BBC Blog Network

User Profile

diverjohn46

Listed below are comments made by diverjohn46 between Wednesday, 4th February 2009 and Monday, 3rd August 2009.

«Newer
Older»

London 2012's 10 commandments 11:07am on 03 Aug 2009 Matt, as far as the Olympics themselves are concerned, everything is looking very very positive and I believe we will host an outstanding games and good luck to everyone involved.

What though comes after?

One of the very noticeable things is the number of sport related jobs that are about that are funded until summer 2012. What happens post Olympics when this funding seems to run out?

Another trend is the elite-isation of sport. Certainly in diving we are seeing this - most of the newer centres - Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Southampton - do not allow the public to get any opportunity to try diving - the governing body doesn't get involved - they don't seem to care- so, the only way to even try the sport is to get on the lesson programme (if you can afford it)
Even then, because of the dearth of facilities around the country there are no alternatives so all of the existing clubs and centres are full. The pressure to show results for funding is also squeezing out those that want to do the sport for something other than potential Olympic hopefuls. Adults especially are being squeezed out - we have seen three major diving centres make it impossible to adults to continue over the last few years reversing the trend which had seen 'Masters' diving growing at a good pace since the 1990's.
Add in to this a new 'coaching' qualification which is prohibitively expensive and you have an escalating problem with grass roots diving in the UK.
But of course i'm talking rubbish as Tom Daley has just become world champion - and we shouldn't mention that he lives just along the road from one of only 4 places in the country where he could have got into diving and realised his potential!

To look at the lack of diving and the losses have a look at www.diving-gbdf.com
Canny Mancs make London connection 10:53am on 03 Aug 2009 Swimming isn't doing too badly, and well done Manchester for attracting the aussies!
But what about the other aquatic disciplines Matt?
In diving we will get to see so few - we just don't have the facilities to offer them. Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Edinburgh will be the only pools which can offer an 'Aquatics' venue that can provide facilities for both swimming and diving without even thinking about Water Polo and Synchronised swimming! For diving only you could add in Southampton.
I asked some 6 years ago, what we were gong to do about the loss of so many of our diving facilities - Not a problem- was the answer! When we won the Games I asked how we could accommodate the teams wanting to train for Diving, would this give us the opportunity to build the infrastructure the sport needs - with regional facilities that were accessible to the country.
The Answer - NO.
Even where new pools are being built, as usual - diving- the cinderella 'swimming' sport is being left high and dry. Yes we will get some new facilities - eventually - but post 2012 we will be in a worse situation than we are now. Sunderland has a new pool with diving - but it didn't need highboard as they "can travel to Sheffield to train", the same statement that was given to the welsh coach when he was pleading for facilities for Cardiff. Actually, Sunderland is closer to Edinburgh!
But the cosy relationship between governing bodies, Sport England and DCMS is killing sport as there can be no outside voices heard.
We have just run a Masters diving in Manchester, with an age range of 16 to 87 competing - but we have lost competitors over the last few years as they are being squeezed out of clubs as they are being forced to focus their limited time and facilities on developing children in the 8 to 14 age range and the adults 'get in the way'. Developing 'sport for all'???
How sport can save the world 5:02pm on 26 Jul 2009 This is very good news for Manchester - but they are one of very few cities that can boast aquatics facilities that would tempt teams. the others are Sheffield, Leeds and , err,!
Now before people complain about this aquatics are not just swimming - there are other sport involved - diving for example and these are the only facilities that can provide both diving and a 50 metre pool.
Corby, the new east Midlands pool has the 50m but the diving facilities only go up to 5m which is not sufficient.

It might be worth looking at why Manchester and Sheffield have good facilities - it's not through development - they were built for specific events Sheffield the World Student Games ('92) and Manchester the Commonwealths (2002. Glasgow of course get the 2014 Games but they do not get diving facilities - only swimming.

It was interesting to listen to the remark about no diving club in Coventry put to Lord Coe on his interview Friday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/midlandstoday/latest_stories/
I was actually coaching in Coventry and Jamie started with me. I was thrown out by the pool after developing diving there for 18 months - very successfully- for complaining about unsafe practices and a total lack of management commitment to any development of the sport. In the week of the Beijing Olympics I taught 50 beginners in diving, all of whom wanted to continue, I asked for extended time which was available so as to increase numbers, the pool then found an excuse for getting rid of me ( I was away for 2 weekends at diving championships), stopping the lessons completely.
At least they now have no one badgerng them to run it in a safe manner and to put some effort into developing diving there.
My local pool (Peterborough)where I got new facilities installed a year ago has just closed it's facility after an accident and will not talk about how long it will stay shut. Again, over 40 young (and not so young) divers have nowhere to go.

Yes the Olympics could do good, but, not the way it is being handled by leisure providers and sports governing bodies. Apparently, we don't need more facilities.
Can the French muscle in on 2012? 10:59pm on 21 Jul 2009 In my sport -Diving- we identified a need for a replacement for all the closed facilities (over 70% in the last 30 years) and the Olympics would have been the ideal catalyst. To be able to see the worlds best would have been a great spur and the legacy would have been a network of good quality regional facilities and an enthused population.
Sadly, it was accepted very early on that the majority of teams would not come to the UK as we didn't have the facilities. The benefit will go to France, the Benelux countries and Germany in the main. They are investing money in facilities to allow the best to train in front of their people - we are not.
IN Diving - where Tom Daley has just won the World Championships, we will have just 6 full diving facilities - and they are not all world class. We've Lost over 70% of public facilities in 30 years (over 90% in London)and as an E-mail I received today showed people have to travel over 1 hour just to get to a diving board - is this a legacy? No local facilities, limited access to those that exist and an elite only policy - So the legacy plan and getting people into sport will, in this sport - fail miserably
Even for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 - Glasgow will not get a diving board - you have to go to Edinburgh.... and the people who run sport do not see that this is a problem
Investment at the shallow end of the pool 1:07pm on 07 Apr 2009 I'd add another neat little bit of synergy here Gordon, that between sports participation and anti social behaviour.
Now, my sport has lost in excess of 75% of it's facilities across England in the last 30 years. However, it's a sport which appeals to those kids who like excitement and the adrenaline rush that that gives. Having these kids bored and with nothing to do is not a good thing.

