governing bodies operating in the niche market such as squash reduce barriers to maintain success? . Firstly do you understand the purpose of my investigation and understand the role you have in this interview?

R: I do

I: Do you have any apprehensions or worries about what I am about to discuss with you?

R: no

I: so In simple terms from this interview I would like to understand what you feel the barriers are firstly in your organisation and secondly in your personal experience and is that ok?

R: that’s good

I: Just to inform you, you have no obligation to complete this interview. If you feel uncomfortable at any point you are entitled to leave the interview without presenting a reason. Firstly what position do you have in the organisation?

R: ok my only request to start is that you let me see a copy of this when it’s finished.

I: yes definitely

R: because I am also interested in the barriers. Ok I am the director of coaching and development of squash in wales, we have just rebranded we are now wales squash and racketball.

I: what are your roles and responsibilities?

R: ok, they are very varied across the governing body; I work from grass roots children through to the elite, which is a wide and ranging area. My main responsibility is to deliver wales squash vision, the vision is created by the board of directors and my job is to deliver that vision. In that vision we’ve got increase player profile, increase participation, ensure coaches and refs are suitably qualified, and receive CPD, coach player development. Also we provide a system to nuseure elite players to fulfil their potential, from grass roots right the way through to top 20 in the world so its wide and varied?

I: ok so from this role you have does it give you much authority to implement change?

R: yes in all areas I’ve just discussed.

I: ok so everything goes through you?

R: well we are a team, and there’s a lot of accountability, in terms of discussing, feedback but I’m generally the person operationally that will work with the team of people that are going to deliver the goods. So yes I have a great deal of say in the change.

I: how important is it to your organisation that you increase participation, is this one of your main objectives?

R: yes massive, absolutely it doesn’t get any bigger really. Participation is what its all about. The areas of participation are varied , if we start from the top all the children and adults that buy into the system all the players play for wales, that are the good squash players they are all in a system , that’s one element of participation, which as a governing body that’s really it, we are looking for that top 20 player in the world, everything we do at junior level is looking for our best senior players. Now a lot of people wouldn’t realise that, they just think it’s every junior level coming through, but its not its about finding another David Evans and Alex Gough, we are looking for those people.

I: and this is the back to basics policy?

R: it is the back to basics programme yes, that covers that, but participation goes a lot deeper than that for our sport and for our governing body ie. We’ve got 180 to 190 squash leagues playing on a weekly basis, and that’s across the whole of wales, that’s 7 counties running their own leagues, plus our own south wales leagues, and premier leagues, so there’s a lot of people in those teams and clubs make teams happen and allow to fulfil fixtures, that can all be found on the website, and it’s a lot of participation, on a competitive level. Participation comes in another form, grass roots, schools , mini squash, schools going back to the squash clubs , perfect example of that is the one you’ve just had in your club in Newport where over 6 weeks we’ve seen hundreds of school children, and I think it was 8 schools that bought into the programme, and a wales squash development coach was there most of the time to help with that, Damian Burguess, we are trying to then support Newport by giving them a coach , not charging for a coach but trying to buy into the schools, participation from schools is important. There’s another level of participation then which is recreational and there are more people recreationally playing in wales that we could ever account for, there are millions, but how can we count those people, how do we measure these people, it’s absolutely impossible, we can measure all the children in the system we can measure all the schools we touch or we engage with but we can’t measure how many people come in here on a Saturday and have a game and there are millions, if we could only measure those, if we could only put those in our membership figures our sport would be bigger and far reaching , however we are apart 5000 members strong across the board, males females, adults, juniors, children , grassroots we are about 5,000 strong but I think we’d be 50,000 strong if we could measure those recreationally people.

I: so you’ve mentioned some policies there, is there any others you use to increase participation? You’ve mentioned going into schools is there anything else?

