elite sport strategy 2010–16

elite sport strategy
2010–16
contents
3
“”
uniting a proud
sporting nation.
1. Foreword
1.1.Chair Sport Wales
1.2.Minister for Heritage
2.
Executive Summary
3.
Introduction
4.
Approach
5.
Headline Targets
6.
Categorisation
6.1.Process
6.2.What does this mean?
6.3.Which sports are categorised
for Elite Sport?
6.4.How are Disability Sports
to be categorised?
6.5.How are major professional sports
in Wales to be categorised?
7.
Sport Wales Institute
7.1.UK Sport
7.2. Major Events Unit
7.3.Higher Education
8.
Elite Sport Funding
9.Revised Climbing Higher Targets
9.1.Commonwealth Games
9.2. Olympic Games
9.3. Paralympic Games
9.4. Rugby Union
9.5.Football
9.6. Golf
9.7. Cricket
10. Closing Remarks
11. Appendix
11.1 Achievements 2006 - 2009
1. foreword
4
5
“”
we want Wales to
be seen as a nation
of champions,
where winning
is expected,
talent developed,
and success is
promoted and
celebrated across
a wide range of
sports.
1.1.
1.2.
In terms of elite sporting success, we in
Wales have much to be proud of. We are a small
nation, but one which very much punches above
its weight. This strategy sets out an ambitious
and challenging pathway for elite sport in Wales.
We, along with our partners, believe that we
should continue to challenge ourselves not only
to maintain our success but to build on it. We
want to measure our success not solely against
the other nations in the UK, but on a global level
and become an example for how success in
elite sport can be developed and sustained. This
strategy seeks to put in place the systems and
support to ensure our success story continues.
Sport Wales recognises that this cannot
be achieved by pursuing more of the same.
We need to adopt a different approach, work
collaboratively and more proactively challenge
one another to get the best results for our
athletes and coaches. With the backing of the
Government and our partners in sport, we will
aspire to achieve systematic success at the very
highest level.
We want Wales to be seen as a nation of
champions, where winning is expected, talent
developed, and success is promoted and
celebrated across a wide range of sports. We
believe that this strategy marks the beginning of
a journey to further success in the future.
Sport is important to many people in Wales
and for many reasons.
It is important to our health, to our sense
of wellbeing, to our national identity and to our
place in the world. There is today, quite rightly,
a significant emphasis and focus on the health
and social benefits of sport. Participation is
very important and we must continue to give
everyone the opportunity to play end enjoy
sport. We should, however, also acknowledge
and celebrate talent and excellence. Taking part
is important but sport is also about winning.
Wales is a small nation with big ambitions.
We want to win medals at the major multi sport
events like the Olympics, the Paralympics and
the Commonwealth Games. We want to win
World and European championships. We want
to be known across the world for our sporting
achievements.
This strategy provides a clear direction and
ambitious targets for elite sport in Wales.
It provides a sound basis for making the best use
of available resources to deliver excellence and
for measuring progress towards our ambitions.
In 2014, Welsh athletes will be competing
at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
This will be our opportunity to showcase our
sporting talent to the world. This strategy will
give our athletes the best possible chance to be
successful.
Professor Laura McAllister
Chair of Sport Wales
Alun Ffred Jones AM
Minister for Heritage
“”
sport is important
to many people in
Wales and for many
reasons.
It is important to our
health, to our sense
of wellbeing, to our
national identity
and to our place in
the world.
2. executive summary
6
7
Sport Wales’ vision is to
unite a proud sporting nation,
our purpose is to increase
physical activity and improve
standards of performance.
Uniting is a powerful word
that helps articulate Sport
Wales’ role in bringing
partners and people together:
local authorities, governing
bodies of sport, communities,
coaches, adults, young people,
children and the entire nation
to support, participate and
excel in sport.
As a nation, Wales is known for its passion
and commitment to both supporting local clubs
as well as our national teams on the world
stage. We’re a relatively small nation, but one
that punches above its weight in terms of our
presence in international competition. Our
successes in 2008 at the Beijing Olympic and
Paralympic Games illustrate this point. This
was Wales’s most successful Olympics in 100
years, with five medals won, and Welsh athletes
securing twenty four per cent of the gold medals
won by Great Britain’s Paralympians.
Wales is no longer known just for its rugby
and football heroes, we now have a significant
number of sportsmen and women who are
recognised across the world for their sporting
achievement: Nicole Cooke, Dave Roberts, Tanni
Grey Thompson, David Davies and Joe Calzahge to
name but a few. Following hard on their heels is an
emerging generation of talent which is making its
mark at junior and youth levels, which we believe
will be the household names of the future.
This strategy is to enable us to be more
focused and ensure we continue to deliver
success at the highest level. Its ultimate
aspiration is for Wales to not only excel at
sport but also to be world renowned as a
successful sporting nation. It establishes
a very challenging set of targets which
reflect the current levels of potential and
achievement within Welsh sports. We
envisage that these targets will drive us
and partners to ensure we put all the
processes in place to give us every chance
of succeeding on the world stage.
