Although unemployment in the United Kingdom is rising, skills shortages still exist in some sectors, such as sports and leisure. Research produced by the government-sponsored Sector Skills Agreement shows that, while the number of jobs in sports and leisure has grown at an annual rate of 3.9pc in recent years, it remains constrained by a low-skills-base workforce.
Basketball, synchronised swimming, taekwondo, boxing, archery and hockey are the big winners in UK Sport’s Olympic 2012 funding programme. All six have received sizeable increases in their budgets ahead of London, with basketball getting a huge 136% increase, up from £3.7m to £8.7m. Rowing is now Britain’s best funded Olympic sport, getting £27.5m of the £304m pot available. The big losers include shooting, table tennis, handball and fencing. UK Sport insists the level of funding builds on the £265m that was provided ahead of the Beijing Games and enables Britain to target a top-four finish in the medals table in London. But its £550m budget is £50m below the £600m that had been pledged and has meant that some sports, like handball, have lost out. “We are gutted,” Paul Goodwin, general manager of British Handball, “I don’t know how we are going to afford our coaches.”
Author Rae Pica is constantly asked by elementary physical education teachers, “What am I supposed to do with the little ones?” Most PE programmes don’t address the issue either, but in her latest book, Physical Education for Young Children: Movement ABCs for the Little Ones, she comes to the aid of teachers who are stumped when it comes to the developmental needs and abilities of young children.
Congratulations to Harry Goodhew, aged 11, who qualified for an entry in the Guinness World Records last weekend by becoming the youngest ever qualified rugby referee to take charge of a match. The Dulwich College pupil and member of the Old Alleynian rugby club, took the Entry Level Referee Award Level One and Two course in September, with a group of adults. His first significant outing as a qualified referee on Sunday was at Dulwich College, where he took charge of a Kent v Herts girls’ under-12 match. By all accounts, Goodhew was exemplary in keeping order.
Recreation, Event, and Tourism Businesses: Start-Up and Sustainable Operations uncovers the keys to business success in the commercial recreation, event and tourism sector – one of the fastest-growing segments in the tourism and recreation industry.
The British Heart Foundation is trying to do its bit to stop kids in the UK opting for burgers instead of salads.The charity has launched a new website featuring Professor Gunter von Gunter who encourages to kids create a virtual version of themselves.
Children’s work, behaviour and even health is being improved by getting them involved in playing table tennis, but could the transformation seen in Glaswegian schools be replicated elsewhere? Table tennis, that most understated of Olympic sports, has been introduced in one of Britain’s poorest areas to give pre-teens the chance to lead a successful, fulfilling and healthy life.
John Giannini highlights the qualities that make players and teams great and provides practical ways to improve any area that might be lacking.
