London 2012 legacy promises are only applying to some sports

Last updated on .From the section Sport
Six months on from the London Games, the grand promise to inspire us to becoming a fitter, sportier nation seems to be on track.
According to Sport England's latest edition of the Active People survey, published just before Christmas, there's been a 750,000 increase in the number of people playing sport once a week in the last year.
Take it all the way back to 2006 - a year after London won the right to stage the Games - and you can see a very steady increase - 1.6m extra people.
This is not to be dismissed lightly but given the huge sums of public money invested over the last seven years one might argue that the dial should have moved more dramatically.
Drill into the data in a little more detail and the picture is not quite so healthy. Much of the increase in the last year came in a small number of sports - led by cycling, athletics and swimming.
Others such as rowing, gymnastics and basketball have barely registered an increase. After a year like 2012 that has to be deeply worrying for those politicians and administrators who vowed to inspire a generation.
A survey by the Sport and Recreation Alliance of all sports clubs found that while the Olympics did lead to a surge in interest in sports like gymnastics, a lack of facilities and coaching meant that interest couldn't be absorbed.
The challenge now will be to ensure facilities and coaching can be upgraded quickly enough to ensure any momentum is not lost.
The debate which has polarised sport in recent weeks has not focused on the grassroots but the elite level. While the Government has rewarded those sports like cycling which delivered medals in abundance in London, it has punished those who failed like basketball and volleyball by removing funding for the top athletes.

People like Sir Clive Woodward, the BOA's former director of elite performance, argue the Government and UK Sport have got it wrong and that by cutting off the supply of cash for those at the top they risk removing the role models needed to inspire people to get off their sofas and play sport.
Nonsense, says the Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, who told me this week: "Those sports that have failed should stop whingeing about it and take a long hard look at themselves, work out why they failed and put it right."
It's harsh but it's also the post London reality. Only those who succeed will be rewarded.
The risk for the Government is that by only backing winners they cut adrift other sports - especially cheap and accessible team sports like basketball - and remove that inspirational factor which was at the heart of the London philosophy.
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Rob
24 Minutes ago
Give money to those who have proven they can win
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Ah, the old elitist approach. I think you've missed the point of the Olympics altogether. It's precisely those sports that we're not good at that need the investment. Successful people have far less need of it. It's about empowering people, not about creating an elitist legacy.
What about the Legacy of those London Council taxpayers who are still paying for the Olympics, the Stadium that no one knows what to do with, and the wonderful games makers ?
And what of those sports that the BBC held in such high regard for a couple of weeks and then ditched like an ugly girlfriend?
76. Little_Old_Me
"The British public, as a whole, think the money was well spent."
How many of those people in that survey were Londoners, (who along with the lottery), were the people who had to pay for the games via extra council tax (and still are until 2016 at least. Wish those who said it was worth it could pay me back.
"I'm getting fed up with BBC stories creating negative stories about the London Olympics"
To be honest I'm fed up with the BBC Olympic storeis as well. They were unavoidable during bid, construction, build up, competition and review.
THEN we had all the videos available until 13/1/2013.
Then the "Best of" ...
Now this!
Any chance that we can, by a definitve date, get over it?
Additionally if you want some extra income, sort out collecting the taxes from several overpaid sports people who go out of their way to avoid paying the correct amount.......
here's a real legacy REDUCE VAT on the playing of sport so we can all be encouraged to participate
Couldn't be anything to do with the Royals ?
I live in Glasgow and have a 7 y.o son who is very sports minded. We pay for everything he engages in, swimming, football, golf etc.
There are no indoor facilities that kids can use which are free of charge.
The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow in 2014 and I find the current situation with lack of facilities extremely disheartening.