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

[ivykaty44]

and what would you do to change it?

The local clubs have taken over the training of youngsters in most sports so unless parents make the effort and take them along to a tennis/cricket club when they are small the chances are they will miss out. While the DC are little clubs provide most of the necessary kit so it need not be expensive to begin with but it can cost £££s to kit out a 12 yearold for say cricket.

You need money to get to the elite level in any sport. No matter what the sport. The striking exception I can think of is football, but that's still a basic £100-£200/yr even at young child level, and the parents still need to be highly supportive & organised.

People like Wiggins & Shanaze Reade (& Kelly Holmes, Mo Farah?) come from modest backgrounds they were talent spotted & given financial support from teen years to reach their potential. So I would say what's needed is better talent spotting at an early age, and then the financial support needed will follow. Early talent spotting is something British Cycling has done well (along with the canny sports psychology & other Brailsford cleverness). And well, we see the results.

Much more interesting question would be, how come everyone else seems to manage to get people from all backgrounds to the olympics. And of course, would we win more medals if we looked beyond private schools to find our elite athletes? (Rhetorical I would say)

Much more interesting question would be, how come everyone else seems to manage to get people from all backgrounds to the olympics. And of course, would we win more medals if we looked beyond private schools to find our elite athletes? (Rhetorical I would say)

my son swims. the fees alone per year are in excess of £1k. Then you have equipment - at least 3 swim suits a year at around £20 a time. Plus swim meets - £5 per race plus £5 entry fee - and thats at least 6 meets a year. plus travel and accommodation. plus physiotherapy.

Theres not a lot of change out of £1500. ANd he is not yet in a top squad.

Pool fees are high, there are no public subsidies even at entry level (these have been taken away) and so swimming quickly falls away, as many parents dont have that sort of disposable income.

By contrast, Rugby costs £75 a year. New boots every season, a couple of gum shields and new pads every other year, depending on how fast they grow. Cost total of about £150 a year. All the coaches are volunteers, the rugby club has its own facilities.

If the government sponsored more pools, and stopped handing over the facilities to bit conglomerates to run at huge profit, maybe there would be more swimmers.

Im sure the same applies to other sports - it the government wants sports for all, it must sponsor sports club equipment and facilities, so that fees can be kept as low as possible to encourage participation from as broad a population as possible.

Im sure that the next Michael Phelps is out there, sitting watching the telly, never having had the opportunity to learn to swim.

And not every family can afford a bike....I never had a bike until I was an adult :'( because there just wasnt the money.

One of the women rowers who won gold was part of the 'let's win medals in 2012' campaign started 4 or 5 years ago. She responded to an advertisement for tall, athletic types. They rans some tests on her and decided she would be suited to rowing - and viola gold in 2012. Mission accomplished.

Just goes to show what can be achieved when you focus, and apply resources and knowledge to talent and drive.

(I know nothing about public schools BTW but thought the above story fits into the thread somehow).

which makes me want to ask - who pays for the lithuanian girls that won gold - the swimmer - to train at Plymouth? Do the parents or the government? It means we have good enough coaches that other countries want to send their athletes here

HipHopSkipJumpomous - she went to Millfield

I thick both lady rowers went to private schools though.

OOps Sorry think

I'm just looking at road bikes - the one I'm looking at is a n entry model and is £650. Probably wouldn't be good enough to race on though, you're looking at over 3k for a race bike.

think I need some bike porn - do you want to start a thread Viva?

I think it is true what someone said up thread - that private schools tend to introduce competitive sport much earlier - my DD has been playing netball at school since she was 6. A friend of mine who is a Schools Sport Co-ordintator in the state sector was horrified when she discovered that they played matches against other schools at that age.

The fact that netball is not in the Olympics is a whole other issue.

No. Just cycled.

You get get a scholarship to an independent school/Uni with specialist training facilities. Sadly you usually need £200 to just go through the trial stages and also be highly academic.

Many get funding through sports councils/ lottery funding. You have to be good, dedicated and apply for the funding.

As you quite rightly pointed out it costs money usually to just join a club to get spotted. Our local club do a swim school and those who have talent are invited to join the club attached. But that requires the money for floats, extra lessons and the extra travel. Not everyone can provide that for their children.

Exit yes why isn't netball in the olympics? I actually think it should be - good call.

Lots of 5/6 yearolds play kwik cricket against other clubs.

DD started playing netball in year 5 she played tennis for her state primary in year 4. That was because one of the teachers was really into tennis and walked them round to the local tennis club after school to train.

What do we think a reasonable average budget is for parents trying to get their kids into sport? £100 / year? £500/yr? Nothing?
I'm trying to think what tariffs should clubs or facilities set, reasonably, given they have to recover some or most of their costs?

I don't think £500/yr from parents is beyond the reach of most, am I out of touch?

The reason why independent schools do better is that there is more timetabling for sport, more sport outside lesson times, and more teachers able/willing to coach outside lesson time. Both my children do competitive sport at school. Matches are often at weekends. Sometimes practices are, too. Teachers know they are expected to give up their time. In the cricket season this can mean leaving school at around midday and returning at seven pm.

Some private schools are better than others. My son's school discovered that my son had a gift for something rather unusual and have given him a lot of encouragement and support. My daughter's school isn't as fantastic but still take it seriously.

Friends with children at our local state school tell me that there is hardly any competitive sport for most children who don't make the one team for each sport in the various years. This is despite being a sports 'excellence' school.

It's simply more of a priority in the private sector and one very important reason why we scrimp and save to pay the fees. I want my kids fit. I want them running around fields/swimming in pools/dancing/trampolining, anything, really, but being on the move and keeping healthy and enjoying it. I don't mind WHAT they do as as long as they do something. I'm not particularly sporty myself but I am fit and it means a lot to me that they are too. We also take them to tennis lessons and athletics as well and if they show interest in a sport we try and make it happen, depending on budget.

Mmmm, a nice bike porn thread. Ok, will start one over in Sports and Exercise.

apparently not enough countries play NETBALL to include it. It's mainly Commonwealth countries (from memory they play netball at Commonwealth games)

It is partly because some sports cost a lot to participate in. Horses cost a fortune for example. Richer parents are more likley to send DCs to private school so its not so much a cause but a correlation. Ruch parents send DCs to private school and can afford expensive sports for DCs.

In other cases it is all about opportunity. Private schools have access to boat houses so private school children are more likely to have chance to try certain sports and having tried it a few wil go on to be Olympians.

ivy is that a private public school (bear with me I'm foreign originally)

I can assure you that rugby costs a lot more than £75 a year here!

Club membership - £130 pa
Kit - £30 min for shirts, plus gum sheild, boots, socks, shorts (logoed with club, so more expensive). Have you seen the cost of body armour and the head protection?!
Match fees usually £8ish
Transport - to training and festivals/matches
Parking - usually £5 for festivals

Don't even get me started on the costs for the social side of rugby...

Where I grew up even 'poor' schools had huge playing fields and sports was really encouraged (well they could have done better with the girls but this was eons ago).

DD is starting at our local inner London primary soon - it has in comparison a teeny tiny playground and no sports fields, adventure playgrounds or bike sheds, no running track and not much space to run, let alone develop a taste for sports.