Wales has a unique opportunity between
2010-2016 to deliver on the international stage with
two of the biggest multi sport events being hosted
in the UK, London 2012 and Glasgow 2014.
wo of the key measures of our success
T
will be:
• Wales position, on a per capita basis,
on the medal table at the Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games.
• The number of Welsh athletes competing
and winning medals for Great Britain at the
Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Whether it’s as part of a successful British
team or representing our country, we will
prioritise our investment and services to those
athletes and sports which have recognised
talent to deliver against our objectives. We
will continue to deliver an athlete-centred
approach, to ensure our elite performers
receive the necessary quality assured high
performance institute services from sports
science, sports medicine, performance lifestyle
and performance analysis to support them in
achieving their potential.
“”
we want to be the best we can be and
we want to be known across the world
for our sporting achievements.
“”
we want to win medals at the
major multi sport events like
the Olympics, the Paralympics
and the Commonwealth Games.
3. introduction
8
9
This strategy aims to make a reality the
policy statement made by the Minister for
Heritage (18 November 2009):
“We want to win medals
at the major multi sport
events like the Olympics,
the Paralympics and the
Commonwealth Games.
We want to win World and
European championships.
We want to be the best we
can be and we want to be
known across the world
for our sporting achievements.
But it is not just about winning
medals above all else.
“In recognising the positive
impact that sport can have on
peoples lives, our investment
in sport should not only be
targeted at those sports that
can give us the level of medal
success that we aspire to, but
also to those that can inspire
and motivate people to
participate – and that are
important to Wales.”
This strategy is designed specifically and
exclusively to focus on the first of these two
paragraphs, relating to elite sport. Sport Wales
recognises the important role that Welsh National
Governing Bodies of sport have in the delivery of
grassroots and community sport, which we will
continue to support through a variety of different
programmes. To this end it is important to note
that this strategy will not determine the totality
of the funding which Welsh National Governing
Bodies receive from Sport Wales.
The strategy is the product of widespread
consultation, initially within Sport Wales itself,
and then in an ever-widening radius, which
has included the Welsh Sports Association, the
Commonwealth Games Council for Wales and
the Federation of Disability Sport Wales. Finally,
each of the Welsh National Governing Bodies,
who will be major contributors to the objectives
within this strategy, were consulted.
The strategy seeks to determine how
Sport Wales will categorise the sports we work
with at elite level and to provide clarity on
how each sport can expect to be supported.
This categorisation will in no way excuse any
sport from the core obligation to maintain
sound governance structures and processes,
to plan effectively and to deliver returns on the
investment that it receives.
The categorisation will determine how Sport
Wales will work with elite sports and individuals
to fulfil the targets and goals that have been set
in consultation with those sports. In particular we
are focussing on those sports which are reliant
on Government funding for the development and
delivery of both their elite programmes and the
pathways which underpin those programmes.
The strategy also seeks to embrace those
professional sports whose performances
and results at international level are of
great importance to the Welsh nation – and
with whom Sport Wales does not have either
a direct or substantial funding relationship or
only currently provides support at junior or
amateur levels. Sport Wales intends to discuss
with these sports their plans and objectives,
to consider how best to work in partnership
with them as they develop their infrastructures
and programmes, encouraging them to
invest appropriately in robust pathways from
participation through to elite for both male and
female and adding value wherever possible.
The strategy covers the period between
2010 and 2016, in the knowledge that:
• This period includes major multisport
events in both the Delhi 2010
Commonwealth Games and the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games –
although pathway planning for these
Games is now more or less complete
at the time of writing.
• This period also includes the Glasgow
2014 Commonwealth Games, which
represents a significant opportunity for
Welsh athletes and teams to win medals
for Wales on the international stage.
• Pathway planning for the Rio 2016
Olympic and Paralympic Games at
Great Britain level will begin to emerge
in the near future, and must be anticipated
and embraced by this strategy.
•O
ver this period each sport which is
included within the strategy will also
feature in European and World
championships, which are important
both for their own sake and for their
role as stepping-stones towards the
major multisport events.
4. approach
“”
10
it’s about raising the bar and expecting accountability from
everyone involved. It’s about ensuring that the success that
Wales produces on the world stage is systemic, deliberate
and can be sustained in the future.
This strategy sets out Sport Wales’ approach
to elite sport. This approach has been refined
over the years and takes into account our
evaluation of current systems and structures,
existing Climbing Higher targets and the
recommendations made in the Performance
and Excellence review. A summary of the
approach is:
• Drawing a distinction between those sports
and events where Sport Wales investment
of support and resources can have a direct
impact and those where the effect / impact
will be less direct.
• Introducing a system of categorisation
through which Sport Wales can apply
different levels of support to sports in the
fulfilment of its overall objectives.
• Focus support and resources on a smaller
number of sports in order to maximise
their potential to achieve consistent and
sustainable high-level success.
• Introduce a more flexible model which
allows Sport Wales to:
-S
upport world-class athletes, regardless
of the overall strength of the sport in which
they compete
- Invest purposefully in bespoke performance
projects which have the potential to deliver
high-level success
- R
ecognise and respond to the complex
structures in place for elite sport within
disability sport
- Develop partnership working with the major
professional sports in Wales which adds
value to their performance pathways where
appropriate
• Redefine the relationship between the
delivery of elite sport and the underpinning
structures, recognising how the performance
pathway runs between the two.
