In December 2004 the Government announced additional funding of £519 million for 2006 to 2008 to continue and expand the national PE, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) strategy. Part of this will fund the employment of new Competition Managers in School Sport Partnerships. These will contribute significantly to the ambition that by 2010 a high quality school sport national competition framework implemented locally with opportunities for all will have been developed.
A National Competition Framework for Young People
Following consultation during Spring 2005, with a wide range of sports a National Competition Framework for schools was established to increase the amount of inter- schools competition available to young people and to improve the quality of existing competitive opportunities.
The National Competition Framework is in principle a 'good practice' model for the delivery of competitive sport for young people, The framework has been developed jointly by The Youth Sport Trust, Sport England and the National Council for School Sport collaboratively with a wide range of national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) and School Sport Associations.
The vision is to develop for each sport a single competitive framework top to bottom that includes competitions in school and club. The framework seeks to increase participation in high quality competition for all young people; and will also be used as the basis of the review process to transform talent identification and development for 2012 and beyond.
Developing a world class system of competitive sport for young people
The ambition is to create a step change in content, structure and presentation of competitive opportunities for young people of school age by modernizing competition structures. For some sports this will culminate in the UK School Games a pinnacle multi sport event which will profile the most talented young athletes aspiring to compete in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games and create a legacy for future sporting generations.
This agenda will create a heightened profile for school sport, and specifically competitive opportunities. The work will start to eliminate duplication and over competition for many youngsters. The frameworks are designed to broaden the range of opportunities at the base and improve coherence from local to regional to national level, clearing and un-cluttering pathways. In addition the frameworks will star to signpost the most appropriate competitive opportunities for talented young performers in each sport, and significantly clarify relationships and responsibilities between providers like NGBs and Schools Associations.
Progress to date
To date, 16 sports have produced their framework. They are:
Swimming, Gymnastics, Rugby Union, Netball, Tennis, Table tennis, Badminton, Squash, Cricket, Volleyball, Orienteering, Hockey, Rugby League, Soccer, Golf and Lacrosse. From September 2007 Basketball, Judo, Rowing and Athletics will be live for
Competition Managers Update
The Competition Manager infrastructure is currently being implemented across 49 county areas in England. Many counties are currently going through their advertisement and recruitment process for these posts ready for an April start for their senior positions. Competition Managers are working with national governing bodies on the implementation of the national competition frameworks, in order to increase the number of young people engaged in regular competitive opportunities.
To view the Competition Impact Summary Newsletter please click here
Further information
In addition to their framework each sport has produced guidance notes which provide a simplified version of its framework with consistent information about who is involved, the key messages, benefits, supporting resources and advice on how the frameworks will be delivered locally. Further information can be found by clicking here.
All partners are encouraged to start to work to the frameworks in their delivery of competitive opportunities for young people.