THE HERALD REPORTS


A flawed sporting culture fails to realise Scotland’s potentialKEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer February 28 2008

NOWHERE TO RUN: Flag rugby has acheived relative success
Last Sunday provided the ultimate test of open-mindedness. As someone who believes himself to be egalitarian in all things, the visceral reaction to daddy's little girl getting her first pair of football boots was not good.

Having, these past nine years, dotingly taken her along to swimming, gymnastics, horse-riding, every conceivable different kind of dance class, Brownies of course and even very well controlled martial arts classes, this gut feeling was a bit different. Contact sport . . . never gave it a second thought with the boys, but the pixie? Even if that tackle on Eduardo had not happened the previous day it would have been difficult, but such feelings must be resisted. She should be taking part in absolutely everything the boys did if she wants to.

That evening I thought about it some more while watching BBC Scotland's Wasted Nation forum, which discussed in some detail just why there is such a drink-related culture of aggression on our streets. The repeated message was that there is not enough for these kids to do.

Time after time over the years I have encountered sportsmen who have used the line: "If it wasn't for boxing/football/rugby/athletics/ judo (add or delete as appropriate) I would have ended up in the jail . . ." There is no better way to channel aggression. Yet, in Scotland, too few of those who would benefit most are exposed to sport and we must ask ourselves why.


Schooling is a huge factor. Youngsters are encouraged to compete in mathematics, in English, in sciences and in the arts through an intense system of examinations. Those whose strength is not academic, but may well be physical, are pretty much left to rot. They become bored, then frustrated, then, quite often, aggressive, or at very least disruptive. Considering how many are frog-marched through what for most is the interminable boredom of the maths curriculum, we are not awfully good at adding things up and coming up with obvious answers.

All that has contributed to a sporting culture which is among the weakest in the developed world. To a large extent - and it is sad to report that I even know people who are paid as professional sporting commentators to be guilty of this - competitive people are sneered at here. In the Antipodes, for example, it is closer to the reverse.

Another huge problem is the lack of facilities. If you have a few bob, it is easy enough to get your kids into whatever it is they want to do, but municipal facilities are dreadful.

Yet you do not need a handful of Highers to work out that those who are short of a few bob are the most vulnerable to the booze-fuelled, gangland lifestyle.



On which note it was truly depressing, long after I first raised this subject with the Scottish Rugby Union, to receive yet another message from a club member complaining about the ridiculous cost of going to SRU rugby camps this Easter.

Almost two years ago, after a former internationalist led a public campaign to reduce the shameful prices charged to attend rugby camps, I explained in meticulous detail to officials in the SRU's community rugby division just why it was vital that the costs involved must be at least as low as for equivalent soccer schools. Their response was to let another commercial organisation use the SRU brand to coin it in at the expense of Scottish families.

Such schools/camps should be an introduction for all to the sport, with a view towards inviting participants to join their local clubs. Sadly, those SRU officials actually claim they are doing well to be charging "as little as" £55. For many, that is a significant part of the family budget.

There will be no significant outcry, because so few of those who ought to be upset even consider rugby as an option. For most of those who could benefit most from it, the word "sport" really means "football". Yet thousands who will never even be passable Sunday league footballers would be much better suited to sports they know nothing about, let alone have any idea how to get involved in clubs.

Governing bodies must do better in terms of ensuring that they do not damage themselves, as rugby does, with these £55-a-skull camps, which reinforce the image of it being a middle class sport.

The wider issue, though, lies with changing the national attitude to sport so that every dad and, particularly, mum knows how to access different activities for their sons and daughters and why it is important they are given choices.

That cross-class, cross-gender understanding will only come when as many people are exposed to competitive sport as are force-fed maths and Shakespeare. If there are a few bumps, bruises or even, God forbid, scars, along the way, then over-protective dads will have to find a way of coping.

This article was posted on 28-Feb-2008, 09:24 by Hugh Barrow.