English sport is currently undergoing an unprecedented renaissance. Boasting the best football league in the world, an overwhelming and unexpected medal haul in Beijing, and the prospect of the London 2012 Olympics; sport seems to be a positive contradiction to the state of the economy. So who is responsible for this rejuvenation? Gerry Sutcliffe.
As the current Minister of State for Sport, he has been at the forefront of the campaign. The revival of sport on a national level has instigated an intense behind the scenes restructuring at grass roots level. This has involved making sport more accessible and improving support for our elite athletes, objectives that Sutcliffe thinks are integral for improving sport, “the sports infrastructure is now in place and now is the opportunity for sports to grow. We have established ourselves as a leading sporting nation and I would say there has never been a better time to be involved in sport than now”
When travelling to meet a government minister, I had expected to be introduced to a man with a powerful aura and an expensive office. Yet meeting Gerry Sutcliffe in his constituency of South Bradford couldn’t have been further from my initial expectations. Born in Salford, Sutcliffe left school aged sixteen and has worked his way up from a printing company salesman to an esteemed part of the Labour government. Instead of relying on an obnoxious arrogance found in many ministers, Sutcliffe relies on a down to earth attitude and an eagerness to chat; “I make sure I meet as many constituents as possible, every week I go to a supermarket in Bradford and answer questions from my constituents.”
Gerry Sutcliffe’s office is a perfect setting for his laid back and working class background. Sparsely decorated, it feels more like a teacher’s office than the centre of sport for the UK. It begs the question; has the government’s sport budget been affected by the credit crunch? Sutcliffe answers with a resolute “no”. In fact, this could not be further from the truth as £490 million is currently being spent on improving UK sport. Whilst other budgets are being cut, sport seems to be leading the way in reviving our economy. Sutcliffe reveals “we decided we wanted to try and host as many events as possible, for example the 2012 Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth games, Cricket 2020 world cup. Every year from now there will be a major sporting event in the UK.” He believes that, whilst the injection of tourism could well boost the UK financially, the crucial factor of an increase in jobs is hugely beneficial.
Despite declining financial support from the private sector, Sutcliffe reveals the governments dedication to improving sport “we were meant to get more money from the private sector, but we couldn’t achieve this. Instead we were given an extra £50 million by the government!” He believes that events “will generate more jobs, in the Olympics especially. The range of sports are so wide now that we need more and more coaches.” This innovative new approach is not lost on Sutcliffe; “As a country I don’t think we have ever used sport in this way.”
Our conversation is soon diverted onto the subject of university sport. York sport is often neglected by both the university and the government. It is left to a hard-working individual in the YUSU office to do the best they can with next to no support. The recent UGM motions and results demonstrated the support and need to rebuild York sports infrastructure. Yet, often this seems futile and Gerry Sutcliffe agrees that “A lot of it is just down to whether the vice-chancellor is into sport or not.” A depressing revelation.
Sutcliffe is surprised at the lack of facilities in York, “it’s the largest city in North Yorkshire, it should at least have a few decent swimming pools”. He is adamant that this can change though and is hopeful to “see a leading institution in each region.” The reasons for this seem to be that universities can play a crucial part in UK sport development “Sheffield, Loughborough, Leeds met, Bath, all seem to be sports orientated. And this encourages sport further down, to schools. Universities are they key as role models and for creating competition in schools.”
Often during the conversation, Sutcliffe uses the same examples for university sport, constantly referring to Loughborough, Leeds met, and Bath. All these universities have academic sports departments, something our current sports president has been pushing for. The extra funding gained from such a department would increase the budget significantly. Unfortunately, he admits that this is not feasible for everyone; “not everyone could have it. To have these centers of excellence, you would be better off with fewer and further spread out across the country.”
The government does, however, offer funding for talented individuals. The Talented athlete scholarship scheme (TASS) is available to anyone with exceptional ability in their sport. Unfortunately, York has proven unlucky in this as well. Max Hardy, a talented skier and future Olympic hopeful, has had inadequate financial support from the university and the government. Sutcliffe admits that “If they’re not an Olympic sport, it is far more difficult.” Whereas Durham currently offers support in the region of thousands to their elite athletes, York offers £250. This is an issue that Sutcliffe seemed surprised to here “I don’t why there is that sort of inconsistency”, yet admitted again “It’s probably just the individual universities attitude to sport.”
The general impression is that university sport is out of the government’s remit, unless it is sport specialised. Not the news those involved in York Sport were hoping for. Yet he believes there is an intrinsic link between university and sport, and reveals his ambition to “get the ethos right between education and sport.” Unfortunately, the supreme sporting universities of Loughborough et al have hidden the problem of university sport and the lack of funding. Or maybe it’s just York University and the unsporty vice-chancellors.
Despite the vast difference in the amount of responsibility, there are certain parallels between our York Sport president and the Minister for sport. While the budget may not compare, the responsibilities are similar. So what advice does Gerry have for Alex Lacy? “Want to win and want to win well! Life’s competitive, you’ve got to make sure you are the best that you can be!” Is this competitiveness the reason why he enjoys working in sports so much? As the interview draws to a close, Gerry Sutcliffe reveals a hidden truth as to the real reason why he loves his job “As sports minister, you’re not blamed for the banks collapsing, people generally just see the good things. That makes it a lot easier!”