Sporting Fallacy

On Tuesday, 18 December an announcement was made by UK Sport regarding funding.  Whilst rowing, cycling, athletics, sailing and swimming fared well, basketball, handball, table tennis, wrestling and indoor volleyball are left to fend for themselves.

I wouldn’t be surprised if many people’s reaction to the announcement was ‘tough luck’, but that’s because many people don’t understand what goes into the creation of an international athlete. Whilst Britain was great at getting behind the athletes during the Olympics and cheering them on to success, all they saw was a snapshot of these athlete’s lives.

When the cameras are switched off, there is a phenomenal amount of time and money that goes into an athlete’s development. Equipment, physio, meals, petrol, train fare and kit all have to be paid for somehow, so where are these athletes expected to get the cash from?

According to Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, the sports that lost out on funding ‘have to get themselves to the stage where they have a realistic chance of winning a medal and they will get funding again. It's a simple, performance-based decision.’

In other words, world class performance is expected without world class funding. What a slap in the face. I know some of these athletes personally and hope that they are able to stay encouraged despite the lack of support.

I can’t help but wonder if the athletes were given a false sense of security during the Games but I suppose that doesn’t really matter now. What will matter is how they react to this announcement. Will they crumble, or will they go harder?

The Plight of the Female Athlete

When 16-year old Gabby Douglas dazzled London with her breath-taking gymnastics performance at the London 2012 Olympics, her hair was the last thing on the mind of the judges, the crowd or her competitors.

However, somewhere in cyber space the focus turned away from her achievement and focused solely on her mane. Thankfully, there were enough sensible people on Twitter that day to put the haters in their place.

It’s baffling to think that at the same age that many Americans get their driver’s license, Gabby has achieved one of the highest international honours – yet a small subsection of society felt it was necessary to detract from her achievement.

Unfortunately, it seems that whenever a female athlete excels in her field she may be subjected to scepticism and disparaging remarks.

Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen performed so phenomenally in the 400M individual medley that she swam the final leg of the event faster than Ryan Lochte did over the same distance. In place of the praise that a man might receive for such an achievement she received accusations of doping.

And who can forget Caster Semenya? Her reward for smashing the 800m at the 2009 World Championships was international scrutiny of her gender.

Although great strides have been made in levelling the playing field for women, it still feels as though a successful female athlete has to endure criticism before enjoying the praise that should accompany phenomenal achievement.

Ironically enough, the people who are quick to fire criticism, are likely to have won the ‘least likely to succeed’ award in high school.

Hopefully, all of the women who have achieved sporting success thus far continue withstand the criticism and continue on to greater success.

Footy Really Matters

Online football magazine FootyMatters.com is to host a charity fund raising event in the form of a community football tournament involving some of the UK's most innovative football charities.

From charities battling homelessness and unemployment to organisations creating educational programmes, the tournament will bring together key figures in football's third sector.

Teams taking part in the inaugural event, which takes place at London’s Paddington Recreation Grounds on Saturday 26 May, will compete for a half of the total raised.

The remaining monies will be awarded to the participating charity who acquires the most votes in an online public poll: www.footymatters.com/communitycup

The projects include:

Tackle Africa - deliver HIV education through football coaching to young people across Africa.

Zesh Rehman Foundation - use football as a vehicle for personal self-development and equip young people to aspire to enter the football industry.

London Tigers - a fully-fledged multi-sport fitness, education, community safety, volunteering and health organisation.

Pro Touch Soccer Academy - aims to provide young people with ‘the bridge and experience to professional football’.

Institute of Fundraising - supports more than 5,200 individual fundraisers and 340 charities in the exceptional work that they do.

Homeless World Cup - uses football to energise homeless people to change their own lives.

Flexi Football - the new hassle free, fun way of playing 11-a-side football and is the perfect alternative to 5-aside.

Calthorpe Project – home to the UK’s first outdoor facility dedicated to the South American small-sided game of Futsal.

Kits4Causes - takes unwanted kits to deprived communities where the appreciation for apparel adds to the raw passion for playing football.

Former Chelsea captain and a leading Kick ItOut ambassador, Paul Elliott gave the Community Cup his stamp of approval when he said: "Kick It Out is proud to be supporting the Community Cup. The tournament is raising awareness and funds for a whole range of worthwhile causes, and this is something Footy Matters should be praised for. This initiative is engaging people from all different communities and backgrounds, and is further proof of how football can be used as a powerful tool to bring about positive change."