Through pursuing this approach we
recognise that we are a small nation of limited
resource. Therefore, our focus must be on getting
the very best out of the resources available
to us. It’s about raising the bar and expecting
accountability from everyone involved. It’s about
ensuring that the success that Wales produces on
the world stage is systemic, deliberate and can
be sustained in the future.
If we can do all of these things, we are
confident that the result will be more medals won
at Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, World
and European levels between 2010 and 2016,
fulfilling the Welsh Assembly Government’s
vision that:
“We want to be the best we can be and
we want to be known across the world for our
sporting achievements.”
11
5. headline targets
6. categorisation of elite sports
12
13
For each of these major multisport events,
the strategy seeks to interpret the policy
statement made by the Minister through
providing targets and goals for Welsh athletes
and teams. These targets are calculated from the
bottom up, using knowledge of what the sports
themselves believe to be realistic, and appear
as follows:
Commonwealth Games
Eighteen base and twenty eight stretch
medals in the Delhi 2010 Games.
Twenty five base and thirty five stretch
medals in the Glasgow 2014 Games.
Wales to be the best-performing home
nation in terms of medals per million
inhabitants; with a stretch target of being
the best-performing Commonwealth
nation by the same indicator.
Olympic Games
Welsh athletes to win a total of six Olympic
medals across the 2012 and 2016 Games,
with a stretch target of ten Olympic medals.
Paralympic Games
Welsh athletes to win a total of thirty Paralympic
medals across the 2012 and 2016 Games, with a
stretch target of forty Paralympic medals.
With Wales aspiring to be the leading
contributor of GB paralympic medals on a per
capita basis.
Targets and goals are also intimated for
the major professional sports in Wales of rugby
union, football, golf and cricket; although it is
acknowledged that the fulfilment of these will
be for the most part supported by the sports
themselves.
The strategy will be delivered by Sport
Wales’ continuing work with Welsh National
Governing Bodies of sport to develop robust
elite sport plans which are the subject of
indicative long-term funding awards, and
which are reviewed on an annual basis to
ensure that progress is being made against
performance indicators and milestone
targets. These will be the building blocks
through which accountability is generated for
delivery.
Finally, the strategy itself will be subject to
a process of periodic review in line with each
major games, during which consideration will
be given to changing circumstances such as the
emergence of pathway planning for 2016, or
alterations to the roster of Olympic, Paralympic
and Commonwealth sports. This will ensure
that the strategy will be a live and dynamic
document, capable of responding at a speed
which can keep pace with the rapidly evolving
world of elite sport.
6.1. The categorisation process
Sport Wales intends to focus its attention,
resources and services on those sports which
offer the greatest and widest prospects of
fulfilling its targets and aspirations, and in which
it believes it can make the most difference. We
therefore intend to categorise the sports with
which we works at elite sport level, in such a
way as will clarify the way in which each sport
can expect to be supported. This categorisation
will in no way excuse any sport from the core
obligation to maintain sound governance
structures and processes, to plan effectively, and
to deliver returns on investment.
The categorisation process is built on the
premise that investment in Commonwealth
Games sports will offer Wales the most direct
and immediate prospect of results. That is, the
Commonwealth Games provide an opportunity
for Welsh athletes to compete in a Welsh vest
for a Welsh team, and to win medals on behalf
of Wales. This is not to decry the importance of
the Olympic and Paralympic Games – but rather
to acknowledge the sphere in which Welsh
investment can achieve the most prominent
outcome for the nation. With this premise in mind
the following provides in order of weighting, the
criteria used for categorisation:
•c
ore Commonwealth Games sports, which are
also Olympic and / or Paralympic sports
•o
ptional Commonwealth Games sports
which will appear in the Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games, which are also
Olympic and / or Paralympic sports
•c
ore Commonwealth Games sports, which are
not Olympic and / or Paralympic sports
• Olympic and / or Paralympic sports which are
not either core or optional Commonwealth
Games sports
Within this weighting system, sports are
assessed against the following criteria:
•D
oes the sport have a recent track record
of success (i.e., medals won) at:
- Commonwealth Games, through the
performance of Welsh athletes and teams
- Olympic / Paralympic Games, through the
performance of Great Britain athletes and
teams
• Is there a depth of talent / a critical mass of elite
athletes within Wales?
• The number of medals available at
Commonwealth Games and Olympic /
Paralympic games?
Within the categorisation process, separate
consideration is given to the following:
• Disability sports, those with two distinct
pathways (twin track) i.e. pathway which
complement each other enabling integrated
or inclusive performance pathways, and
those with performance pathways which
are supported by the Federation of Disability
Sport Wales.
• Professional sports in which Sport Wales has
limited influence on the elite side, namely
rugby union, football, golf and cricket. These
will be treated separately through discussion
with the respective national governing body.
6.2. What does categorisation mean?
Through the above process, four distinct
categories are identified which provide a
framework for the support Sport Wales will
provide. This framework is not intended to be
absolutely precise or specific, rather, the support
which each sport within each category receives
will be subject to discussion with that sport,
recognising its structures and potential, and the
application of available services and resources
in an appropriate way.
categorisation of elite sports contd.
