Under the Lib Dem proposals, school-centred physical education teachers would be superseded by PE coordinators, specialising in one or two sports, and would train pupils in those sports in a number of schools in one area.
They would also be responsible for delivering advice on issues including nutrition and healthy lifestyle, and provide a link between school sports and clubs in an effort to encourage post-school sports participation.
Sport England would be abolished, with its responsibilities transferred to elected regional bodies.
Liberal Democrat sports and culture shadow minister Don Foster MP said: “Getting children interested in sports early on is vital if we are to nurture the future Olympic champions of tomorrow. Giving children the chance to try out different sports which they enjoy is the only way to allow sport to become a habit for life.
“Our proposal to link local sports clubs with local schools will forge links that boost clubs and help cut the shocking 70 per cent drop-out rate in sports participation among children of school-leaving age.”
Britain, like the US and most other ‘developed’ economies, is suffering from an obesity epidemic fuelled by a Pizza and PlayStation lifestyle.
“For too long sport has been seen as an add-on to people’s lives. We see sport as crucial to the nation’s health and wellbeing. With child obesity trebling in the past decade, it is time the Department of Health took a far greater role in promoting sport and active living,” Foster said.
The policy also touches on professional sport and envisages “allowing professional sports clubs the freedom to make their own decisions on issues such as ground location and merchandising, while promoting examples of good practice in involving supporters in decisions”.
This section is likely to attract the interest of those clubs currently locked in bitter planning disputes over ground relocation and among those chairman who might see it as opening the door to a move to a new town or city.
