Key Features of a Sports Development Strategy - Essay Example

Key Features of A Sports Development Strategy Most of us take sports as fun and recreation. It may be fun and recreation for some but for some, it isa profession, means of employment, for some it is a business. How do we define sports? Dictionary defines it as the bustle of individual or group for the trail of exercise or recreation which could involve bodily capabilities and it could also take the form of a competition game which could be either hockey badminton (Pederson et al, 2011). Sports can also be defined as the activities human which are capable to achieve the results of physical motions and skills. The physical motions could take the form of competition called as sports (Zachopoulou, 2010). Sports play great importance in building the human body. It encourages team building and social building of the participants. It is also a roadmap to good health. It resists diseases and helps to improve the quality of life. The economy of most of the countries depends upon the sports (Girginov, 2008). In the past decade there has been an enormous evolution in the sports. The health and fitness sector has expanded itself to meet the demand of athletes and sportsmen. Employment in this sector has been increased due to the increased professionalism of the National Governing Bodies and huge investments by different organizations. As this industry has groomed itself, the need of qualified and educated mangers has increased. Because they could better understand the sports market and cater its needs and could apply their professional knowledge in an organized way. Thousands of schools and colleges have been established to cater the needs of the sports sector (Trenberth & Hassan, 2011). The management has been turned into sophistication and it is constantly evolving. Due to the global nature of the sports it has to deal with all kind of socio-economic barriers. Certain issues like gender relation, social responsibility and violence are to be really addressed. These are some of the challenges which the sports managers of today are facing (Hassan & Lusted, 2013). Sports management are the set of skills relating planning organizing, Leading, controlling and budgeting for an organization whose main responsibility is to cater the services in the sports. The sports industry has been segmented into three main categories. First one is the Sports Performance. It includes the activation and participation of the people related to the sports industry and its stakeholders. Second segment is Sports Production which is related to its products and influence on the products. The third division of the sports industry is the Sports Promotion which is the core of Sports Event Management. Different promo tools are used to promote the sports event and make it familiarize to the people so that participation of sportsmen as well as the audience is increased (Irwin et al, 2009). In Contemporary Sports Management, there are four main Sports management Competencies. These are Sports Marketing, Sports Enterprise Financing, Sports Industry Career Paths and Sports as Social Institution. To be sports manager one have to be a contingent worker. He should have to be an Entrepreneur to boost the innovation purpose. They should be working in Teams. Individuals cannot play active role. If you are a long term Employee of an organization it is an exception quality. In the 21st century a specific set of skills and core competencies is needed. One needs to be computer literate. Sports manger should have to be adaptable to the changing environment. He could work with people of different ages, cultures and styles. He should have career planning skills. He should be aware of globally changing environments and managing its needs (Taylor et al, 2008). Sports and fitness are a must of each other. Many of the athletes arrest themselves in the drugs to enhance their power of performance which is banned in the sports industry. It is just like cheating in exams. Competitions are the judgment of one’s will. To stay fit and healthy requires the physical activity to be performed. By playing any sport, serves as the exercise, these helps to build the muscles and gain strength (Emery, 2011). A physically fit person enjoys life more and is exposed to fewer diseases. Physical and emotional health is also achieved through sports and recreation. Stress is a normal issue in the modern world. Recreation helps to reduce the daily stress. Sports and recreation helps us to build our self-esteem. Also enhances our confidence and increase our decision making. Also contribution to the local community enhances the social activities. Youth could keep themselves away from self destruction like drugs etc. (Torkildsen, 1999). Sports management existed for a long time and sports is an essential part of it. The ancient Greeks were the firs sports mangers. Sports development means to create opportunities for the sportsmen .The sports development managers focus on increasing the participation of the people demonstrating to increase the quality of people (Girginov, 2008). The strategies for sports development focus on the people not the tangible assets. The main vision of the Sports management committee is to create a long term determination and focus should be on creating long term impact instead of short term impacts. The strategy should be base on the three basic outcomes which are when combine for the basis of the world leading sports system. The vision for making sports strategy should be extended for more than ten years and the real outcomes will be visional after a long period making a country or clubs strategy a world leading strategy and its sports will be visional throughout the world. The three out comes must be: 1. Excellency: Approximately 25% of the total sports budget should be targeted for achieving the Excellency. It should be used to dig for the talent, bring them up and develop their core competencies. The talent support system for every sport should be equally funded which will result in the more talented performances and successes. Precision for the quantity of the talent pool would be determined for each sport depending upon the talent and funds. The Non Governing Bodies (NGBs) should have the major responsibility to focus on the level of coaching at all the appropriate levels so that the sports person’s talent is elevated to its peak (Woods, 2011). 