R: yes, I’ve mentioned the mini squash programme into schools, we see about 7,500 children annually, and out of that 2% come into our programme, and we are lucky if we get 1% staying. So it’s a lot of hard work. Another good example in Newport is Jordan Williams he came from the school programme he’s now british under 13s champion, so is it worth seeing that 7,500 I possibly think it is. Our domestic tournament calendar I’ve also mentioned, that’s another area where we can increase participation because we encourage adults, ladies, men of all ages and gender to

compete once a week and play team squash, we encourage them so that’s another way of trying to recruit people. On our domestic competition programme the governing body has a very comprehensive competition programme, where from beginners to the best players in wales young and old elite or grass roots can play tournaments, and they can dip in and out of these tournaments whenever they like, and full the elite junior and adults it is compulsory for them to do so many, so that’s another way of recruiting. Ok coaching from talent ID , we’ve got a new talent ID programme in wales , we are in year 2 now where we recruit all the 11 and under children from all the regions, and we take from into a north, west , south, mid wales squad. We then bring them in all together in Cardiff once a year for a fun series, and they are all little ones and emphasis is on playing and fun holding them in, giving them rewards and shirts, and trying to hook them on the sport, sport wales major drive is a child hooked on sport for life, and that’s our too. And of course to increase participation, it’s not just about playing but it’s about coaching and referring, we do have a first class UKCC coach education programme which is in line with the united kingdom’s sport policies and it’s on the framework and we are alongside England squash delivering that programme so those are the areas we concentrate on , grass roots, with the staff that we’ve got. Not enough really, there’s still lots of other things we could do.

I: ok so moving onto the barriers now what do you feel are the main barriers squash wales face in relation to gaining new members?

R: ok, well there’s a long list and I could have a 10 hour conversation with you on this alone, its massive but I’ve thought about this and as you can see I’ve made notes, for me the Olympics, doesn’t help. TV profile doesn’t help, those are easy hits, if we were in the Olympics and squash was on the TV every day our membership would be fantastic. So those are the big things for me. I just said how do we measure recreationally players? There’s loads of participation, how do we measure them. How do we embrace them, engage with them, consult with them, how do we do that, it’s very difficult. There’s probably 50,000 of them out there in leisure centres all over wales, what is frustrating is that I can’t access those people, I’ve never been able to do it the 15 years I’ve been in post. For us a barrier is that there’s more leisure centres there not enough squash clubs , the sport is not rich enough , whereas England have lots of squash clubs, if we had more Newport’s, we’ve got 13 clubs

and the other 89 are clubs within leisure centres. So for us if we had more squash clubs, that to me is a barrier. We are a minority sport, another barrier is schools, it’s a massive barrier for us, if you’re in school you’re playing and you atomically have a PE teacher to play football, hockey, cricket, rugby but we don’t have squash, and it’s a massive barrier for us, although we have a lot of after school clubs had we do that we’ve set up ourselves as a national governing body across wales or clubs set up for themselves, it’s not enough. So those to me are the key barriers, massive ones.

I: ok so sort of a similar question, in your own experience so when you’ve been participating in squash why do you think people don’t get involved in the sport?

R: it’s because it’s, I did try and think about this, but it’s a difficult question, if I was going to answer it with any insanity , we are a facility based sport that doesn’t help us, you know you can’t pick up a squash court and take it to a school , can’t pick up a squash court and take it to a field, we are in buildings and we totally rely on leisure centres for 9/10s of that, and what the local authorities are working on at the time and what the current drive is, and current priorities, we have our own goals and objectives, but the barriers are the cost of squash courts, we don’t control the cost , Cardiff is £9 a squash court, the Rhonda is £5, that’s better. In certain areas in Wales it is under £5 but when you’re charging £9 for a squash court. But then to hit the other side of that, local authorities then will think that squash isn’t making the money, its not earning them enough money, all that open space. So they are turning squash courts into other things, they are looking to be smart , trying to make money on the down time on the squash court. What happens though is that we are all after the same time frame, we are all after that 5 till 9 slot, so they start putting the spin bikes on court, so instead of putting them on in the down time in the day which was their goal they are now putting them in the squash court time, so there are less squash courts available, and that is causing us massive problems. That to me personally are the two biggest barriers, but I also think it comes back to the TV, and the Olympics again. People just haven’t seen it; they don’t know what it is. Two years ago, ill never forget I went to a school in Maesteg and we had in front of us we had about 80 children and I said right put your hands up if you know what squash is, and out of 80 children, 3 people put their hands up , and at this time Maesteg squash club was there with 4 courts, you had the leisure centre with 2 courts, and you also had the Dunravens professional squash that had just finished down there, so the

profile would have been great, but do you know what most of the children didn’t know what a squash court was or what it looked like, that’s because its not on TV, that’s because it hasn’t got a media profile and because schools don’t include it. If that’s n not a barrier then excuse me, because all of those children on that programme played mini squash, and got invited back to the squash club, so they all had a flavour but that’s just a small school of 80 children. In the whole of wales in the whole of the UK how many people actually get to see squash. So I’m saying never seen it, never tried it, never heard of it, not everyone goes to leisure centres, you’d been very surprised, most people don’t. We are talking about getting children hooked on sport for life but most children go home, they play out, a lot of areas out there have deprivation where they are not accessing sport, we are better after the Olympic Games, there is still sport on the agenda, that unbearably not squash. So there we are that’s my bit.