14
15
Category A
• Performance support will be provided to these
sports in accordance with their potential (a) to
win Commonwealth Games medals for Wales,
(b) to access UK performance pathways, for
athletes from talent development to senior
status.
• Athletes who are identified as talented will
have access to funding and support which
increases as they develop and move further up
the performance pathway. Athletes on the later
stages of this pathway will be offered support
which is individualised, frequent and highintensity. Athletes on the early stages of the
pathway will receive more group-based and
generic support.
• Coaching support will be delivered through the
Coach Cymru programme, and will be built on
the principle of providing appropriate support
to the performance pathway. For Category A
sports, three dimensions of support will be
considered:
- Coach direction; e.g. strategy and
implementation
- Coaching delivery; e.g. the deployment
of national coaches
- Coach development and support; e.g.
mentoring, CPD.
• Sports science / medicine support will be built
on a sport-specific needs analysis, conducted
in partnership between the sports and Sport
Wales. The provision of support services will
be from within Sport Wales’s in-house resource,
where available; otherwise, outsourced from
external providers (quality assured by Sport
Wales).
• Training / competition support, financial
support will underpin the agreed sport-specific
training and competition model
which the identified athletes pursue.
• Facility access will be funded / supported
as far as is possible in order to guarantee
priority access for the identified athletes
to the national and regional facilities which they
require for training.
• Performance pathway support will be provided
to develop an appropriate performance
pathway to underpin the elite level.
Category B
• Performance support will be provided to these
sports in accordance with their potential (a) to
win Commonwealth Games medals for Wales,
with an emphasis on those athletes whose
potential is already proven; and (b) to access
UK performance pathways.
• Athletes who are identified as talented will have
access to funding and support which increases
as they develop and move further up the
performance pathway.
• Coaching support will be provided through the
Coach Cymru programme (or equivalent), and
will be built on the principle of supporting all
athletes identified as talented . For Category
B sports, the model will be sport-specific and
oriented as appropriate towards providing two
dimensions of support:
- Coaching delivery, e.g. the deployment
of national coaches
- Coach development, e.g. mentoring, CPD
•S
ports science / medicine support will
prioritise those athletes who have the potential
to win a Commonwealth Games medal or
progress on to the UK performance pathway
The provision of support services will be
largely outsourced from quality assured
external providers.
• Training / competition support, financial
support will underpin the agreed sport-specific
training and competition model which the
identified athletes pursue.
•F
acility access will be funded / supported as
far as is possible in order to guarantee priority
access for the identified athletes to the national
facilities which they require for training.
• Performance Pathway support will be provided
to develop an appropriate performance
pathway to underpin the elite level.
Performance Projects
• Those sports (especially team sports) which
can offer a self-contained project or model
which is not in itself a programme or a pathway,
but which none the less produces performance
outcomes, may be funded by Sport Wales to
pursue that project/model
• Examples of these projects / models may be
the fielding of a team in a British or English
league which can underpin the development
of talented athletes; the maintenance of a
coaching hotspot in a specific location; the
conduct of a bespoke talent identification /
development initiative
• These projects / models will be eligible to
receive funding, but not the range of support
services which are available to Category A
and B sports.
Medal Winning Athletes
• I ndividual athletes of demonstrable world-class
standard within any Commonwealth, Olympic
or Paralympic sport which is not categorised as
above, will be eligible to receive funding and
support from Sport Wales.
• I ndividual athletes of demonstrable worldclass standard in non-Commonwealth, Olympic
or Paralympic sports may also be eligible to
receive funding and support at the discretion of
Sport Wales.
•F
unding and support will be provided to these
athletes on an individual basis. The definition
of “world-class standard” will be based on
research and agreement with each of the
relevant sports.
6.3. Which sports are categorised
for elite sport ?
Category A
Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Federation
of Disability Sport Wales (see 6.4),
Shooting and Swimming
Category B
Bowls, Gymnastics, Judo and Weightlifting
Performance Projects
To be determined by application
Medal Winning Athletes To be determined by application
16
6.4 How are disability sports to be
categorised?
Within the sphere of disability sport, the
same principles and criteria will be applied to
place sports within different categories which will
determine the way in which Sport Wales allocates
attention, resources and services to them.
However, the way in which Sport Wales
works with disability sports will be different, and
will recognise the particular circumstances of
those sports and their governing bodies:
• Sport Wales will establish a direct funding
relationship only with those sports whose Welsh
governing body offers or has the genuine
potential to offer a twin track or fully integrated
approach and is sufficiently robust to support
a disability programme alongside a non
disabled programme.
• Sport Wales will work with all other sports
through the medium of its partnership with the
Federation of Disability Sport Wales (FDSW).
Sport Wales will fund and support sports and
athletes through FDSW, in accordance with
the category into which each of those sports /
athletes is placed.
This last point recognises that a majority of
Welsh National Governing Bodies of sport do not
have the infrastructure to support disability sport;
also that FDSW has established a successful
performance support function, including an
Academy for the development of identified talent.