Diving gives that rush in spades and also has other beneficial benefits too. The people now using the re-opened facilities where I live are this very group - ones that cause trouble in the swimming pool and probably the surrounding area too. BUT, not when there are facilities like this for them to use. They obey the (sensible) safety rules, the have fun, throw themselves around, respect the others in the area and generally behave pretty well, much to the surprise of the staff.

But, across the country we have been losing facilities like this which keeps kids active and having fun in a managed environment, and instead they are out on their own or in a group with nothing to do except find ways to amuse themselves and get excitement. Add in the huge growth in the availability of alcohol and we find a recipe for anti social behaviour.

The cost of policing and managing this is far more than the cost of maintaining facilities that would be attractive to these people and keep them off the streets. It doesn't help that people like the ASA are only looking at the elite end and actively discourage public access to diving facilities.

Sport can deliver huge benefits, if it's allowed to and if joined up thinking is applied.
Investment at the shallow end of the pool 07:01am on 01 Apr 2009 It has also had other effects which are not quite so positive.
I was supposed to be running diving lessons during the school holidays, but these have been scaled right back due the problems that free swimming is likely to cause to programming time in the pool.
One should also look to the report by London Swimming which stated that they had found that 'free swimming' had only increased the number of times users went, it had NO impact on getting additional people involved.

Bear in mind that with the increasing loss of facilities, there are less places where you can swim, and less where you can learn to swim, this initiative was designed to stifle that debate which it did very successfully.
Building The Olympic Dream 5:14pm on 11 Mar 2009 Just as a response to Hackerjack.

What bunch of stadia in London are you referring to??

I understand the loss of money for outside London, but one should realise that London has, in some cases deliberately, been held back inn the facilities stakes for the last 50 years with the exception of Football.
The last big facility built in London was Crystal palace in the 1960's. 30 years ago my sport was saying we needed a comprehensive overhaul of the facilities we had. So far we have lost 90% of those, the Olympics will only give London one facility when it needs many. But it is something that is desperately needed for sport and participation. I agree with the fracas over shooting - it seems a deliberate ploy to make sure that shooting gets no legacy and the Equestrian side is equally stupid.

My problem with 2012 is that I think too much money will go on consultants and not enough on spreading the Olympic legacy to where it needs to go. We could do it so much better, if we took the army of consultants out of the equation!
Everything will change 9:40pm on 08 Feb 2009 If anyone wants to do anything constructive in this mess, then the first thing to sort out is the rules on company receivership.

In this, a bank can effectively pull the plug on a company and the receivers/administrators then try and pull in as much value as they can.
BUT
The bank, gets back as much of it money as as it can as it will have title over the company assets, the preferential creditors (staff etc) then get some.
The others, the unsecured creditors then get nothing
(But the administrators then get paid but the bank for doing a good job at about £400 per hour...)

This of course means that the big boys get their money, but the small companies and the individuals get nothing. The small companies lose money and need loans to get by but the banks refuse credit and call in the receivers.... and it all goes round again.

To break this cycle we need a system that allows equality of division, to make banks think more about shutting down a business, and to allow creditors some chance to get some payment and continue trading or the whole cyclical routine will continue to grow.
London confidential 9:03pm on 08 Feb 2009 Adrian,
I'm not totally surprised by the 'gagging' of suppliers.

In sport this has been happening for many years through the National Governing Bodies. These groups have so much power that they can (and do) use this to stop people saying anything 'off message'

You don't hear much complaint about sport management from the big coaches of clubs - why? Because they are funded through the Lottery and the lottery funding is through the NGB's. If you make a fuss then your lottery funding will magically disappear.

Add to this the magic circle of the DCMS, Sport England and the NGB's and no one outside can break in and have a voice.

I found this out the hard way by raising a facilities issue - the loss of over 75% (90+ in London) over 30 years. The response - none, sport England pointed me to the NGB, DCMS quoted Sport England.

Then the figures I was using were rubbished by all three and 'Official' figures given. The media accepted these meekly, even though the BBC had checked and found major discrepancies.

Four months later it turned out, after media interest had waned that the 'Official' figures were totally wrong and the figures that had been rubbished were right - too late.
If we want to develop sport - get rid of the NGB's - make them accountable and for gods sake check what they say.
Labour law wrangling 5:55pm on 04 Feb 2009 One of the point's that is being missed is the language problem that we are importing with this. They will employ British workers to work in Britain, -Great - but what language is going to be used on the site?

From the interview with the Italian worker - who couldn't speak english, I would guess that the answer is Italian !!

Now that would mean they would employ only workers who are fluent in italian.

This follows on from a company advertising for production line manager who spoke polish as all the line staff were polish.

It does come to something when in order to get a job in your own country you have to speak a different language!

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

diverjohn46