I: ok so you’ve named these barriers, what policies you implement to reduce these, if any?

R: all the above really, all the ones we discussed in the beginning. We are now trying to break into the TV market with live streaming, that’s our own. We’ve got very little funding to do it as a governing body. As professional squash, professional ladies, WSA are try doing squash on TV , European squash are doing their tournaments, filming their tournaments, we are actually trying to pedal our own kanoe, its not the BBC that’s helping us, sky there’s a little bit of squash on sky. And they’ve got a new court now which is very dark and mysterious which picks up the ball quite well and makes the game look quite good. But for us , so for us to profile it put it on the website we’ve now got a full time press officer , whose job is to twitter, and use all the social networking sites so we are out there, people are seeing it, they are reading it, what’s going on, they are looking at our activities, a lot of people can’t believe how many activities we are actually getting stuck into, they are like god are the governing body getting involved in all that, they aren’t believing what we are doing. People are quite naïve out there, even our own members don’t know what we are doing, but the website is helping bring that to life a little bit. We need to touch these people in their arm chairs. Ok sky sports, school visits are helping , flyers, press releases, we’ve even been on the radio , so for us we have come forward leaps and bounds over the last two years, but do you know in the scale of things we are still absolutely nowhere

near it, nowhere near profiling our sport or being able to put a policy in place to touch the people we really want to touch, because I firmly believe if people try squash and play it they will play squash whatever level, they will place it, it’s just getting them there and being able to engage and access them.

I: ok im going to skip the next question because you have named the barriers from your own experience. So as squash wales as a national governing body do you benefit from the government?

R: Yes we do, we are totally absolutely efficient on it, and if we had to rely on our memberships it might be one part time administrator. We rely on ex checker money from the welsh assembly government, we rely on lottery money and coach cymru money and without it we would not exist, the governing body would not be there.

I: ok linking back to the earlier questions on strategy. how do you inform local clubs of these?

R: we’ve got links to local clubs, one the links through the counties, we’ve got AGM where we engage with the counties, although that’s only once a year its very limited, there an update on our strategy going forward where the counties can ask questions, the counties have meetings periodically 3 or 4 times a year and theres generally an officer there from a governing body who answer questions to update on new systems, new policies and pocedures, schools programmes, working in there area, for example south Glamorgan would have a meeting in south Glamorgan, Rhiwbina, one of our officers would go there and update them on school visits and what clubs we are working with ,what coaches we are trying to recruits, the referee courses we are putting on, safe guarding children courses, then of course also our programmes in terms if we are running tournaments and competitions, we are always trying to engage with counties and that’s 3 or 4 times a year, so we are always taking it to the counties of course the counties at the county meetings are all the clubs captains, we also send out our packs to all the clubs, so for example in Newport hopefully everyone will have access to the safeguarding children pack. So for us engaging with the clubs we have 10 community activivators that visit clubs and that’s where we do a lot of work really.

I: as a national governing body do you accumulate usage figures from all the junior sections in wales? If so what do these figures represent at the moment?

R: that’s a difficult question really because junior drift in and out of sections weekly, monthly and annually. School children drift in and drift out so it’s very movable in terms of figures, so we encourage all the clubs to do is when a child steps on court in my opinion, they should be ensured in case anything happens to them, so as NGB we encourage clubs to make them junior members of wales squash and racketball, so that we have the membership number figures for the year. Which vary from 1600 at best to 800 and that moves around whether there are school children there, so to keep those figures is really impossible for us. However it is monitored by our activators, those activators who visit the clubs looking at junior section. For example we visited cowbridge a couple of weeks ago and their numbers were down, they were down to about 8 juniors and they were up to about 30, we have now put a school programme on in January to visit all the schools in the cowbridge area and weve put an after school club in, so there’s an example of the work going on in the clubs, and of course the club will be a party and a partnership is important, they are key, some clubs want to buy in other clubs want to fly a little solo, keep themselves to themselves, but in the main the clubs benefit from being part of the NGB , some don’t realise that but some do. So for us to keep those figures absolutely impossible.