The focus of the Academy is athlete
producing and not directly medal producing. It
delivers a multi sport programme with a broad
remit to maximise potential opportunities. The
strength of the system in Wales is that athletes
are developed across a wide range of sports
and this offers an effective and proven talent
transfer opportunity if appropriate. This is
particularly important for disability sport as
the classifications change frequently within
individual sports.
6.5 How are major professional sports in
Wales to be categorised?
Each professional sport – specifically, rugby
union, football, golf and cricket – will be addressed
separately outside of the categorisation system.
Sport Wales will discuss with each of the Welsh
National Governing Bodies of these sports their
strategic plans and objectives, and consider how
best to work in partnership with them for their
fulfilment.
Investment of resources and services may
be applied to areas where a specific impact can
be made in support of overall objectives as well
as recognising the significant role these sports
play in Wales with regards to media coverage,
profile and public interest. Sport Wales will work
in partnership with these sports to increase the
profile of sport in Wales, share best practice and
to seek further investment where appropriate to
support the development of the game at grass
roots level.
7. Sport Wales Institute
18
19
The Sport Wales Institute is
the Elite Performance function
of Sport Wales. The Sport Wales
Institute comprises a network
of facilities and providers that
work with partners to help
deliver success for Welsh
sport at the highest level. The
network will be developed to
ensure it meets the needs and
requirements of the identified
athletes and coaches.
The Welsh Institute of Sport building in Cardiff
has been renamed the Sport Wales National
Centre and will form part of the facility network
supporting the Institute. In North Wales, Sport
Wales has provided dedicated support to develop
the institute network and this will continue under
the auspice of Sport Wales Institute.
Elite Practitioners within the Sport Wales
Institute work as a team and with partners to
ensure all athletes and coaches receive a fully
integrated service which meets their needs and
is quality assured.
Sports and athletes will be identified for
support from Sport Wales Institute utilising our
categorisation process.
In terms of funding, athletes will be eligible
for financial support according to their previous
achievements and potential plus their respective
position on the pathway.
The matrix of support offered is bespoke and
dependant on the circumstances of the sport
or athletes, but the full menu is outlined below:• Elite Athlete support
(direct or via NGB)
• Elite Coaching support
• Training & Competition support
• Facility Access
• Performance Lifestyle
(athlete education and support)
• Sports Medicine support, including
- Medical consultation & screening
- Physiotherapy
(prehabilitation & rehabilitation)
• Sports Science support, including
Performance Analysis
- Physiology
- Strength & Conditioning
- Nutrition
- Sports Psychology
7.1. UK Sport
UK Sport is the strategic lead body for high
performance sport in the UK. It invests Exchequer
and National Lottery funds in Britain’s best
Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to
maximise their chances of success on the world
stage. Essentially, UK Sport’s responsibilities are
to underpin and unlock the nation’s Olympic and
Paralympic performance potential.
This strategy aims to complement the
work of UK Sport by underpinning the UK
programmes and initiatives and by providing
direct support to those athletes identified on UK
Performance Pathways based in Wales.
The strategy will set targets for representation
for Welsh athletes on to Great Britain teams for the
Olympics and Paralympics and aspirational targets
for medals due to the limited involvement of Wales
once athletes are in the UK system.
“”
Sport Wales recognises the role the Higher
Education sector can play in helping to
deliver the main goals of this strategy.
20
21
7.2. Major Events
The staging of major events can have a
positive impact on the interest in sport; the
participation in sport and the success of welsh
competitors and teams.
In order to achieve the above impacts (and
other beneficial ones such as economic and
tourism effects) it is important to recognise the
need to be able to undertake long term planning
for such events. For example the lead in to the
Ryder Cup from bidding to event was 10 years.
UK Sport has established a strategy for
major events which has recently been revised to
cover the period 2013-2018. This allows NGBs
to indicate the events they would like to host in
that period and aids the strategic investment
of funding from UK Sport and the other funders
in the Devolved Administration and English
Regions. We are aware that the Welsh Assembly
Government is also consulting on a Major Events
Strategy and we will work with them to ensure
that the two documents are mutually supportive
of the targets and goals for elite sport in Wales.
Sport Wales will work closely with the Major
Events Unit for Wales and UK Sport to encourage
Welsh Governing Bodies to develop long term
sports specific strategic plans for major events
during the period of this strategy. This will
provide the context for the Major Events Unit
to work in partnership with Governing Bodies
to consider and address issues of capacity
in bidding for, hosting and delivering major
international sporting events. These major
event strategies should be integrated within
Governing Body High Performance Plans on
an ongoing basis in order to ensure long term
positive legacy impacts for sport.
7.3. Higher Education
Sport Wales recognises the role the Higher
Education sector can play in helping to deliver
the main goals of this strategy. Many Higher
Education institutions in Wales possess expertise
and facilities that can be used by National
Governing Bodies, athletes, coaches and the
Sport Wales Institute in pursuit of the priority
objectives set out in this strategy.
Building relationships and functional
partnerships with key personnel at Higher
Education institutions demonstrating a
specialism in elite level sport, is important in
ensuring that effective economies of scale are
explored and ultimately achieved.
