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02 Sports Development Planning

1.02 Sports Development Planning

What is sports development?
Sports development is simply making sure that people can start playing sport and then progress (if they wish) from taking part for fun to being the best they can be.

Sports development is about helping people from all backgrounds to Start in sport, Stay in sport and Succeed in sport, regardless of race, religion, age, gender, social class or ability.
For example, providing a football player with the chance to go from kicking a ball in the local park to playing at a club or even getting into a professional team. Your sports development plan is central to any decision Sport England makes about whether or not to fund your project. As a result, every project must provide its own plan. This guidance note will show you how to prepare the key aspects of your sports development plan. It provides examples from the Weald Sports Centre, to show how a sports development plan has been developed for a real life project.

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How to promote sports development: + Getting organisations interested in sport and working together to provide sporting opportunities. + Encouraging each organisation to use its skills and experience to support participants. + Getting the best use from limited resources. + Providing integrated opportunities in a coordinated way so that people can progress at their own speed.

Sports development network

There are many local and national organisations involved in sports development. They help to support a variety of bodies from sports clubs to community organisations. Key players in the sports development network are: Local + sports clubs + youth clubs + specialist sports colleges and school sport coordinators + local authority sports development officers. Others + Regional Sports Boards + national governing bodies (NGBs) at regional or county level + county sports partnerships + national organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust and the British Sport Trust.

Case study The Weald Sports Centre provides an excellent example of partnership working between a local authority, private management contractor and school. Leisure Connection Ltd manage the facility under contract on behalf of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. The land on which the sports centre is situated was transferred to the local authority from a local school. In return, the school receives exclusive use of the sports hall during certain times of the school week. This example highlights two key areas of partnership working, that of shared interests and cooperation between individuals and organisations.

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To find out more about the sports development network in your area talk to your local authority sports development office or county sports partnership. Additional help about working with sports partners is included in the Sport England Working Together guidance note, which is available to download from our website www.sportengland.org/funding or by phoning 08458 508 508.

Benefits of a sports development plan

Benefits include: + Providing a common focus so that everyone is working towards the same goal even though they might go about achieving it in different ways. + Helping to persuade funding agencies that your organisation has goals in common with them and therefore increase the chances of finding grant aid. + Encouraging an organisation to measure progress against aims and objectives. A plan should, in essence, answer these questions: + Where are we now? + Where do we want to be? + How are we going to get there?

Your sports development plan

Who creates the plan? Your organisation needs a small group of people to drive the sports development plan forward. The planning group will help to ensure that your sports development process is logical and that the final plan is challenging, but realistic and achievable. Your planning group could include people from outside your organisation but everyone involved needs to have: time; interest; and vision.

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Template A Sports Development Planning is a set of five templates available to download from our website www.sportengland.org/funding or by phoning 08458 508 508.

1.02 Sports Development Planning

Template A

Sports Development Planning

Your project may include staging an event, working with volunteers, providing coaching opportunities, or working in partnership with schools. Whatever your project, you need to tell us about your overall objectives and how you plan to deliver them. There are five templates in this set, you can use each template for your own sports development plan.

General principals of sports development and associated templates

Template A1 Sports Objectives Vision and Goals

Template A2 Sports Activity Planning A schedule for new and existing sports activities

Template A3 Coaching Provision Planning sessions with coaches and volunteers

Template A Sports Development

Template A4 Marketing and Promotional Plan Targeting groups and preparing key messages

Template A5 Action Planning Putting plans into action to deliver sports objectives

As you begin your sports development plan consider your stakeholders and what benefits your project might bring to them. Sport England has produced an additional Template C Testing Your Assumptions. Use this template to check how appropriate your vision will be for your organisation, your customers and other stakeholders. Agreeing your vision with partners is essential when starting your sports development plan.

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How to get started

1. Have a vision What kind of organisation do you want to be?

2. Set objectives What specific things do you want to achieve?

3. Plan sports activities What new activities/sports opportunities will you offer?

4. Make it happen How will you deliver your objectives and plans?

5. Progress Monitor how you are doing

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1.02 Sports Development Planning

1. Have a vision
Begin by creating a detailed picture of where your organisation is now and then consider where you would like to be in the future. Answering the questions listed below will help you to identify the strengths and limitations of your current situation and give you a sound, factual basis from which to start planning.