I: during my research I came across a charity that do street games, have you ever heard of this and have they ever approached squash wales?

R: No they haven’t, I know its all about , basically a charity that brings sport to the door of young people, in disadvantaged communities acorss the Uk, there was a conference in Newport on the 7th of December which I gather went very well but no we are not in there, the programme we tend to stay with are generally the partnerships with local authorities, so we have local authority partner agreements, we go in and see a number of schools, we have some festivals, those are our big involvement in the market space. I know this is challenging sport, challenging communitites and challenging lifes, I guess it comes back to for us that again the barrier for us is being a facility based sport we cant take it to the street. However there are moves a foot we have put in for some requests for funding for an air squash wall so for us we have taken mini squash to different areas and different

festivals, the eisteddoff , the one in north wales, the one in west wales, so we’ve got mini squash out there, however this air squash which is a big air squash court that gets pumped up people can play outdoors, they are about 4 or £5000 pound each but we have put in for 2 of them, we can visit the eiesteoff and even speak to the street games and put one of these up where they have a festival as squash we are out there but its having the resource , we’ve only just had the mini squash resource which puts us more and more out there, we could go one step further for a lot of money and have a air squash wales where we could get out there and take squash to the streets, if we could do that, and hand flyers out saying look this is your local squash club go along for a free squash session. Again its example of the NGB being proactive and increasing membership and participation.

I: ok that’s been great , thank you for agreeing to take part and I look forward to analysing this data doing my discussion.

R: me too.

Interview transcript 4- 08.01.13

Respondent D:

I: Firstly thank you for coming today. As you know I am currently in my 3rd year in Cardiff metropolitan university. As part of my sport development degree I am to conduct research into a chosen field and as I have a large interest in Newport squash club and squash wales I found it interesting and beneficial to centre my research these organisations. The title of my dissertation is: How do sports and national governing bodies operating in the niche market such as squash reduce barriers to maintain success? Firstly do you understand the purpose of my investigation and understand the role you have?

R: yes

I: Do you have any apprehensions or worries about what I am about to discuss with you?

R: no

I: In simple terms from this interview I would like to understand what you feel the barriers are firstly in your organisation and if you benefit from any extra help from either the national governing body or government schemes. Just to inform you, you have no obligation to complete this interview. If you feel uncomfortable at any point you are entitled to leave the interview without presenting a reason.

Ok so if everything is ok I will commence with my questions:

I: Firstly what position do you have in the organisation?

R: I have two positions, high performance coach in squash wales, and director of squash in Newport squash club.

I: ok what are your roles and responsibilities within these two positions?

R: for the NGB I’m the high performance coach so I’m responsible for each age group at the elite level, basically trying to ensure medals for wales in the 5 nations and to secure and put players on the footing for the ultimate goal of top 20 player.

I: and what about within the squash club?

R: in the squash club just to try and develop squash in Newport squash club and to safeguard the future of the club and to develop the game in Newport and the wider area.

I: so within this position does it give you much authority to implement change within squash wales or Newport?

R: my position gives me chance to give our position, tell them how it is, but it doesn’t give me much scope I don’t think to serious affect change no.

I: so you can give your opinion but you can’t actually implement something?

R: yeah, I can give my opinion, on the coaching side it gives me the opportunity to develop the kids and I have no barriers there, and I have great scope to bring the standard of squash up with the kids I have available but it doesn’t give me authority, we need a: more kids to play which would obviously help me and b: our infrastructure isn’t good enough and I have no real control over that.

I: ok how important is it to you personally and to your organisation within say Newport squash club that you increase participation, is this one of your main objectives? Or is it to make money?

R: No I think they both go hand in hand in our organisation, to continue we need to increase the player pool. Without that pool of players increasing I predict within 5 or 10 years that Newport squash club and other clubs in wales will be closed.

I: ok so what policies if any do your organisation have in place to increase participation is there anything Newport squash club do in particular?

