Giving kids a sporting chance

I am lucky enough to live in the Marchmont area of Edinburgh for the next wee while. The main attraction of this part of town is the Meadows which is usually chock full of girls and boys playing football, touch rugby, ultimate frisbee and so much more. There are some teams down there playing games that I don't even recognise.

Another refreshing aspect of this neighbourhood is, if someone walks into the local co-op with a hockey stick or Irish hurling equipment, the shop workers first reaction isn't too duck behind the counter and hit the security button.

Sport is very much engrained in these peoples' lives. Even as I type here in the kitchen there are 12 basketball kits hanging up to dry.

So what is my point here? Well, two things...

The majority of students who are into these sports tend to be foreign. I'll always remember the German guy from my student days who asked me if Edinburgh had a Korfball club. I think I only managed to vaguely shake my head as my brain was overcome with the question "What the bloody hell is Korfball!?"

The other point I have is, it seems for a lot of Scottish people it is only after they leave school that they feel free enough to try new sports. For me, back in my schooldays, over the course of 6 years I had one lesson in cricket, one in hockey and zero in rugby. I'm not suggesting I was ever going to set the world alight in any of those sports but it would have been nice if my school had thrown more at us than just a football once or twice a week.

So what can be done? Well, where university leads, Scottish schools can follow and I believe a very long step in the right direction could stem from copying the Fresher's Week model.

Now I'm not suggesting that kids of 11 and 12 should act like Freshers by staying up to all hours and getting ridiculously drunk. I'm sure they're doing that anyway without further interference.

No, Freshers' Week at most universities has a sports open day when you turn up to a hall and every sports and social club is there selling its wares, signing people up with promises of fitness, fun and frolics. It's a merry-go-round of potential opportunities and a perfect way to discover sports you'd never properly considered before. It's certainly one of the star attractions of any student's first week and a perfect ice-breaker for friendless students was always "So what clubs have you joined?"

So why not organise all the youth groups and sport clubs in any one area to do a tour of the schools on the first week of term and boost their numbers? It will relieve some of the burden on P.E. teachers to get kids healthy, it will relieve some of the burden on parents as they get an extra few hours a week of peace while the kids are off playing croquet, tennis or handball or something and ultimately it may even noticeably relieve the burden on the NHS if we can get Scotland fitter.

I admit I am a little out of touch and maybe something similar has already taken off in Scottish schools. My nephew's sporting imagination is very healthy for example as he doesn't know whether he'll be a basketball or a baseball player. Tough life hey?

So hopefully, before too long, there'll be a few more Scottish accents wandering around town and asking where the Korfball clubs are...

EDIT: Thanks to the link from Conservative councillor Cameron Rose. I had Mr Rose in my thoughts as I typed this blog entry up as he often promotes sport in the Meadows. For example, he must be the only public figure I know of who congratulated the World Champion frisbee team that is based in Edinburgh. Yes, I thought it was rather impressive too...