Some distinct examples of this could be:•E
xploring practical knowledge transfer
programmes for elite level sport research,
either via part-funded practitioner posts or
postgraduate student placement opportunities.
• Explore tailoring research programmes to
benefit specific sports, disciplines or aspects of
elite sport.
•D
evelop joint programmes of structured
support for the small cohort of national-level
coach e.g. Level 4 coaches.
•P
ossible partnership provision of Support
Services to British level, emerging British level
and priority Welsh athletes in line with the main
goals of this strategy.
8. elite sport funding
9. revised climbing higher targets
22
23
“”
elite sport is
expensive and
resource-intensive.
There are no real
shortcuts available:
every saving that is
worked is ultimately
reflected in the
final competitive
outcome. The cost
of producing an
elite performer is
the same, whatever
the size of the
nation.
The strategy seeks
to identify sports and
programmes in which
Sport Wales investment and
support can bring about the
greatest returns by having
the most direct impact and
achieving the widest possible
range of results whilst still
demonstrating value for
money.
Elite sport is expensive and resourceintensive. There are no real shortcuts available:
every saving that is worked is ultimately
reflected in the final competitive outcome. The
cost of producing an elite performer is the same,
whatever the size of the nation. For Wales, where
the overall resource available to support elite
sport is limited, this means that expenditure
must be targeted effectively at where the
greatest gains can be made. Over the period of
the strategy Sport Wales will aim to invest £22
million in total to delivering the objectives of this
strategy. In the main this will be invested through
the Category A and B sports as well as medal
winning athletes and projects, as set out in the
categorisation section.
This strategy acknowledges
that the results achieved by
Welsh athletes and teams
against the targets for elite
sport which were originally
stated in the Climbing Higher
document published in January
2005 have been impressive
and inspiring in some areas.
The results achieved between
2006 and 2009, including those
at the Beijing 2008 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, are
summarised in Appendix 1.
Having said that, this strategy accepts
and endorses the recommendation from the
WAG performance and excellence review that
the targets which were originally stated in the
Climbing Higher document, specifically those
which relate to elite sport, should be reviewed
and restated. In this respect, this strategy
proposes that:
• The targets set will be for the period
covered by the strategy, that is, from 2010
to 2016.
•A
spirational targets will be proposed for
sports and events where:
- Neither WAG nor Sport Wales adds
immediate value to the sport or
athletes concerned, but their performance
levels are of national significance to Wales
- The Welsh governing bodies
which Sport Wales supports are
not ultimately responsible for
delivering the outcome, e.g.
the Olympic Games
• Specific targets both base and stretch
will be established in consultation with
the relevant sports where Sport Wales
can add more direct value to short and
long term outcomes.
The following tables set out the revised
climbing higher targets, including a rationale
for each.
24
25
Target / aspiration
9.1. Commonwealth Games
Welsh athletes to win between 18 base and
28 stretch medals in the Delhi 2010 Games.
Welsh athletes to win between 25 - 35 medals
in the Glasgow 2014 Games.
Wales to be the best performing home nation
in terms of medals per million inhabitants;
with a stretch target of being the best
performing Commonwealth nation by the
same indicator.
Rationale
Target / aspiration
Rationale
• Each Games should have a cumulative medal
target set in consultation with relevant sports,
i.e. based on the number of medals which each
sport believes it will win. This will allow for
circumstantial factors, e.g. the location of the
Games, the importance placed on the event by
the UK Governing Body and their athletes
• The range of sports within which Welsh
athletes and teams win medals should also
be considered a measure of success. This will
provide an indication of the overall health
and strength of the Welsh elite sport system.
In particular, it should be expected that those
sports and athletes where Sport Wales makes
significant investment into elite sport should
produce medal success
• The stretch target to be the best performing
Commonwealth nation in terms of medals per
million inhabitants should be conditional upon
medals being won across a range of sports. This
will provide a realistic indication of achievement
and avoid the pitfall of Wales comparing itself
with small nations which achieve significant
medal success in only one sport.
9.2. Olympic Games
• This is an aspiration, on the basis that Welsh
agencies are not ultimately responsible for
performance at the Olympic Games because:
- Preparation for the Games is usually
conducted within the UK governing body
- Selection for and performance at the Games
lies in the hands of the British Olympic
Association
• The level at which the aspiration is set supports
the original Climbing Higher target of 15
medals between 2004 and 2024, and maintains
the levels of achievement at recent Games
• The aspiration will be underpinned by
Games-specific targets within dimensions
where Welsh agencies are able to have a more
direct impact. In each of these, the baseline
target will be 5 per cent, to correspond with the
percentage of the overall population which is
Welsh; and there should be a stretch target of
10 per cent:
- The number of Welsh athletes selected on to
UK performance pathway programmes
- The number of Welsh athletes selected on to
UK performance pathway programmes which
have a recent track record of success
- The number of Welsh athletes who:
- Achieve a qualifying standard for the
Games, where appropriate, and /or are
selected on to the Great Britain and Ireland
team
- Reach the final / top eight within their event
- Achieve a national record / personal best
at the Games.
