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opiatemasses · 9 months

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Debunking the myth of the level playing field: exploring the notion of equality in English school hockey

England Hockey’s U16 squads were announced recently for the 2023/24 season. Of those selected 80% are privately educated.

On this critical issue the governing body, GB Hockey, are seemingly silent. This blog seeks to address this, highlighting the stark disparities which exist in hockey, as well as proposing realistic solutions. This is a discussion on the challenges hockey faces, where acknowledging the problem is an important first step towards future change.

Firstly, how do we know there is a problem?

Previous blogs on this subject have tended to cite statistics, illustrating the numbers of privately educated athletes representing Great Britain at past Olympics. Other blogs have also referenced Ofsted and their acknowledgement in previous years of this issue which led to the labelling of state school competitive sport as “average at best”. Evidence suggests this gap has narrowed but, not sufficiently to claim that the problem is solved.

Why does this problem exist?

Past research has identified a distinct difference in outlook between private and state schools which contributes to this disparity. Public schools traditionally use sport for character development and leadership training, in comparison to state schools which use sport more for health and general recreation. This Difference in attitude towards sport has a significant impact on the quality of delivery as well as the number of those participating.

State schools typically have only basic facilities at their disposal and have limited access to the high quality astroturf surfaces required to train and play competitive hockey. Moreover, they would struggle with the costs of providing underprivileged students with the sticks and specialist footwear needed for the game. This all limits the opportunities for students.

In stark contrast, private schools, such as Wellington College (Berkshire, England) offers its pupils ‘16 rugby pitches, two floodlit Astroturf pitches, a state-of-the-art sports hall, 22 hard tennis courts, 12 cricket pitches, an athletics track, two lacrosse pitches, six netball courts, a shooting range, and a nine-hole golf course'.

Sports facilities on this scale unarguably contribute significantly to the likelihood that already privileged athletes from private schools, will succeed at the highest level. Indeed, many privately educated athletes, including those within the England and Great Britain squads, are more likely to benefit from specialist and supportive coaching throughout the players development. They are often educated in smaller PE lessons with lower teacher-pupil ratios. This enables teachers to focus their time on developing individual athlete success, which is highly advantageous within the elite sport context as there is greater potential for student preparation and performance improvement in competitions.

There is one difference that is obvious, yet also possibly the hardest to provide a solution to. Parents of privately educated children typically have enough financial freedom to facilitate a more professional sporting environment for their children which means their opportunities increase. This is often combined with the ability to afford better quality training and equipment, along with greater accessibility to traveling for training and competition. Overall, whether we like to admit it or not, more money equals a foot in the door and that means the chances of progressing to elite levels are heightened.

These are not all of the differences but the most obvious ones to me.

This is particularly prominent and clear in my sport as a hockey player.

This angers me as talent is being disregarded or even wasted!

Possible interventions for this problem?

UK sport has acknowledged the gap across all sports, which is positive for the future. The new ‘talent identification and performance pathway scheme’ has since been introduced which looks to find and nurture children at an early age and therefore increases accessibility to sport and means that the talent pool for British sport is as wide as possible. This scheme is a perfect example of a positive shift towards better equality within school sport.

There is no simple fix, do not get me wrong. State schools are never going to be able to generate the amount of funding required to compete with some public schools. However, just by increasing exposure to diverse school sports experiences, it could enhance equal opportunities for young athletes. Introducing mixed school competitions could be a step forward, promoting more challenging and regular competition and motivating aspiring hockey enthusiasts.

Partnerships between schools and sports clubs for general sport have also been the focus for the government for a long time now in order to drive an increased interest for children with less opportunity which I believe is a really positive move as undoubtedly over time this will drive an increased diversity amongst high performance sports teams in the future.

An example specifically to hockey would be the new programme set up between, National League club Bath Buccaneers and its local state schools. A new outreach program, led by the mother of an under-12 state school player, has been established. The goal is to promote hockey in state schools, demonstrating its accessibility and the growing opportunities. This form of initiative holds great promise, and I believe that overtime it will become attainable for other clubs, through mutually beneficial partnerships between clubs and schools, to replicate the model across the country which could lead to a brighter and more fair future for the sport.

This is an issue that needs action now. Please help by sharing this blog to help spread the message.

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#school #sport #need for change #team gb #hockey

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