Sports participants

+ + + + +

How many participants do you have? Is your membership increasing or decreasing? Why? Are there enough players in your teams? How many people are regular participants? How many are casual users? Is there a junior section? How much do you charge sports participants?

Competitive opportunity

+ + + +

Do you organise competitions? Is there anywhere to train? Do you have the facilities and equipment for match play? Would it be to your advantage to provide more competitive opportunities?

Staffing and networks

+ + + + +

Do you have trained coaches? Are their skills updated regularly? How many officials or volunteers do you have? Do you have any links with your local authority sports development office? Do you have any links with schools? Does your national governing body development officer know who you are?

Market positioning and placement

+ + + +

What is your local catchment area? Are you easily accessible to people? What opportunities do you provide that make you unique in the community? Which activities currently attract the most people? What new sports/social opportunities could you provide?

It might also be a good idea to have a brain-storming session with your team and any advisors to try and tease out all the questions you should be asking. Once your organisation has agreed where it is, it can take the next step, agreeing where it wants to be and then agree a vision.

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Case study Tunbridge Wells Borough Council undertook a significant amount of research to establish the demand for sport in the area. The council entered into a consultation process that included attending public meetings and talking to clubs and groups. A countywide sports survey was undertaken by Kent County Council, which showed how the area was one of recreational deprivation. Previously there was an old outdoor pool at the school and a leaking tin sports hall. Their vision was born out of a proven need to upgrade these facilities and address the general problem of a lack of sports opportunity in the area.

2. Set objectives Once you have agreed your vision break it down into bite-sized objectives in order of priority. Think about long-term, medium-term and then short-term objectives. When you have defined your objectives make sure they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.
A SMART objective would be: To train three coaches at level One and Two by April 2005.

Case study The original vision of the Weald Sports Centre was To provide a good quality, joint public/school use facility. This was broken down into long-term objectives:

+ Develop a facility that can accommodate over 22 different sports and a facility which meets
the standards required by Sport England.

+ Establish a programme that offers a diverse range of sports opportunities, particularly for
young people.

+ Offer a value for money service with a concern for economy and efficiency that does not
compromise quality.

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External people and organisations may be able to assist in achieving objectives, so keeping them informed of your plans and activity is important. Work with them, share your vision and let them help shape it. Aim to involve key members of your network (stakeholders) as early as possible. They will be much more likely to help you achieve your goals.

3. Plan sports activities

Your sports development plan should tell us about the sporting opportunities that you will provide, for example: + Build a bigger junior section. + Offer more sporting opportunities to members of all social backgrounds for playing, coaching and competition. + Provide suitable intra and inter-club competition according to national governing body guidelines. Your sports development plan should also include details of playing and coaching programmes, including: + Details of your coaching programme, including the minimum number of hours and weeks in a year by sport. + A schedule of current and new activities that you will offer, including time for casual lettings. Coaching is important for helping people to enjoy a sport and to reach their potential, so it is crucial to get it right. Getting the best from your coaching programme is often a vital part of a sports development plan. Although specifics differ from sport to sport many techniques, such as injury prevention or motivation, are common to most sports. sports coach UK is the organisation charged with supporting coaches in Britain; for more information refer to the further help section at the end of this guidance note.

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1.02 Sports Development Planning

To get the most out of your coaching programme, ask yourself the following:

About the coaches Are your coaches currently, or will they be, suitably qualified to national governing body standards? Is there a set participant to coach ratio for training/ coaching sessions as per national governing body standards? Do your coaches hold professional indemnity and/or public liability insurance? Has everyone involved in coaching been issued with a clear job description? Have you considered using the skills awards and coaching resources of the national governing body to enhance your coaching and assessment programme?

About young people Have you set appropriate types and levels of exercise for different age groups? Do you offer skills awards for children and young people, so they have something to work towards in their training? Are there suitable competitive opportunities for the different age groups? We strongly recommend that you consult with your appropriate national governing body (NGB) or county sports partnership when planning for young people.

The coaching section of your sports development plan might look something like this:

Type of coach The project will employ an outreach worker who is an NGB qualified coach. New or volunteer coaches will not be allowed to coach unsupervised until fully qualified and insured according to NGB standards.

Insurance They will have liability insurance.

Sports Football, basketball and aerobics.

Resource/Partners Consulting with the NGB for sports specific coaching guidelines. Delivering coaching plan with support from the local sports development officer.

