How do uni's decide which sports to invest in?

[weddenstay]

DD will be heading to uni in 2022. She is torn between one that does the academic course she wants to do and one that has training facilities for the sport she plays at national level. It's a relatively niche sport (hence not naming it), but growing in popularity. It is closely related to another sport that has much wider participation and which is already popular at this uni. If people are lucky enough to have access to facilities for both sports they do tend to do both, but facilities for the niche variety are few and far between in the UK. If she chose the academic uni she would have limited access to training facilities over an hour away by car. We've been musing about whether, if she chose that option, she could try to persuade the university to build a training facility for her sport on site - it would be possible for around £30k, and they do seem to have enough space. There are already some niche sports with fantastic facilities there. If universities have money to spend on sport facilities, how do they decide which sports to invest in? Do they consult students?

I think it’s quite unrealistic to think they would build a £30k facility for your daughter, effectively.

Even if they did consult now and found an overwhelming desire for this niche facility, it is surely unlikely anything would be in place for 2022? Really not sure if this was a serious thought.

Many students have to make choices about what their priorities are when choosing a university, unfortunately.

I expected that sort of negative response, but it doesn't answer the question. Universities make these sorts of decisions all the time, so I'm interested in what influences them.

They obviously wouldn't be just building a facility for my DD, they'd be building it for the many students who allready enjoy the other form of the sport and would like to do both. It is only 'niche' in the uk because there are hardly any facilities, but it is an Olympic sport which is much bigger in other parts of the world, and growing here. The Olympics is opening up to many sports that would have been considered niche a few years ago and the UK can only compete if it invests in facilities.

The problem is the vast majority of universities don't have spare money at the moment.

If a university is planning on investing in anything this is planned years in advance.

The level of demand. Funding available, for example from national governing bodies or government schemes. Whether it’s a sport that is competed in at student level nationally. How viable they facilities would be to maintain and hire out. The long term likelihood of the facility being attractive to new students.

You say £30k, but I’m intrigued by what sports facility could be built for that little. There would also be the ongoing costs - universities will usually hire coaches and instructors, they don’t tend to just leave the students to it unless it’s a recreational sport, which in turn they're not going to commit large amounts of funding to.

They will make provision based on the what the student body is telling them, on a continuous basis, via the student union and the various organisations (sports clubs, facilities management etc) which provide and support sport ant the unuversity.

Typically budgets will be allocated according to what is needed (periodic replacement of astros, other major updates/maintenance for existing sports, especially those with good participation), occasionally major projects such as whole new buildings. And then what is wanted, and it's normally the result of consultation, and budgets will be set a couple of years ahead (on a rolling basis, and with new stuff coming behind upkeep of well-used stuff).

So unless there is something already in the pipeline, you're unlikely to see any major, built facilities for a new sport within a year or two. Longer if consultations have not yet taken place and approval (ahead of other projects) secured. Also, they'll have to find the space on which to build it - that sort of thing can hold projects up.

Your DD needs to ask if there are already plans underway to create facilities. If not, then proceed on the basis there will be none ready to use for most/all of her time.

I note that it's a sport that most towns and cities don't have facilities for. I really wouldn't pin hopes on it making it to a university's priority list as it is so rare.

Universities make decisions in different ways based on their people, budgets and space available. Everything goes through multiple committees, which tend to only meet up at set times of the year. They're pretty much all struggling financially after Covid and Brexit impact. And it usually takes a long time for things to change.

It's super unlikely that a place will just magic up some facilities in the way you would like. But the best thing would be for her to ask. Get her to contact the sports facilities at the place she's interested in and ask her niche questions.

They would be unlikely to fund a new facility themself, but would need to access grant funding from an organisation like Sport England. They would need to prove that the facility was satisfying unmet demand from across the university population from across the student body to widen participation. It would not be given to encourage elite access. I suppose a classic example would be cycling. A university may already have access to velodrome facilities, but extending these to build a facility for BMX cycling may not get funding if it was deemed unlikely that students would participate because they wouldn't have access to BMX equipment.

A university would be unlikely to decide to invest in facilities for a niche sport without any outside support. More likely, some of the funding would come from a UK sporting body.

Also, in terms of asking students, the current cohort (and those at the stage of actually applying or seriously thinking about it) will have graduated or be close to by the time any sort of capital project is completed, so demand and benefit would need to be demonstrated on a much wider scale than specific cohorts of students.

Our local uni won't build a swimming pool due to costs despite swimming being popular and the uni having an excellent water polo team. I doubt if your DD could persuade a uni to build a facility for a niche sport (even if it is a lot less expensive than a pool).

If your DD loves her sport then she needs to go to the one with the facilities there. Does that one also do the subject she wants to study?