Welsh athletes to win a minimum of six
Olympic medals in the 2012 and 2016 Games,
with a stretch target of ten Olympic medals.
26
27
Target / aspiration
9.3. Paralympic Games
Welsh athletes to win a minimum total of
30 Paralympic medals in the 2012 and 2016
Games, with a stretch target of 40 Paralympic
medals.
Rationale
Sport
Target / aspiration
• This is an aspiration, on the basis that Welsh
agencies are not ultimately responsible for
performance at the Olympic Games because
the British Paralympic Association has the
responsibility for elite sport with the UK / Great
Britain The level at which the aspiration is set
changes the original Climbing Higher target
that the success levels of 2000 and 2004 should
be maintained, and reflects a more realistic
assessment of the state of disability sport in
Wales
• The aspiration will be underpinned by Gamesspecific targets within dimensions where Welsh
agencies are able to have a more direct impact.
In each of these, the base target will be 5 per
cent, to correspond with the percentage of the
overall population which is Welsh; and there
should be a stretch target of 14 per cent:
- The number of Welsh athletes selected on to
UK performance pathway programmes
- The number of Welsh athletes selected on to
UK performance pathway programmes which
have a recent track record of success
9.4. Rugby Union
• An aspiration will be expressed which
acknowledges the importance of rugby to
Wales, but also that international success is
generated by Welsh Rugby Union programmes
that operate outside of direct support from
Sport Wales or Welsh Assembly government.
This aspiration should reflect the goals which
are stated within the WRU’s strategic plan. It may
be expected that these should be expressed
with reference to:
- Wales’s position within the IRB’s world
rankings
- Wales’s performances in Six Nations
Championships at senior and age group
levels, as an underpinning stepping-stone
towards the world ranking
- Wales’s performances in IRB Rugby World
Cups and Under-20 World Championships
- Performances by Wales’s rugby sevens team
in the IRB World Series and Commonwealth
Games Sevens tournaments
- Wales’s contribution to Great Britain Sevens
teams within the Olympic Games from 2016
onwards
• Targets for women’s rugby will be discussed
between Sport Wales and the WRU in recognition
of Sport Wales’s continuing investment in this
sector of the sport – and in expectation that the
WRU will continue to make similar investment.
These targets will make reference to:
- Performances in Six Nations Championship –
at least to maintain the second place achieved
in recent seasons
- Performances in the Rugby World Cups of
2010 and 2014 – which should as a minimum
demonstrate a progression from tournament to
tournament.
• The number of Welsh athletes who:
- Meet the minimum IPC qualification standards
for the Paralympic Games and / or are
selected on to the Great Britain and Ireland
team
- Reach the final / top eight within their event
- Achieve a national record / personal best at
the Games
• Games-specific targets will also be set in
consideration of the role of FDSW in nurturing,
developing and preparing talented athletes
within Wales, especially in sports where this
takes place on behalf of the Welsh and UK
governing bodies.
28
29
Sport
Target / aspiration
Sport
Target / aspiration
9.5. Football
• An aspiration will be expressed which
acknowledges the importance of football to
Wales, but also that international success is
generated by Football Association of Wales
programmes and professional football clubs
that operate without direct support from Sport
Wales. This aspiration should reflect the goals
which are stated within the FAW’s strategic
plan. It may be expected that these should
be expressed with reference to the following
within both the men’s and women’s games:
- Wales’s position within the FIFA world
rankings and UEFA continental rankings
- Wales’s performances in World Cups, and
in European Championships at senior
and age-group levels, as an underpinning
stepping-stone towards the world ranking
• Targets for age-group football at levels up to
and including Under-16 will be set by the Welsh
Football Trust in recognition of Sport Wales’s
continuing investment in the sport at this level –
and in expectation that the FAW will continue to
make similar / increased investment.
9.6. Golf
• An aspiration should be expressed which
acknowledges the importance of golf to Wales,
but also that international success at professional
level is determined in dimensions which do not
receive direct support from Sport Wales. This
aspiration should be for Welsh professional
golfers to excel on the World and European
stages, as demonstrated by wins in major and
PGA Tour events, prominence within the world
and European rankings, and selection on to
Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup teams
• For amateur golf, targets should be set which
reflect the goals which are stated within the Golf
Union of Wales’s strategic plan from time to time,
and in recognition of Sport Wales’s continuing
investment in the performance pathway
described by this plan at both development and
elite levels
• These targets should be aimed primarily at
amateur golfers who benefit from direct funding
and support from Welsh agencies, and may be
framed in respect of the following:
- Number of players within the world’s top 100
- Number of players selected for Great Britain
& Ireland teams in major tournaments
(e.g., Walker / Curtis Cups, St Andrew’s/
Vagliano Trophies)
- Number of Welsh players progressing on to
PGA European Tour and Ladies European tour
- Team performances in Eisenhower and
Espirito Santo Trophy tournaments and
European Championships.
These targets will make reference to:
- Performances in the boys annual Victory
Shield competition contested by the Under16 teams of the four home nations;
to win this event by 2014 and
- 90% of players from the under 16 national
development squads from boys and girls
to progress to FAW Intermediate squads.