We will only use qualified and insured adults/coaches.

Yes, this is a requirement.

Local authority. May work with another organisation, eg school.

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If you have a current Clubmark award or a QUEST for Sports Development accreditation you only need to tell us about your projects sports development aims and objectives. We will accept your accreditation as evidence of your ability to plan and manage a playing programme and coaching activity.

4. Make it happen
Achieving set objectives and planning how to deliver your sports plans:

1. List the main tasks

What activities do you need to do in order to achieve these tasks?

2. Find human resources

Once you have set specific goals, allocate them to people or working groups, for example: who will be trained as a coach, who will run the Tuesday night beginner session? What is the best approach to deliver the project? Do you need additional resources, can you manage the work internally, can you adopt a standard approach or do you need to find a unique solution? Find the best approach to each situation. List the key activities in a logical order with timescales. Allocate the tasks to individuals or working groups.

3. Find a workable solution

4. Create action plan

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1.02 Sports Development Planning

Template A5 Action Planning is available to download from our website www.sportengland.org/funding or by phoning 08458 508 508.

1.02 Sports Development Planning

Template A5

Action Planning
Every sports development plan is based around project objectives. Your sports development plan will be a logical sequence of events, which rely on people and other resources to make your project happen.
This template provides an opportunity to capture all the elements of your sports development proposals in one place and monitor progress against your objectives.

Your Plan
Sporting objective Who? Partners How will you achieve this objective? Where? When? How much?

Example
Progress

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There is often more than one way to achieve an outcome. Expert advice may be required to meet your objectives. You should consider all the different alternatives and try to find the best solutions.

5. Progress
Begin monitoring your progress when your objectives are agreed and your plans are being executed. By reviewing your action plan you can see potential issues before they become a problem and adapt accordingly. For example, if you havent managed to train the right number of coaches and the deadline is not far away you will still have time to consider a solution. Planning is an active and ever changing process. Dont forget about reporting on your progress and actively supporting your staff through delivery. If you have individuals or sub-committees working on parts of the action plan they will need to report back to a main committee to keep everyone working together. You may find as the project gets underway that your main committee may need to meet more often, or change the way it operates to keep the project on track.

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Further help
Organisation Contact sports coach UK 114 Cardigan Road Headingley Leeds LS6 3BJ Tel: 0113 274 4802 Fax: 0113 275 5019 Email: coaching@sportscoachuk.org www.sportscoachuk.org www.ic.ac.uk/sports/rtu/app/workshops.html

+ sports coach UK
sports coach UK is dedicated to guiding the development and implementation of a coaching system, for all coaches at every level in the UK. sports coach UK offers workshops in each of the following areas: + Coaching Principles and Practices + Ethics and Good Practice + Specific Populations + Fitness and Training + Sports Psychology

+ BBC Sport Academy website

A BBC website devoted to sports improvement where The stars show you how. It has a learning centre, sports tips and newsletter.

Sport Academy Room 390 Design Block BBC Television Centre London W12 7RJ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/default.stm

+ Running Sport workshop Sports

Development Planning by Sport England Whether you are a coach, official or administrator, you will find Running Sport is filled with tools, tips and techniques that you can use from the moment you finish any part of the programme, and for the future. It gives you practical solutions to the real problems you face day by day in running your club.

Coachwise Unit 2/3 Chelsea Close off Amberley Road Armley Leeds LS12 4HP Running Sport: 08458 508 508 Fax: 0113 231 9606 Email: enquiries@coachwise.ltd.uk www.sportengland.org

Also consider contacting your local authority sports development officer, national governing body development officer or youth sport manager.

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Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the Funding Support Pack and supporting guidance notes. Sport England, its servants and agents shall not at any time, in any circumstances, be held responsible or liable to any party in respect of any loss, damage or costs of any nature arising directly or indirectly from reliance placed on the material in this publication, or any other guidelines or policies issued by Sport England. This information has been prepared as a basic guide only and should not be viewed as a substitute for obtaining comprehensive expert or professional advice. This guidance and Sport England policies on Lottery funding applications are subject to change from time to time, including variations required complying with governmental directions on the application of Lottery funds. Sport England reserves the right to amend, supplement and/or discontinue, at its absolute discretion for whatever reason, any or all of the guidelines set out in this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of Sport England. Sport England, March 2004. Reference 2254 Code number SE/2254/1M/03/04

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