Consider the debate around whether NGBs should prioritise funding at Grassroots or Elite level
The aim of this assignment is to investigate whether UK National Governing Bodies (NGBs) should
prioritise investment into sport at grassroots or elite level. NGBs are tasked by the government to
deliver world class athletes with medal potential at the elite level, but also to increase participation
in their sport year on year at grassroots level. Both of these require substantial investment,
therefore, it can be difficult for NGBs, with limited budgets, to achieve success in both areas. From
2005, when the UK won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the government shifted its focus towards
elite sport1. The £235 million funding for the 2008 Olympics more than tripled the £71 million that
was provided in Athens 2004.
NGBs receive 38% of their money from Sport England, the establishment of the National Lottery in
1996 made a significant difference2, contributing over £42billion since its creation. Initially,
government funding attached conditions and NGBs were forced to put certain policies in place 3.
However, in recent years NGBs have been granted “regulated-freedom” where they’re still
accountable for the money but are given more licence as to how they spend it. This has devolved
some power away from central government 4, although Berry and Manoli5 have spoken of the
government’s plans to reduce funding while increasing its control over sport.
Since the shift to elite sport in 2005 the UK has thrived on the world stage; only twelve years after
finishing 10th in the medal table with 9 Golds in Athens, Great Britain finished 2 nd in Rio 2016 with 27
golds. This was a huge improvement on Atlanta 1996, where they finished 36 th with only 1 gold. The
government hoped that this elite success would “inspire” the next generation 6 to become more
active and involved in grassroots sport, a hope founded on the Virtuous-Cycle of Sport 7, an opinion-
1
Grix and Carmichael, 2012. Why Do Governments Invest In Elite Sport? A Polemic. [online] Taylor &
Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2011.627358>
[Accessed 13 March 2020].
2
Puga-González, E., Torres-Luque, G., González-Ruiz, J. and Cabello-Manrique, D., 2019. Analysis
And Evaluation Of The United Kingdom And Spain’S Sport Models. [online] Rua.ua.es. Available at:
<http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/81511>
3
Nichols et al. 2005 Pressures on the UK Voluntary Sport Sector [Online]
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11266-005-3231-0
4
Grix and Harris 2016 Governance and governmentality of sport [online]
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315761930/chapters/10.4324/9781315761930-10
5
Berry and Manoli 2018. Alternative revenue streams for centrally funded sport governing bodies [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19406940.2017.1387587
6
Pappous & Hayday, 2016. A case study investigating the impact of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
games on participation in two non-traditional English sports, Judo and Fencing. [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02614367.2015.1035314
7
Grix & Carmichael 2011. Why do governments invest in elite sport? A polemic. [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2011.627358
1
, based model which suggests that elite success creates a “feel-good factor” within a nation and leads
to increased participation, which then leads to a greater pool for talent ID, thus continuing the elite
success. This model relies on the ‘Trickle-down effect’ 8 which was explained by Hogan and Norton.
Evidence from a study involving over 12,000 participants 9 suggested that younger people and less
educated people are more likely to spend time participating in PA or to pick up a new activity
following their nation hosting a mega event. This is used as justification for nations spending money
on elite programmes or mega events. Since 2012 the UK has bid for the 2018, 2022 and 2030
Football World Cups and will host the semi-finals and final of Football’s European Championships.
Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken of holding the final in Manchester 10 to maximise
the impact of the tournament and spread it around the country, instead of centralising it in London,
which has been criticised in previous events. A systematic review by Weed 11 concluded that there
was no evidence that hosting mega events has a demonstration effect, partly due to the fact that
many of the models are seen as unattainable. This can lead to the public becoming disengaged with
sport as they become demoralized when chasing perceived unattainable goals set by professional
athletes12.
However, translating the elite success into greater participation at grassroots level relies on more
than winning medals; it requires a number of stakeholders to take an active role. NGBs must create
pathways so athletes can progress and improve and in order to facilitate this facilities must
constantly be built or upgraded to meet needs. However, this often fails to occur. For example,
between 2006 and 2016 no new tennis courts were built in Scotland 13 despite it being Scotland’s
most successful period in world tennis, with Andy Murray winning 3 Grand Slam events, reaching 6
finals and 2 Olympic golds. NGBs and the government cannot expect elite success to provide a
8
Hogan & Norton 2000. The ‘Price’ of Olympic gold. [online]
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1440244000800821
9
Wicker & Sotiriadou 2013. The trickle-down effect: what population groups benefit from hostingmajor sport
events? [online] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Popi_Sotiriadou/publication/271130968_The_trickle-
down_effect_What_population_groups_benefit_from_hosting_major_sport_events/links/
54be1e5d0cf218d4a16a4dbe/The-trickle-down-effect-What-population-groups-benefit-from-hosting-major-
sport-events.pdf
10
The Times 2020 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-push-boris-johnson-for-a-manchester-world-
cup-final-0ppg7bd28
11
Weed et al. 2012. Developing a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 olympic and Paralympic
games: a policy-led systematic review. [online]
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1757913911435758
12
Smith & Ntoumanis 2014. Self-Regulatory Responses to unattainable goals: the role of goal motives
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15298868.2014.889033
13
Independent 2019 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/judy-murray-future-scottish-tennis-andy-
murray-lawn-tennis-association-australian-open-a8736296.html
2
The aim of this assignment is to investigate whether UK National Governing Bodies (NGBs) should
prioritise investment into sport at grassroots or elite level. NGBs are tasked by the government to
deliver world class athletes with medal potential at the elite level, but also to increase participation
in their sport year on year at grassroots level. Both of these require substantial investment,
therefore, it can be difficult for NGBs, with limited budgets, to achieve success in both areas. From
2005, when the UK won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the government shifted its focus towards
elite sport1. The £235 million funding for the 2008 Olympics more than tripled the £71 million that
was provided in Athens 2004.
