Why do so many of our olympic athletes come from public school?

[ivykaty44]

and what would you do to change it?

The other thing I have noticed with my ds (11) getting involved in cycling and starting to go to races is how many of the talented kids get sponsorship from local cycling shops. And British Cycling also supplies bikes for training (very good bikes - Islabikes for anyone who knows about good kids' bikes) - to make it more accessible to all.

Further up this thread it was stated something along the lines that David Cameron was concerned about the fact that poorer kids had less access to sporting activities etc.....lets just remember that the first things to be scrapped by the coalition was the vouchers enabling kids from poorer families to take part in sports activities that would otherwise be totally unaffordable for them. In my area this included football, cricket, horseriding and tennis coaching. It seems silly to have deprived this accessibility for children one minute...then show apparent worry about the fact that poorer kids cant partake in sports for financial reasons the next??

Golf doesn't have to be expensive. There are loads of affordable public courses and most private clubs offer very affordable membership for juniors. Ds plays golf and I'll sign him up to our local club when he is about 10, the cost will be £200 per year, which works out at a pretty cheap rate per round.

I agree that you need money for horse riding and tennis. Ds tried tennis when he was 5 and was quite good but not that interested so didn't continue. I was pleased he stopped as I have never seen so many competitive parents barking instructions to their dcs (who were 5). Really scary. Not sure if that is a general thing about tennis or whether it was because our local tennis place is a national centre for tennis (Bisham Abbey) so may attract those types.

I still think that if younger children are active in an unstructured way (running, skipping, jumping, climbing, throwing and kicking balls) etc, they will have a good strong base from which to develop more specific skills later on. I can't see that there is any real need in a lot of sports to start honing specific skills until 7 or 8 years of age (cf. Helen Glover - started rowing from a background in other sports 3 years ago - Olympic gold; her partner started I think 6 years ago).

It is striking that a lot of the athletes come from sporty backgrounds themselves - which is the thing in Ethiopia and Kenya - the community is hugely supportive of runners, but there's little happening in other sports because of a lack of facilities.

When I was at school, I took part in a cross country. Never done any running, or sport, I was there to make up the numbers. I came 6th out of about 100. Went to the inter-school race, came 3rd from not sure how many.

It was never mentioned again, no-one ever suggested I should take it up more seriously or join the running club or anything like that, in fact I was discouraged because a few months later I went to the changing room during a PE lesson to help a friend who was having an asthma attack and the PE teacher accused me of smoking! I'd never smoked in my life! I was so pissed off at him that I skipped PE whenever he taught us.

I think a lot of state schools are like this, they just don't recognise talent or want to instil confidence in students. Obviously there are great state schools, but I think this is a problem overall.

Haven't read the whole thread so this point may have been made already. One of the primary reasons I know that at least 2 athletes are (or were at) dds school (one county level, one olympic) is that the school was more amenable to the child taking time out for competitions and essential training, and also gave more assistance to ensure that the academic side was kept up to scratch.

It was nothing to do with the sports facilities (which aren't great anyway), or the coaching but simply that the school was more supportive and realised that talent should be encouraged, whether academic or sport.

yellowraincoat - that is so sad that no one took the time to encourage you to go further with such a talent, it would have taken someone three or four minutes to point you in the direction of a local track/athletics track and you could have had a wealth of enjoyment let alone possible wins at races.

my own dd loves sports and is very active and does well outside of school, at juniors she was doing cross country and came 4th in her first race, she already swam and i suggested tri club, she now does compete in tri's and loves the sport.

At secondary school in year 7 she won the 800meters, they then in year 8 put her in bottom group for games/pe....she was a bit perplexed about this and for another child could mean stop trying - lucky for dd she doesn't stop trying as she loves the sports so much so she does rounders club, athletics club and tennis club all after school before this is on top of cycling and swimming training both 3-4 times a week

happilyconfused I agree with you.It's mostly down to attitude to sport . While I know there will be some people who genuinely struggle to raise the money for club fees, kit etc, there are many others who will not baulk at buying the latest electronic game or mobile phone, but seem to think that the state should be supplying all the cash to improve our success in national competitions. We have good facilities [mostly] in this country but it needs parents and children to want and be willing to take advantage of them.

chalkiegirls- i guess it comes down to what is important for you and your family, some people will not baulk at getting up at 5.30am to take dc swimming and then pack them of to school, others wouldn't even consider this as an option.

If it was the norm for this to happen, then possibly more would get involved as sometimes people get involved as it is under their nose and they realise they may be missing out, or their dc will miss the boat if they don't do it.

This is just not correct.

Chalkiegirl - I agree, part of it is about priorities.

Here in Glasgow, some people will think nothing of paying c.£500 each for Celtic season tickets as well as hundreds of pounds for full strips for all the family (including babes in arms ) (Rangers fans would have incurred similar costs in previous seasons but it won't be quite as expensive for the next few years ) - and then complain about paying a couple of quid for a kids' coaching session or £50 for a year's worth of coaching and games.

I'd also like to give credit to Glasgow City Council which as well as providing funding to lots of different sports, give free entry to all council sports halls/swimming pools for Glasgow kids :) I can say that even as a Band G Council tax payer which costs us over £2,600 a year!

