Sportivate

National Programme

The National Sportivate Programme will capture the excitement of sport and London 2012 to provide attractive and sustainable sporting opportunities for participants in the sport of their choice within their community. Specifically, Sportivate will provide opportunities for teenagers and young adults (aged 14-25) to receive no less than 6 weeks (and a maximum of 8 weeks) of coaching in the sport of their choice and will guide them into regular participation within their community.

Sportivate is part of the 'play' strand of the Sport England's 'Places, People, Play' initiative which is part of the London 2012 Mass participation Legacy. 'Places, People, Play' is a £135 million initiative which has been made possible by the Government's National Lottery reform and will bring additional funding into grassroots sport. It will be delivered by Sport England, in partnership with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will bring the inspiration and magic of a home Olympics and Paralympics into the heart of local communities, encouraging more people to get involved in sport.

Nationally, £32 million of National Lottery Funding (revenue) will be invested into the Sportivate Programme, with further partnership funding (cash and in-kind) being invested by local partners.

Sportivate will commence in April 2011 and will run for 4 years until March 2015.

Sportivate will be reflective of the Coalition Government's BIG Society because it will be delivered against a simple national framework but with local flexibility to produce the following outcomes: •  Providing a supply chain of sporting activities that will match as well as generate demand; •  Getting more 14-25s regularly participating in sports activities in the community by responding to their needs and working closely with a range of relevant providers to provide a framework of activities; •  Increasing take-up in leisure centres and other facility stock; and •  Generating close links with clubs to drive more participants to take part and volunteer in National Governing Body (NGB) community sports clubs.

Sportivate will also contribute to wider agenda outcomes including impacting upon under-represented groups, breaking down social and cultural barriers, attracting a range of additional funding/advocacy partners, tackling obesity and providing settings for skills development in education and community life (both through participating and volunteering).

The overall aim of the National Sportivate programme is for 296,257 participants (presented as 300,000) aged 14-25 years to complete weekly coaching sessions over the 4 years and two in five of them, 118,503 (presented as 120,000), carrying on playing sport regularly. Sportivate will bring about behavioural change by encouraging participants to regularly take part; increasing opportunities for those aged 14-25 to participate regularly in sport and transitioning them into regular and sustained participation. Not only is it a chance for them to learn a new sport or improve on existing skills, but if they keep taking part after the course is finished, they could find themselves on their way to watch the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympics Games. All participants who complete their course, missing no more than one session, and keep playing the sport for at least another three months will be entered into a ballot for free London 2012 tickets.

National Governing Body clubs will play an important role in Sportivate by providing a range of projects for a wider cohort of 14-25s than is currently the case. They will provide structured and managed pathways by supporting the delivery of the weekly coaching sessions and offering a suitable exit route.

Sportivate is targeting those aged 14-25 who may not seek out sporting opportunities themselves and would not prioritise doing sport in their own time or those who are doing sport for a very limited amount of time. These participants might be described as semi-sporty. This target group was selected because research has shown that the period in which people leave full-time education and start to lead more independent lives is when many stop, and do not resume regular sports participation (CCPR Sport and the Community; The Report of the Wolfendon Committee on Sport, 1960, London). By transitioning participants to settings in which regular sporting opportunities are available (within the structure of their newly-found independence) Sportivate will play a part in promoting long-term behaviour change by opening up new and exciting opportunities for them.

The delivery of Sportivate to this target group will contribute to the Sport England Strategy 2008-2011. For the 14-16 year-olds the programme is very much about transitioning them into club sport before they leave school. This is crucial in reducing drop off at 16. For the 16+ the programme will grow the number of people (aged 16-25) doing more sport each week and will support one million people taking part in more sport. The general trend for this age group will be measured by the Active People survey.

Sportivate projects will target participants from across the target group, including those from under-represented groups such as the disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic groups, those with disabilities as well as the disaffected. Sportivate projects and their plans will reflect specific local demographics in each county/sub-region.

The National Sportivate Programme is managed and delivered locally by County Sport Partnerships. See the South Yorkshire Sportivate Programme section for more information about South Yorkshire. See the links on the left hand side for more information about the National Sportivate Programme.

Links

http://www.sportengland.org/about_us/places_people_play/sportivate.aspx http://www.sportengland.org/media_centre/press_releases/places_people_play/places.aspx http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/8219.aspx