Championing the relationship between football and the community is one of Footy Matters’ key areas. The site has previously featured community initiatives such as Dream a Dream's work to alleviate poverty in India, Urban Initiative’s fight against obesity in Chicago, World in Need's work drawing young Nigerians away from the militia and more.

Alex Lawson, Community Matters editor at FootyMatters.com, said: "The Community Cup provides a great opportunity for charities to display both their talent and their work within the community. The collective impact those involved are having both on the football community and wider society is commendable and this event will celebrate those advances."

Whilst the event won’t be open to the public, you can still support the Community Cup by going www.footymatters.com/communitycup and voting for the charity that you would like to win. Votes are free, so if you’ve never supported a charity before, here’s your chance!

The Scarlet C

Photo courtesy of 05evelma

Branded a drugs cheat, the subject of many a public debate, regularly vilified in 140 characters or less – it’s a wonder he even gets out of bed. Most of us can hardly manage the criticism from a manager or someone whose opinion we value, let alone the scrutiny of an entire nation. Chambers has been bold in facing his critics head on – a move that many of us would struggle to make.

There isn’t enough evidence to prove that the mental pressure he is likely to be under can only outweigh the gains that some people feel Chambers is still benefiting from. (Fernando Torres, however, may endorse this argument).

One has to ask, why would a governing body with so many scientists at their disposal allow a cheat to compete if the substances he was taking would still give him an advantage this many years on?

Long term gains or not, the Chambers debate isn’t about whether or not he is still benefiting from the gains, it is about feelings versus the law. How many of us can truly say that we put in a full day’s work? Is that not cheating? Is there a big cheat and a little cheat? Chambers just reminds us of our flaws and we hate him for it.

The overturning of his lifetime battle was just one of the challenges Chambers now needs to overcome. It’s unlikely that he will be embraced by his teammates for fear of upsetting their own fans and he will be under far more surveillance than he ever has been due to his history.

Many will argue that he’s made his bed and therefore has to lie in it and to an extent – they’re right. Ironically, the average person passing judgment will never find themselves in the circumstances Chambers did and are therefore not in a position to judge.

I think it’s a testament to his character to not only fall from grace but to attempt to reclaim his status as a successful sprinter, but this time with a scarlet ‘C’ on his chest.

Beauty, Brawn and Business Sense

Champion natural bodybuilder, aerialist, dancer, fitness model... it’s hard to believe that Claire Harper could possibly fit anything else on that list. Yet she’s somehow she has managed to add the role of businesswoman to that impressive list of roles.

Despite the demanding training schedule that is required to be a top athlete, she’s managed to find the time to successfully launch and manage a welcome product to the UK fitness scene – the Smartshake.

The Smartshake is a breath of fresh air because it has three storage compartments which allow you to keep the items or supplements you need in one place while you are training. Vitamins, snacks, thermogenics, locker keys – whatever you want really. It’s so simple its genius.

On top of being the ultimate gym buddy, the product is BPA-free, recyclable, microwaveable, has leak proof technology and comes in different colours and sizes.

If anyone understands how important it is to have her everything she needs at her fingertips, it’s Claire. You don’t earn the titles of FAME Miss World Fitness Model Champion, BNBF Miss Northern Figure and NPA Miss North West Figure (to name a few) by leaving your diet and nutrition to chance.

Harper and co came across Smartshake at the Bodypower show and loved it as soon as they laid eyes on it. After using it for herself and truly understanding its usefulness, she couldn’t shake (no pun intended) the feeling that she needed to introduce this product to the UK on a wider level. Whilst on a holiday she put a plan together, set the wheels in motion and the rest is history.

Smartshake's entry into the UK has been positive - they've been spotted at fitness exhibitions, on the pages of OK! magazine and in the gym bags of fitness enthusiasts up and down the country. They've been so successful that copycats have already started to pop up, but this doesn't phase Harper. ‘Since we launched in the UK 18 months ago we have gone from hearing people say it would never work to seeing people try to create their own version. Imitation is meant to be the highest form of flattery so we must be doing something right!’

Spoken like a true champ!

