Olympians protest over 'mind-blowing' cuts to school sport funding

Olympians have warned that government cuts to school sport funding announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review will have a damaging impact across England. The Department for Education is ending the £162m investment in school sport from next year, which includes funding for a network of 450 School Sport Partnerships in England. The bodies, set up to raise levels of sports participation in English schools, say they have introduced over a million more young people to competitive sport in the last three years. Darren Campbell, a schools ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust and part of the 4x100 gold medal winning team in Athens in 2004, said he felt the cuts were "beyond belief" while badminton's Gail Emms called the cuts "mind-blowing". "I regularly visit schools and see the most talented children getting the support they need to develop their skills to be future champions," said Campbell. "I see some of the most troubled teenagers having their lives transformed through sport and I see the positive impact sport is having not just in PE but across the school curriculum. To cut funding now, when such incredible results are being achieved, is beyond belief." Emms said: "With London 2012 just around the corner and a chance to develop a real, lasting sporting legacy, I find this funding cut extremely difficult to comprehend. "The network of School Sport Partnerships is successfully delivering sport and inspiring our next generation of Olympians and Paralympians. To pull the rug from under them now and axe the funding is mind-blowing." Michael Gove, the education minister, argued that ending the scheme did not represent a cut but that, instead, individual schools will receive funds directly to spend as they wish. There is no guarantee, however, that any of the money will be spent on sport, prompting Baroness Sue Campbell, the chair of the Youth Sports Trust, to say the decision would "decimate" the gains made in the past decade. The Paralympic swimming gold medallist Sascha Kindred said removing the network would limit chances for children across England. "What we have in place now is a school sport network that is allowing them to try new sports, develop through sport and support them to be the best they can be. Take that network away and there's a significant risk to these opportunities being lost."