Author Topic: "Accessible" olympic sports  (Read 13871 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
"Accessible" olympic sports
« on: 06 August, 2012, 04:19:42 pm »
Rowing, sailing and horse-riding are not exactly the sort of sports that our disaffected, riotous oyyf are likely to participate in to keep them off the streets, although there is a trickle-down effect in process. Some bloke is riding a horse called "Hello Sanctus" that was given to him by Lord and Lady Harris and Lord Kirkham.

It seems we are into a jump-orff.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Karla

  • car(e) free
    • Lost Byway - around the world by bike
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #1 on: 06 August, 2012, 04:22:46 pm »
400m: brilliant for outrunning the fuzz.

Kim

  • Timelord
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Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #2 on: 06 August, 2012, 04:24:31 pm »
I thought this was going to be about ATOS assessing the paralympians and declaring all sports in the main Olympics fully accessible...

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #3 on: 06 August, 2012, 04:56:35 pm »
Riding, sailing & rowing are in large part responsible for the predominance of gold medal winners from private schools, but not even cycling is immune, despite the traditionally proletarian image of cycle sport.

At least rowing is trying to attract participants from outside the charmed circle of posh kids. Selling off state school sports fields is hardly going to help improve accessibility, though.
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #4 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:01:16 pm »
Even in the patriarchal 80's we had state schools rowing on the river at Kingston. Both Comps, both Grammars and the local public school. Funding however was somewhat skewed as one might expect.
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #5 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:07:10 pm »
Indeed, but it was dominated by the private schools. To their credit, the organisers of competitive rowing have made a determined effort to broaden the base of their sport, with encouragement & assistance to small clubs & state schools, & seeking out youngsters who show interest & talent, regardless of origins.
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #6 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:26:09 pm »
Table Tennis is highly accessible, most youth groups and overnight centers catering for school groups have a table, but it is as much about maintaining the equipment and identifying teh best to get them into the schemes.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #7 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:29:57 pm »
Running is obviously accessible; cycling a bit less so, given the direction racing bike prices are heading (20 years ago, £1,000 would have bought you something truly outstanding with Dura-Ace kit; now you'd need many times more and transport to events is impossible without very understanding and well-off parents).  Track cycling is only accessible if you happen to live near a track, which rules out most of the country although the London velodrome will make a huge difference,.

In the end, the blue riband event is the 100m sprint, and anyone can have a go at that.  I think my official time at secondary school was 18 seconds.  Usain Bolt has nothing to worry about.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Pancho

  • لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #8 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:30:04 pm »
Independent schools do sports pretty much continually; I know a school (with an academic rather than sports focus) which has the inmates on the field/in the pool/on the river every day, six days a week and usually more than once a day.

State schools seem to have such short school days that I doubt they could even fit that amount of sport into the timetable.

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #9 on: 06 August, 2012, 07:29:03 pm »
Even in the patriarchal 80's we had state schools rowing on the river at Kingston. Both Comps, both Grammars and the local public school. Funding however was somewhat skewed as one might expect.

Yep. One of our local state schools has its own rowing club. My club and others locally have 'outreach programs', where we loan ergometers to schools and get their kids out on the river at weekends.

Joining a rowing club is not that expensive for a junior and they get good class equipment and coaching as part of the deal. Compared to the cost of keeping my nephew - a junior international swimmer in speedos rowing is good value.
“There is no point in using the word 'impossible' to describe something that has clearly happened.”
― Douglas Adams

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #10 on: 06 August, 2012, 07:51:15 pm »
Boxing

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #11 on: 06 August, 2012, 07:52:07 pm »
Rowing, sailing and horse-riding are not exactly the sort of sports that our disaffected, riotous oyyf are likely to participate in to keep them off the streets, although there is a trickle-down effect in process. Some bloke is riding a horse called "Hello Sanctus" that was given to him by Lord and Lady Harris and Lord Kirkham.

It seems we are into a jump-orff.

The Olympics is about excellence not accessibility.  And certainly not about accessibility in the UK.
Aero but not dynamic

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #12 on: 06 August, 2012, 08:16:27 pm »
Rowing, sailing and horse-riding are not exactly the sort of sports that our disaffected, riotous oyyf are likely to participate in to keep them off the streets, although there is a trickle-down effect in process. Some bloke is riding a horse called "Hello Sanctus" that was given to him by Lord and Lady Harris and Lord Kirkham.

It seems we are into a jump-orff.

The Olympics is about excellence not accessibility.  And certainly not about accessibility in the UK.

That's not the message I've heard from our politicians. One of the major justifications of holding the olympics in London was so that it would encourage more people, from all walks of life, into sport.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #13 on: 06 August, 2012, 08:39:43 pm »
I really don't expect any legacy of that sort.  Yes, there may be more focus on increasing the medal haul in Rio and more money put into identifying the top talent in areas like track cycling, but I don't see British Cycling increasing mass participation in the sport; UK road racing is dying due to traffic and police restrictions and velodromes are never going to be convenient for more than a few kids.