R: Newport squash club as far as I’m concerned Is front runner in trying to get new members. We have a schools programme, we have 3 junior squash sessions a week, we have an adult programme , we have open days, we have an active website, we have 10 active teams, we participate in all squash wales events. I believe we do our upmost for the benefit of the game. We also have close links with Newport council, who also sort of facilitate us in our schools programme, which I believe is the only one in Wales that’s happening.

I: ok moving onto the barriers then, what do you think are the main issues or barriers squash wales or in particular Newport face in relation to gaining new members?

R: our main barrier is the infrastructure, it’s not fit for purpose. Plus its 35 years old , its four courts it’s a basic club. There’s been no investment either from the club or the governing body or from the council or the local government to update the facilities. We are competing against clubs in England, who have massive investment, they have capital investment, whereas we haven’t had a penny of capital investment, and that is our main barrier, our club is old, tired and it’s not a place people want to come. Unless the club is brought up to scratch and it’s a place people want to come and a clean and nice environment the membership is just going to decline because people don’t want to be in organisations that look like they are dead and dying.

I: ok are there anymore barriers?

R: um no I think that’s the biggest barrier at the moment; if you build it people will come.

I: in your experience then so from being a coach what do you think are the most commons reasons why people don’t actually want to play squash?

R: I think it’s a saturated market , your competing against a lot of other sports, a lot of leisure time , other sports are much more high profile. I think if squash gets into the Olympics that will help. But again if you go to England and look at the clubs that are successful like Nottingham , like Edgbaston there squash is actually growing and thriving , and if you go on the continent because their facilities are fit for purpose, if I had a facility which was fit for purpose id guarantee that I would have a programme of 500 children.

I: so like glass backs?

R: yeah you did glass back courts, you need some sitting behind the courts, you need a gym which will attract people in there during the day, you also need a café and a fully manned bar which is open throughout the day serving food and coffee, because Britain is a coffee environment now, people will sit down with a coffee and kids could come along to have coaching, parents can sit in a nice environment and

read a paper, have a coffee and Panini, that is the culture we live in now. But we haven’t got this, we’ve got four courts and a bar that’s shut during the day.

I: ok so is Newport squash club doing anything to reduce this barrier?

R: yes as a club we met last night, we formed a subcommittee looking into the possibilities of moving the club. We are going for a CAFAB grant which I believe is now going up from 350,000 to 1 million, so we are actively looking at that to cure and safeguard the future of our club. But as of yet we have had no tangible help of anyone else other than ourselves.

I: so that was my next question, you haven’t actually had help of the NGB to reduce the barrier of the infrastructure of the squash club?

R: I’ve had conversations with the NGB and I’ve wrote 3 letters into the NGB, 2 into the local government, 2 into the council, 2 to the local MP and 1 to the local MEP. I’ve had nothing tangible off anyone, I’ve just had lip service, and I think that’s criminal.

I: ok so moving on, are you aware of any strategies or initiatives squash wales have in place to help this squash club?

R: they have a good programme, the development programme is good but unless you have the facilities or infrastructure you are swimming against the tide. I personally believe is the strategy of sport wales where the funding comes from is fundamentally floored.

I: what is it?

R: it’s to invest in people, not in the infrastructure or capital investment. Whereas in Scotland it’s to invest in infrastructure and capital projects and as a result their clubs are fit for purpose. Again the emphasis there is right. In wales we are losing squash courts at the rate of 20 a year , we’ve had one squash club close last year, we’ve had no new courts booked, or no new investment in the existing infrastructure as far as I can see for the last 10 years.

I: that’s my next question, you don’t really feel the organisation has benefitted from any strategies sport wales have in place or squash wales?

R: no, not fit for purpose, no. the results are there for all to see, the numbers and participation has gone down year on year for the last 15 years.

I: what do you think are the reasons for this?

R: infrastructure. Squash clubs are the life and soul of the sport, It stands to reasons that if they are poor numbers will fall. To many leisure centre clubs, they serve a purpose but just the nation of them, they haven’t got full time people involved In them , it pay and play clubs and you need squash clubs for the game to thrive, and the wales leagues are working this out now, the league went from 80 teams last year to 70 this year, we are losing teams and that’s because traditional squash clubs are losing teams and players.

I: ok thank you for agreeing to participate I look forward to analysing this data in my discussion and conclusion.