A NEW inquiry has been launched by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee into the risks to the future of community sport, highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The committee, which is chaired by Solihull MP Julian Knight, will look at its impact on grassroots sport and the effect this has had on health and wellbeing.
Mr Knight, who launched the inquiry during a visit with the Lawn Tennis Association to Tudor Grange Leisure Centre and the tennis courts in Malvern Park, said: “We’ve heard a lot about Covid’s impact on elite professional sport but we want to shift the focus to our communities – our venues, clubs and local teams, who play football, rugby or cricket.
“Grassroots sport has been hit particularly hard by lockdown and concerns over public health. We cannot take for granted the survival of clubs that offer so much to the people who engage with them and support them.
“We’ll be looking at the what help is needed now to safeguard sports clubs especially those whose viability was in doubt even before the pandemic.
“We’ll be questioning the organisations whose role it is to actively support them and asking when it comes to spending public money, how far up the ladder should community sport come?”
Mr Knight explains thew position here: https://youtu.be/CsMRLTNsekk
The DCMS Committee is inviting written submissions on sport in our communities by Friday, November 16 that address all or some of the following areas:
Are current sports governance models fit for purpose?
At what level of sport should the government consider spending public money?
What are the biggest risks to the long-term viability of grassroots sport?
What key measures could the Government introduce to increase the resilience of sports clubs and venues?
To what extent should elite professional sports support the lower leagues and grassroots?
How should the Government make this happen?
Contact the committee at: here