@EduCated

Also, in terms of asking students, the current cohort (and those at the stage of actually applying or seriously thinking about it) will have graduated or be close to by the time any sort of capital project is completed, so demand and benefit would need to be demonstrated on a much wider scale than specific cohorts of students.

Exactly. These things take years and any decision would be based on long term plans.

Nothing happens quickly at a university!! It's taken me two years to get an additional member of staff at my uni!!

It is not only having the facility though, but attracting the coaching, level of competition, additional interest among other students which takes time to build. She would be better focussing on those unis already with such facilities or elite level training in the local area.

Unis have clubs with a committee structure to run each sport, and an overarching 'Sports Association' or some such, which basically fight out which sport gets what money, and which sport gets time in facilities-eg gym time for fitness training.

A determined, organised student starting at a Uni could make a difference- but it's unlikely to get enacted before they've graduated.

Getting involved in commitees can be a very good thing, and provide lots of transferable skills , useful in job applications- communication, teamwork, setting priorities, resolving differing needs.

However, if someone's competing at national level, they may simply not have time for this.

One more thought: are there other nearby Unis with the required facilities? In a big city that has more than one Uni, it's not uncommon for a student to train and compete at a different Uni to the one they're studying at. Obviously, can't compete for a Uni you're not at when it's strictly a Uni team, like Varsity matches, but in rowing, at least, you can be a member of a Uni Boat Club, and compete in open regattas, without actually necessarily being a student at that Uni.

I'm trying to figure out what would cost only £30k? Parcour? But that's not Olympic. £200k for a race BMX track, so that's not it.

She could enter the world of fund-raising & grant applications, OP. This would take lots of her spare time in next 4 yrs by which time her course would finish and the facility maybe not yet built.

Story here about 16months to get £170k funding for a skatepark, which seems like got completed fairly quickly. That fund-raiser was lucky that the council had already made decision to try to get the facility upgraded.

Climbing/bouldering? But quite a lot of places have one or the other nearby.

Unless it’s a very simple add-on to an existing facility, eg: a climbing wall on an existing gym wall, even if your dd went to see the uni Sports Union tomorrow and they agreed in principal to fund new facilities for your DD’s sport, formal funding approval from the wider sports finance committee, Sport England grant applications, planning permission and all the associated flood risk/environmental
Impact/green travel etc approvals, design, appointment of contractors and construction will take a good few years. Construction schemes don’t just happen!
(I’m a civil engineer, I work on publically funded schemes, and was very sporty at university, heavily involved in the Athletic Union).

Climbing wall is good guess, numbers are about right. But there has to definitely be a building on campus already the right design to put one in, with inside some dead space or space that can be repurposed. And what about safety equipment? Is that included in the costs, and administration to control access? What about maintenance costs?

@lljkk

Climbing wall is good guess, numbers are about right. But there has to definitely be a building on campus already the right design to put one in, with inside some dead space or space that can be repurposed. And what about safety equipment? Is that included in the costs, and administration to control access? What about maintenance costs?

I may have once been involved in the design and build of a climbing wall….. 🥲.

I imagine that the insurers and users will expect a few autobelays etc which are a significant cost, and come with a maintenance commitment.

Thanks all. Please don't go off at tangents speculating about which sport though. Its an outdoor facility, so doesn't need a building, and can be set up quickly (days) and easily on a temporary or permanent basis without planning permission if the conditions are right.

No risk assessments required, no liability, no equipment to store or insure?

Might be better off approaching local council to build it as community facility.

I would imagine that these decisions are made in budget allocation meetings between the university estates dept, the sports facility management and the students’ sports union committee. The first step is probably to get an active club for that sport established. They would then lobby the sports union to put forward this investment as a priority. In my experience many students competing at high level do strength and fitness training in the university but spend a lot of time training elsewhere with specialist coaches.

Universities change at a glacial pace, in part due to strategies and budgets being set way in advance, and big committees only sitting a few times a year. They may consult students (but not applicants) but most of the time they have already got an idea of what they want to do and funding from external sources will be a big factor.

I'm here literally to guess what sport it is 😂

Are the unis poles apart in academic achievement? If not take the one with the facilities

Interesting question though

Are the unis poles apart in academic achievement?

Both RG uni's, but the one that does the sport doesn't do the course she wants to do. The one that does the course is very highly regarded for it. Nowhere does both so she will need to compromise whatever decision she makes.

@weddenstay

Are the unis poles apart in academic achievement?

Both RG uni's, but the one that does the sport doesn't do the course she wants to do. The one that does the course is very highly regarded for it. Nowhere does both so she will need to compromise whatever decision she makes.

That's a hard decision for her. I have sports kids also so I can understand your dilemma