10. closing remarks
30
31
Sport
Target / aspiration
9.7. Cricket
• Aspirations should be expressed which
acknowledge the importance of cricket to
Wales, but also that success at professional
and international levels is generated by elite
sport programmes that operate without direct
support from Sport Wales. These aspirations
should reflect the goals stated within Glamorgan
County Cricket Club’s strategic plan and should
refer to:
- The number of players selected on to England
& Wales Cricket Board senior squad
- The success of Glamorgan County Cricket
Club in the England & Wales Cricket Board’s
domestic competitions
• A target should be set in recognition of Sport
Wales’s continuing investment in the Cricket
Board of Wales to support the Welsh age group
structure and Glamorgan’s Cricket Academy,
and in expectation that Glamorgan cricket will
continue to make similar investment
- Performance of Welsh age group squads in
the county championships
- The number of age group Welsh players
selected on to England & Wales Cricket Board
age group squads, both male and female
- The number of Welsh age group players that
progress into the professional game
- Senior women’s results in the county
championships
The Climbing Higher document did not include
elite sport targets for cricket. However, in
recognition of the advances within the game in
Wales that have seen an Ashes Test match hosted
for the first time in 2009, this strategy proposes
that cricket should be embraced within its targets
– in order that the investment that Sport Wales has
made in recent years should have a purpose and
an envisaged outcome. This Elite Sport Strategy is radical. It has
been the subject of significant consultation with
our partners in governing bodies who will be the
main delivery agents. It sets out unreasonable
ambitions for them and us. But we believe
that Sport Wales and governing bodies cannot
become high performing and high achieving
organisations unless we embrace this type of
culture. Some would argue that this approach
can be a ‘hostage to fortune’. We reject such an
argument.
But of course high performing organisations
cannot simply rely on unreasonable ambitions
to achieve success. We will be working closely
with each to establish strategies which have
key performance insights on achieving success;
devolving leadership responsibility and making
people accountable for achievements and
fundamentally ensuring that we all work as a
team to support our talented individuals.
Beijing was our most successful Olympic
Games in 100 years and our Welsh Paralympians
were responsible for 25% of all Team GB gold
medals. Wales celebrated that success on the
steps of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay following
open-topped bus tour. We are confident this
strategy will delivery similar results and we look
forward to repeating those celebrations not just
in Olympic/Paralympic sports but also in others.
Dr Huw Jones
Chief Executive, Sport Wales
“”
this Elite Sport
Strategy is
radical. It has
been the subject
of significant
consultation with
our partners in
governing bodies
who will be the
main delivery
agents. It sets
out unreasonable
ambitions for them
and us.
11. appendix
Wales’s achievements in elite
sport between 2006 and 2009
32
33
11.1.
2008
Year
Achievement
2006
Commonwealth Games
• Wales wins 19 medals in Melbourne – more medals per
head of population than any other home nation, as in
each of the previous four Commonwealth Games
2007
2008
Other achievements
• In golf, Wales finishes fourth of 70 nations in the 2006
Eisenhower Trophy (world team championships for
amateur men)
• I n boxing, Joe Calzaghe becomes IBF world supermiddleweight champion adding to his WBO title, and
Enzo Maccarinelli becomes WBO world cruiserweight
champion
• I PC swimming world championships 2006 – team GB
topped the medal table wining 24 gold, 14 silver, 14
bronze –Welsh athletes won 10 gold, 1 silver and 5
bronze – breaking 4 World records and 1 European
record
• I n golf, three Welshmen are selected in the 2007 Great
Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team to play the USA – the
highest ever representation
(30% of the team)
• In boxing, Joe Calzaghe unifies the WBO, WBA and
WBC world super-middleweight titles, and Gavin Rees
becomes WBA world super-lightweight champion
Olympic Games
• Five Olympic medals in Beijing – the best performance
by Welsh athletes in 100 years
• Three Olympic gold medals in Beijing – the first by
Welsh athletes for 36 years
2009
Paralympic Games
• Ten Paralympic gold medals in Beijing – almost a
quarter of the total number of gold medals won by
Team GB
• 31 Welsh athletes in Paralympics GB’s Beijing team –
almost 15 per cent of the total, and 25 per cent more
Welsh athletes than were in Athens in 2004
Other achievements
• I n boxing, Joe Calzaghe becomes world light
heavyweight champion
• In cycling, Nicole Cooke becomes women’s road race
world champion
• I n triathlon, Helen Tucker becomes ITU World Champion
• Wales’s Rugby Union team achieves the Grand Slam in
the Six Nations Championship
• Wales’s women’s Rugby Union team finishes in second
place in the Six Nations tournament
• Wales’s Under-20 Rugby Union team finishes in fourth
place in the IRB Junior World Championship
• Wales finishes sixth in the medal table in the
Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in 2008, with 16
medals
• Twelve Welsh Rugby Union players selected to tour
South Africa with the British & Irish Lions
• Wales rugby sevens team wins the Rugby Sevens World
Cup in 2009
• Wales’s women’s Rugby Union team wins the Triple
Crown for the first time ever in the Six Nations
tournament
• Welsh U21 men’s football just missed out on qualification
for the European finals in a play off with England
34