2. Sustainability: Some percentage of the budget should also be allocated to focus on the current talent of each sport, who have earned their names in their sports and have them recognized themselves. It must be focused to groom their skill in their sports. It must be tried to reduce the drop-off in participation in fact make people to participate. To do so some sports should be selected say 6 sports (Tennis, Football, Hockey, Boxing, Badminton and Swimming).First target these sports to increase the participation and up-bring new talent to say about 30%. After achieving the 30% target sustain it and move to next six sports. At the next level, the sports person’s satisfaction should be elevated resulting in the quality of their experience. 3. Growth: Some percentage of the investment should also be focused to increase the regular participation of the people. For this purpose, Leagues should be conducted for different sports at all levels, so that the people are motivated to participate and get themselves proved creditable for their skill at their respective sports. They would be further coached at advanced level to prepare them at national, international and Olympics level which is of course a dream for every sportsman. The overall impact of these outcomes will be more people will be participating in the sports with more will. The drop-off in the sports, which is mainly du to the lack of coaching and accreditation, will be minimized to a certain level. The satisfaction level of the sportsmen will be increased and they will be more determined to what they do and will feel proud of it. The development system for talent acquisition will be developed and appreciated for some amount of sports say twenty or thirty sports. The teams in these sports could compete other world-class teams as well. The sports strategy should be dynamic and leading which could take edge in the sports environment. It needs the participation of its stake holders i.e. sportsmen, Non-Governing bodies etc. In order to formulate the strategy a huge pool of statistics and feed back is required. Keeping in view this feedback, the strategy is formulated. For this purpose focus groups are to be created from whom feedback would be collected. It may be schools, universities, ministers, officials, media etc. The issues which could be highlighted by focus groups could be lack of coordination and communication in rural areas and lack of coaching. There must be a responsible governing body for the implementing the strategy being formulated and that could be the local government. As this body is responsible for protecting the rights of the citizens, it is equally responsible for the advancement of the good of its citizens. The funds would also be arranged by this governing body. Sports minister would also be equally responsible to ensure that the entire stakeholders are putting their best to implement the strategy. In order to develop the sports country wide, the sports system at college and university level would have to be improved. The rural areas are often are at disadvantage due to non-competitions opportunities and little or no access to the sports activities at regional level. The role of regional level should be strengthened to enhance the sports. Facilities are yet another dilemma. Every educational institution should be bound to form a sports committee whose responsibility would be to conduct the sports activities on regular basis and special funds are to be released for this purpose. Every province is to be directed to host its provincial games thus screening out the best sportsmen for the national level team. In every budget of the provinces, separate funds would be separated for the provincial games. The facilities are to be updated for the games. After the games, sportsmen are to be evaluated based on their performance. Monitoring and evaluation would also be conducted to check whether all the activities are being performed at their right time. The bottlenecks are to be identified and issues are to be resolve as soon as possible. The evaluation is to be carried out by the independent body so that a correct report could be formed. One other theme of the modern sports strategy development is Cub Development. A network of support to the clubs is to be extended for safe and effective environment. Partnership with the sports clubs should be facilitated to develop high sports opportunities. All clubs will need to review the skill of their members which could either coaching, officiating or may be administration. The Non-Governing Bodies should operate their accreditation system and the clubs would have to gain their “Club mark” status (Harris and Parle, 2011). Coach Education and Volunteering is to be used to increase the number and quality of coaches. For this purpose workshops could be conducted delivering high support and subsidy to those who have themselves accredited. Recognition and award programs could be initiated for the volunteers. Courses in Umpiring, refereeing and judging would also be held to ensure quality of officiating. For Sporting Excellence, support from grass route to excellence of athletes, coaches and officials to help them reach their full potential. Partnerships could be created with schools and sports clubs to discover, develop and support talented athletes to perform their best of the ability. Free or subsidiary access to the potential athletes could be given to the leisure facilities. References Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Emery, P. (2011). The sports management toolkit. Abingdon, Oxon [U.K.: Routledge. Girginov, V. (2008). Management of sports development. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann. pp 41-59 Harris C.P. & Parle, T.,(2011) Sports Strategy 2012-2015 [available at] http://moderngov.halton.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=15235 Hassan, D., & Lusted, J. (2013). Managing sport: Social and cultural perspectives. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Irwin, R. L., Sutton, W. A., & McCarthy, L. M. (2008). Sport promotion and sales management. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.:p3 Pederson, Paul. M., Parks Janet B., Quatermon.J, Thibault.L. (2011) Contemporary Sports Management Fourth Edition,Australian Sports Foundation. 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