Software is More Important than Hardware

The most significant development in school sports provision in the last twenty years has been in facility enhancement.  In a previous era, all schools had playing fields and a single badminton court gym equipped with ropes, beams and a host of other little used and understood features.  Then an arms race broke out.  It started with sports halls, extended to plastic hockey pitches and then exploded to include every possible facility known to man, regardless of relevance.  In an epidemic of "see you one and raise you one", boasts of improvements have come to be measured in tens of millions of pounds.

This currency has extended to new build maintained academies, most of which feature spectacular sports facilities, leading to a situation where - possibly for the first time ever - some of these schools have better hardware than many independent schools.  This then questions the relevance of Lord Moynihan's proposal that the latter be compelled to offer use of sports facilities to neighbouring state schools.  Equally flawed in the underlying assumption that they would like to benefit from this compulsion.

There is a faint irony that, whilst indoor facilities came to proliferate, the programmes of many schools continue to be dominated by traditional, outdoor team games.  Refugees from the demands of rugby and hockey benefited from the new world order, but sporting life for the able enthusiasts changed little, despite these huge investments.  Touring parents were the principal beneficiaries - wowed by facilities which could comfortably host the Olympic Games, and encouraged to see a close correlation between facilities and quality of sports provision.

That assumption is fatally flawed.  The significant variable in the quality of a school's offering of physical activity is not buildings, but the strength of its culture.  The expectations and values of the organisation which determine the behaviour which is valued, expected and rewarded.  This is the same at all levels of sport - in schools, clubs and high performance teams. Where culture is strong, participants respond, do the right thing and put the organisation's priorities before their own self interest.  Levels of willing participation are high, aspiration is prominent, effort is dominant and fitness is valued for its own sake, as well as for athletic preparation.  Staff and pupils go beyond obligation because they care about doing things well.  There is alignment of hearts and minds.

All the components of successful sport depend on the environment of the performer, which reflects culture.  Endeavour, aspiration, commitment, dedication, selflessness all emerge when the dominant culture demands and rewards them.  The satisfaction of sport is not when it is easy, but when it is difficult. Strong cultures encourage performers to relish working hard, and to strive to become the best they can be.

Cultures are not created by buildings, however lavish.  They are established by people - the underrated software of the sports operating system.  Coaches and teachers who work to establish an environment which demands high standards, and in which performers wish to participate.  This is not a formula that can be bought, or externally imposed.  It grows from dedicated people who care, and work to encourage a situation where pupil motivation is intrinsic, commitment is rewarded and it is cool to try hard. 

Culture is much more difficult to photograph and display in a brochure.  It is not easy to see, slow to build and doesn't have a price.  Hardware might be expensive - but the real value is in the software.