Just realised that Katherine Grainger went to the same (state) secondary school as I did.

I will acknowledge that it is a very naaaiiice part of Glasgow (actually, technically it's just outside Glasgow)

Ds1 goes to a state primary and last term and there was an inter schools swimming gala for all the primary schools in the borough. Ds1 was chosen to represent his school. He came home the day before the gala and said that his teacher had told them not to get their hopes too high as the local private schools always win the team cup every year. I was furious it's exactly this attitude which means state school pupils are at a disadvantage before they've even started. I also noticed at our local swimming pool ( had a quick nose at the lessons schedule on the desk) that the private schools have twice as many swimming lessons as the state schools and there are 15 pupils in each class in the former as oppose to the 30 pupils from the state schools.

See I disagree with part of it being about priorities. For example I have 3 children, I worked weekends, my husband works shifts - the logistics with regard to transporting one child to meets/lessons/training etc would be a bloody nightmare, not to mention needing to take all 3 children most of the time. It would be much easier if one of us didn't work but who can afford that now?

I was meaning it from the perspective of financial priorities. I recognise that time priorities, especially with more the one kid, can be impossible are extremely difficult to juggle

my dd trains with a girl who's parents work shifts and they have 4 daughters - they always manage somehow to juggle and sometime I help out and sometimes they help me out - as there is only me and I work, it isn't always easy finishing work getting home and having to walk straight back out again to training 15 miles away with flask tea in the car on the way or picnic tea for afterwards. Often I am landed with another baby to look after by a friend (who works and is single )and he just comes along to training or events and races- plenty of siblings around to play with him.

Thing is people/families do help each other out and give lifts and share and I have found that a lot in the culture of most of the sports dd does

Outlaw private education.Make it a level playing field.Give everyone opportunity.

I went to a comp that's produced a plethora of sporting stars. I can't name them as it would reveal my school but it's not 'just football'. The former pupils are big names in a range of sports. I do not subscribe to the idea that those in private education get more sporting opportunities. Grass roots is where it's at, and that costs a minimum to be involved in.

I have not read the whole thread but it's about 8% (or possibly 20% at sixth form level for those few who stay in school to 18 so not sure the 20% is a good statistic of all children) of children at private schools who make up 50% of Olympians?

So those of us who work very hard to pay school fees probably do it in part because of the good sports although sport is pretty low down the list of what I pay for. In fact amusingly given what a musical family we are (3 children won music scholarships etc) a good few of the children have very much enjoyed sport - in other words even if it is not a major thing at home if the school has you in swimming teams a primary school etc then you might well take it up.

Are we saying there is a problem though? As long as chldren are fit (and many aren't and huge numbers are very fat) it does not matter if they are Olympians or doing excessive running which tends to damage knees. Does it matter if we don't do that well at sport? It might be better if they were learing to spell better.

I am thinking gotta exclude the social "underclass" from the state set, too. That's 5-15% or so of general population.

Just look at Jack Green, our latest 400mh star (though unfortunately fell tonight). He has made it to the top with nothing other than loads of family support. Single parent, not much spare cash, but has done wonders.

pushy parents with money i guess

I think the private school thing is a red herring. I'd be far more interested in seeing a breakdown of the Olympians by family income rather than by educational establishment. I bet they are largely from homes of above average affluence. The private school stats wil then come from the fact that more than 7% of well off families use private schools.

I work in an independent prep and yes, the facilities for sport are amazing. But our only children who are currently excelling on a national/international level are in judo, gymnastics, skiing, horseriding and swimming. Of those sports only swimming is taught at school. But their families have the means to support them.

I also don't think the education/background of our olympians is concerning for two reasons:

1. On a purely selfish level - we are doing amazingly well with the athletes we have. Third on the medal table with only two huge countries ahead of us. That's very impressive for a country our size and I think we should be proud of our sport, not ashamed!
2. If we are going to try and equalise opportunities for all British children then there are many fields I would want to see levelled before we worry about sporting opportunity - making sure all children have a decent place to live and enough to eat for a start!

Completely agree about income manicinsomniac. Re: swimming, I would also assume that the good swimmers would have been introduced to swimming whether or not it was taught at school.

I also agree that you have to meet basic needs before worrying about sport. However, I think it is important because of the benefits of being involved in a sport. There is the support and community offered by sports clubs, and the focus and discipline required to take part in sport at a high level (or even just a high level for you). I am really inspired by the athletes who put so much time into competing in minority sports, knowing that they are taking a risk that might not pay off, that fame will be fleeting, and that the only tangible reward will be the opportunity to train future athletes.

I think it is incredibly patronising (and a bit ignorant) for politicians and journalists to talk about public school ethos in relation to Olympic medals, ignoring the input of parents, and barriers to entry for people who have no spare money.

(Also, I don't think its about 'pushy' parents - you don't get to be an Olympic medal winner because your parents told you to do it, although it is virtually impossible to be an Olympic athlete without a parent/parent figure to sort out the logistics, unless you are involved in a sport where you can take it up as an adult)