NGBs receive 38% of their money from Sport England, the establishment of the National Lottery in
1996 made a significant difference2, contributing over £42billion since its creation. Initially,
government funding attached conditions and NGBs were forced to put certain policies in place 3.
However, in recent years NGBs have been granted “regulated-freedom” where they’re still
accountable for the money but are given more licence as to how they spend it. This has devolved
some power away from central government 4, although Berry and Manoli5 have spoken of the
government’s plans to reduce funding while increasing its control over sport.
Since the shift to elite sport in 2005 the UK has thrived on the world stage; only twelve years after
finishing 10th in the medal table with 9 Golds in Athens, Great Britain finished 2 nd in Rio 2016 with 27
golds. This was a huge improvement on Atlanta 1996, where they finished 36 th with only 1 gold. The
government hoped that this elite success would “inspire” the next generation 6 to become more
active and involved in grassroots sport, a hope founded on the Virtuous-Cycle of Sport 7, an opinion-
1
Grix and Carmichael, 2012. Why Do Governments Invest In Elite Sport? A Polemic. [online] Taylor &
Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2011.627358>
[Accessed 13 March 2020].
2
Puga-González, E., Torres-Luque, G., González-Ruiz, J. and Cabello-Manrique, D., 2019. Analysis
And Evaluation Of The United Kingdom And Spain’S Sport Models. [online] Rua.ua.es. Available at:
<http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/81511>
3
Nichols et al. 2005 Pressures on the UK Voluntary Sport Sector [Online]
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11266-005-3231-0
4
Grix and Harris 2016 Governance and governmentality of sport [online]
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315761930/chapters/10.4324/9781315761930-10
5
Berry and Manoli 2018. Alternative revenue streams for centrally funded sport governing bodies [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19406940.2017.1387587
6
Pappous & Hayday, 2016. A case study investigating the impact of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
games on participation in two non-traditional English sports, Judo and Fencing. [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02614367.2015.1035314
7
Grix & Carmichael 2011. Why do governments invest in elite sport? A polemic. [online]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2011.627358
1
, based model which suggests that elite success creates a “feel-good factor” within a nation and leads
to increased participation, which then leads to a greater pool for talent ID, thus continuing the elite
success. This model relies on the ‘Trickle-down effect’ 8 which was explained by Hogan and Norton.
Evidence from a study involving over 12,000 participants 9 suggested that younger people and less
educated people are more likely to spend time participating in PA or to pick up a new activity
following their nation hosting a mega event. This is used as justification for nations spending money
on elite programmes or mega events. Since 2012 the UK has bid for the 2018, 2022 and 2030
Football World Cups and will host the semi-finals and final of Football’s European Championships.
Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken of holding the final in Manchester 10 to maximise
the impact of the tournament and spread it around the country, instead of centralising it in London,
which has been criticised in previous events. A systematic review by Weed 11 concluded that there
was no evidence that hosting mega events has a demonstration effect, partly due to the fact that
many of the models are seen as unattainable. This can lead to the public becoming disengaged with
sport as they become demoralized when chasing perceived unattainable goals set by professional
athletes12.
However, translating the elite success into greater participation at grassroots level relies on more
than winning medals; it requires a number of stakeholders to take an active role. NGBs must create
pathways so athletes can progress and improve and in order to facilitate this facilities must
constantly be built or upgraded to meet needs. However, this often fails to occur. For example,
between 2006 and 2016 no new tennis courts were built in Scotland 13 despite it being Scotland’s
most successful period in world tennis, with Andy Murray winning 3 Grand Slam events, reaching 6
finals and 2 Olympic golds. NGBs and the government cannot expect elite success to provide a
8
Hogan & Norton 2000. The ‘Price’ of Olympic gold. [online]
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1440244000800821
9
Wicker & Sotiriadou 2013. The trickle-down effect: what population groups benefit from hostingmajor sport
events? [online] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Popi_Sotiriadou/publication/271130968_The_trickle-
down_effect_What_population_groups_benefit_from_hosting_major_sport_events/links/
54be1e5d0cf218d4a16a4dbe/The-trickle-down-effect-What-population-groups-benefit-from-hosting-major-
sport-events.pdf
10
The Times 2020 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-push-boris-johnson-for-a-manchester-world-
cup-final-0ppg7bd28
11
Weed et al. 2012. Developing a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 olympic and Paralympic
games: a policy-led systematic review. [online]
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1757913911435758
12
Smith & Ntoumanis 2014. Self-Regulatory Responses to unattainable goals: the role of goal motives
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15298868.2014.889033
13
Independent 2019 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/judy-murray-future-scottish-tennis-andy-
murray-lawn-tennis-association-australian-open-a8736296.html
2