At the end of the day it's a big expensive beano.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they should just admit it.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #14 on: 06 August, 2012, 08:43:23 pm »
Rowing, sailing and horse-riding are not exactly the sort of sports that our disaffected, riotous oyyf are likely to participate in to keep them off the streets, although there is a trickle-down effect in process. Some bloke is riding a horse called "Hello Sanctus" that was given to him by Lord and Lady Harris and Lord Kirkham.

It seems we are into a jump-orff.

The Olympics is about excellence not accessibility.  And certainly not about accessibility in the UK.

That's not the message I've heard from our politicians. One of the major justifications of holding the olympics in London was so that it would encourage more people, from all walks of life, into sport.

I believe it will.  But not necessarily into rowing, sailing or horse-riding. 
Aero but not dynamic

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #15 on: 06 August, 2012, 09:12:52 pm »
There's gunna be some seriously confused kids out there. On the one hand we've got Olympians "Inspiring a generation" so all the kids can go on to sporting glory in years to come. And on the other, if their school playing fields haven't been turned into housing estates, what little sport they do isn't supposed to be competitve incase it upsets little Jonny who's shit at sport...
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

LEE

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #16 on: 06 August, 2012, 11:44:56 pm »
Running is clearly the most accessible sport.  That's why the poorest people still so successful at it.

GB is good at sports where you need specialised equipment (Horses, Bikes, Yachts, Shotguns and so on).

If Ethiopians and Kenyans had ready access to Bikes then I'm sure the "King of the Mountains" would be an African Jersey (it will be next year when Chris Froome (Kenyan) wins it possibly).

Ethiopians and Kenyans start running in bare feet.  All you need to be a runner is some feet and some ground.

I would say that the long-jump is the only gold we could truly claim to be won by a British person that is truly accessible to anyone globally. (and the 10K if we claim Mo Farrah as truly British).
GB winning the long-jump at the Olympics is by far the most outstanding and surprising medal I can ever remember.  I still think there's been a clerical error and that the USA and Jamaica weren't invited.


Note on Mo Farrah. I don't think he had any history of running competitively before he moved to Britain so we could claim him as a British success but I have to question the commentator's over-nationalistic and jingoistic "GB shows the Africans how it's done" commentary as Mo won the 10K.

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #17 on: 07 August, 2012, 12:01:31 am »
Note on Mo Farrah. I don't think he had any history of running competitively before he moved to Britain

He was 8 when he moved to UK. Hardly likely to have had much of a career by then
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Jaded

  • The Codfather
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Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #18 on: 07 August, 2012, 12:36:07 am »
There is a lovely irony in reading a thread about accessible sports on a cycling forum.
It is simpler than it looks.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #19 on: 07 August, 2012, 06:03:18 am »
There is a lovely irony in reading a thread about accessible sports on a cycling forum.
The irony's lost on me, I'm afraid.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #20 on: 07 August, 2012, 06:29:28 am »
There's gunna be some seriously confused kids out there. On the one hand we've got Olympians "Inspiring a generation" so all the kids can go on to sporting glory in years to come. And on the other, if their school playing fields haven't been turned into housing estates, what little sport they do isn't supposed to be competitve incase it upsets little Jonny who's shit at sport...

A few points there...
Sporting glory by definition is only going to be for the few.  For the rest of Britain's youth its about enhancing their lives through discipline, self respect and improved health.
Playing fields - yes I quite agree !
Non competitive sport - see my first point above.  It's a balancing act between the few and the many. 


Aero but not dynamic

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #21 on: 07 August, 2012, 06:33:55 am »
There is a lovely irony in reading a thread about accessible sports on a cycling forum.
The irony's lost on me, I'm afraid.

Possibly this ?
Quote

We have identified four sports where there is virtually no chance that anyone from a poor country can win a medal - equestrian, sailing, cycling and swimming
from Professor David Forrest, a sports economist at the University of Salford  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19144983
Aero but not dynamic

Pancho

  • لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #22 on: 07 August, 2012, 06:37:31 am »
According to the DT only 20% of the GB Team are from independent schools.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #23 on: 07 August, 2012, 06:43:42 am »
We were discussing last night whether any Olympic sports required no expensive equipment in order to compete at the highest level, and decided there weren't any.  Have you seen the price of running shoes?  Even swimmers have very special kit.  Maybe beach volleyball is cheap - I can't see that special shoes help much on soft sand.

In ancient times everyone uised to compete naked, which was more egalitarian (although maybe the wrestlers had special high-performance skin oils harvested from the sacred olive groves of Narcissus).  I wouldn't like to see naked men in slo-mo, though.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

gordon taylor

Re: "Accessible" olympic sports
« Reply #24 on: 07 August, 2012, 07:04:51 am »
Football is accessible. It is probably the only truly global team sport.