ATHLETICS

S

Focus

P

O

R

T I N F O

C

U

S

England Athletics published its 12-year strategic document in May 2021. Three years into it, SportsNation looks at how the NGB’s plans to grow the sport across all levels – and to make it more inclusive – have advanced

England Athletics launched its 12-year strategy plan in May 2021. Covering the period from 2021 to 2032 and titled Athletes and runners at the heart, the strategy followed extensive consultation with a multitude of stakeholders across the sport. The length of the plan was a conscious decision. “This strategic plan was produced with a longer-term vision on the key challenges and opportunities ahead, rather than the traditional four-year perspective,” England Athletics said when publishing the document.

“We recognise that, to deliver sustainable success, we need to give strategies and programmes longer to embed and take root.”

Setting out to win

The strategy identifies five key focus areas in which the national governing body will look to improve and develop the sport. These are:

1 2 3 4 5

Clubs, club leaders and facilities Competition Coaches and officials Participation: young people and running Talented athletes

According to England Athletics, each of the five areas was chosen as it has its “own unique challenges and opportunities, yet also the opportunity to positively influence the success and growth of the other areas”.

Focus

In its strategy, England Athletics outlines an ambition of establishing and nurturing a “world- renowned infrastructure of athletics and running clubs, competitions and coaches”. At the time of the publication of the strategy, there were 1,800 affiliated clubs and member bodies across the country. Of those, around 30% of clubs were engaging directly with the programmes and services provided by England Athletics. 200 facility providers were also working towards gaining TrackMark – the quality assurance scheme for outdoor athletics facilities – to ensure club environments are as safe and supportive as possible.

When it comes to participation, the strategy details how the total number of regular runners in England “continues to hover around 7 million”. At the same time, the number of registered athletes (those belonging to a club) had reached a high of 190,000 by 2019. The figure, however, had dropped to 142,000 in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The strategy sets out targets of having 9 million regular participants in athletics by 2032, with 250,000 registered athletes (affiliated to clubs) by 2032.

There are now over 200,000 registered runners and over 3,000 groups on the RunTogether platform

Progress being made

It has now been three years since the strategy’s publication and a recent progress report (December 2023) charts the progress made in the different key focus areas.

Among the biggest success stories is how the NGB has approached hitting its targets across clubs and facilities. By December 2023, England Athletics had already surpassed its annual target of having 1,460 affiliated clubs and 300 affiliated member bodies for the 2023-24 period. A further 15+ clubs are ready to be affiliated in 2024.

There has also been investments in facilities to support the growth in the number of clubs. “We have invested over £1 million per year (since 2021) to develop new and existing clubs,” England Athletics said. “This includes around £100,000 invested into clubs thanks to our 2023 Club Improvement Fund and Facilities Investment Fund which have leveraged an additional £500k. The Club Hub section of our website continues to prove itself as a valuable asset in supporting athletics and running club volunteers, with over 50,000 page views per quarter.

“Separately, the TrackMark process has been completed by 132 tracks around England, including the majority of key competition venues, meaning they meet the quality standards set by UK Athletics. All affiliated clubs are now also working towards our Club Standards, which is particularly pleasing as the welfare of everyone involved in our sport – from participants, to officials, to volunteers – remains a priority for us.”

Improved participation

England Athletics now has 170,000 registered athletes, which represents an increase of 30,000 since 2020. There are also more than 200,000 registered runners and over 3,000 groups on the RunTogether platform.

Importantly, there have also been inroads into making the sport more inclusive and ensuring people of all backgrounds are getting involved in the sport. “We continue our support of Sporting Equals’ British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) and Race Representation Index where, in April 2023, we were graded “B” and second across all participating NGBs,” the organisation revealed.

Focus

Inspirational athletes

As the “Lionesses effect” has shown – with the number of women and girls’ football teams in England doubling in seven years thanks to success of the national team – role models and inspirational athletes can have a hugely positive effect on grassroots participation. Hence, it is important that there is a established pathway for those showing promise in the different disciplines of athletics.

England Athletics’ strategy outlines an ambition of supporting more people in improving their performances and “feeling the pride of wearing an England vest”, whatever their discipline, background or event group.

“Our focus is on building quality environments at a local and regional level,” England Athletics says. “Since the publication of the strategy, we have supported around 1,000 athletes and para- athletes on the talent pathway and England representative teams in 2023. We are continuing to deliver a structured programme of support for England Teams, while a new talent development plan is in the process of being finalised.

“On the International stage, Team England secured a record-breaking medal haul across the athletics events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, winning seven gold medals along with 15 silver and 12 bronze.”

The way forward

As well as providing plans to improve the facility strategy, making the sport more inclusive and increasing participation, the strategy also outlines targets for a range of other areas. One of these is environmental sustainability.

Here, the NGB is on a mission to ensure that a minimum of half (50%) of all clubs are engaged with England Athletics sustainability guidance and initiatives by 2026. This extends to both regional and national events, where it is introducing a sustainability indicator, to be used by race directors and competition providers.

Reflecting on the last two and a half years of delivery, Gary Shaughnessy CBE, Chair of England Athletics, said: “I’m happy with the progress we have made against the strategy to date, and we are tracking well to achieve our vision by 2032.

“The board and I are committed to being open and honest with our members, so it was important for us to share a transparent report of our strategy progress. While we have plenty of milestones to celebrate at this point, we acknowledge there is still plenty of work to do and we are mobilising to address the areas where we are falling short.

“Underpinning the key focus areas outlined above is the investment of our income, and I’m pleased to report that we remain financially stable thanks to continual management of our cost base. We are careful to ensure the majority of our revenue is invested back into the direct delivery of our key focus areas across the sport, and we remain cautiously optimistic about our financial position enabling the success of our strategy. That said, we are not complacent in this area, and we are actively in the market for commercial partnerships to bolster our financial stability and resilience for the years to come.

“To get our sport back on its feet after the COVID-19 pandemic took a gallant effort by everyone involved in athletics, proving that regardless of whether you favour track or road or field, we can achieve more when we move together. We now need to maintain this energy and focus our efforts on enhancing experiences and creating new opportunities in order to really power the potential of our athletes.

“Looking ahead to the next nine years, we have some even bigger goals to achieve, and we are appreciative of the continued and collaborative support of everyone involved in our sport.”