The power of a plan

Tom Walker, Editor

Agoal without a plan is just a wish”, said French poet and aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. He believed that in order to achieve large aspirations, you need a set of actionable steps. That is pretty much how strategies should work. They should map out a route to an end destination, with station points and a plan on how to reach each of them.

In this issue, we look at three strategies which all have similar end goals – to make it easier and safer for more people to play and engage in sport.

From page 76 onwards, we look at how the LTA has delivered on the aims it outlined in its Tennis Opened Up document. It is an opportune time to do so, as 2026 marks the final year of the three-year strategy.

Meanwhile, the FA recently published a progress report on its Inspiring Positive Change Through Football strategy for 2024-2028. To read about the report’s findings – which suggest football is thriving, but challenges remain when it comes to inclusion – turn to page 42. Elsewhere, we detail the Sports and Play Construction Association’s (SAPCA) new three-year strategy, which sets out to ensure the industry body leads the conversation on safe, high-quality and sustainable sports and play facilities. For this, we sat down with the association’s leadership team to find out more about the document and the association’s future plans (p. 46).

We also turn our gaze to the recently published and long-awaited Game On report (p. 34). The document is one of the most comprehensive assessments of the UK’s grassroots sport and physical activity landscape. The report’s recommendations could, if adopted by government, represent a turning point for our sector.

Drawing on evidence from across the industry, it delivers a clear message: demand for sport is strong, but the system underpinning it is fragmented, underfunded and too often overlooked in national policy. Time for another strategy, perhaps?

Tom Walker, Editor