To find out more check out: www.smartshake.co.uk

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Too Tough For Men

by stupidityispainless

Image courtesy of uwdigitalcollections

It is no coincidence that the only Olympic sports contested solely by women are the only ones that require athletes to wear eyeliner and lipstick. Rhythmic gymnasts and synchronised swimmers wear leotards and faces that spangle and glitter - the way you look is just as important as the way you move. Is this the last bastion of traditional lady-like behaviour in the face of muscular feminism?

Of course not; these athletes are as hard as weightlifters. Don’t be fooled by the elegance and grace, their sport only looks easy because they have the strength, flexibility and stamina to make it so. Mo Farah can stretch his gasping sinews every sweaty stride towards the finish line and Jess Ennis can lie thoroughly exhausted on the track after her 800ms, but our gymnasts have to show no exertion, no breathlessness and no effort.

To use the colloquial metaphor of the duck that is calm on the surface, but paddling like a train underneath, the hard labour is what the synchronised swimmer and rhythmic gymnast strives to hide from you. Perhaps if I refer to synchronised swimming’s original title of Water Ballet I can more convincingly convey the scale of the physical demands of the sport – at least to those of you who have seen Black Swan.

Minority sports are so because they are minor players in sports media coverage, but they are also widely minor in the realms of common sporting knowledge. Most people know what a ‘bicycle kick’ and ‘topspin’ refer to. Not so with the ‘egg beater’, ‘pusher’ and ‘stack lift’ and there is certainly no appreciation of how hard they might be to do.

Therein lies the opportunity of the London 2012 Olympic Games for these athletes. They have scraped through the last four years with comparatively less cash than their counterparts (synchronised swimming receives 3.46m per year compared to £20.66m awarded to swimming) or self funded (GB rhythmic gymnasts self funded their way to within 0.273 of a qualification for the 2012 Games).

This is their moment to shine but there is no Tom Daley or Louis Smith to put their sport on a viral video or You Tube. If you missed out on the Rhythmic Gymnastics in January 2012 buy tickets for the FINA Olympic Games Synchronised Swimming Qualification and see just what these women are made of.

http://www.londonpreparesseries.com/synchronisedswimming/index.html

Prevention is Better Than Cure

The boxing world got flipped on its head when two British boxers decided to bring a little taste of Finchley to Munich. Any achievements that either Haye or Chisora have earned to date will be always be overshadowed by their immature displays of aggression.

I personally blame both Klitschko brothers for the Haye v Chisora bonus undercard fight. When Chisora slapped Vitali in the press conference Vitali should have made it his duty to ensure that Chisora learned a lasting lesson about disrespect. If Chisora had had the taste knocked out of his mouth, he wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to square up to Haye. Fact.

Younger brother Wladimir also failed to adequately address the issue of disrespect. No opponent should ever be able to design apparel depicting images of your dismembered brother and not end up literally and figuratively KO’d.

Both Haye and Chisora took their pre-fight and press conference shenanigans to a place it didn’t need to go. Not only were they unable to back it up, there were no consequences to their actions which seemingly leading them to believing their own hype.

Now the sport of boxing has been brought into disrepute, Chisora’s been questioned by the police and Haye’s sporting achievements have been somewhat discredited. Not what you expect from professional athletes, eh?

The moral of this story is… the next time you have a job to do, do it properly.

J

Plasters and Old Wounds

The UK’s social and institutional approach to racism in football has usurped headlines and timelines of late.

Last week alone we’ve seen Terry lose his arm band, Capello raise two fingers to the situation, Suarez miss the memo about handshakes and a Manchester United fan banned from football for three years for unacceptable behaviour.

Institutional responses to some of the recent offences feel inconsistent and haphazard because they are. England have been clear about their commitment to stamping out racism, but weren’t clear on how exactly to approach the issues.

Whilst the search is still on for the best approach to this inconvenient issue, England are at least making the effort to keep their social misfits from causing offence beyond UK borders. The Manchester United fan who was fined for racially abusing striker Kenwyne Jones has not only earned himself a three year ban from any football ground in England or Wales, he must also surrender his passport when England play internationals abroad.

Harsh? Maybe. Effective? Hopefully.

Whether or not other countries see the need to address the issue is another blog for another day.

A Second Look at Instant Replay

Technology and football is a combination many have been crying out for but to no avail. You would have thought that after the Hand of God incident officials would clamour at the opportunity to utilise technology in football matches but it seems those at the helm of FIFA don’t think it’s such a good idea.

During the Lakers v Bulls game on Christmas Day I noted how the referees were happy to use instant replay before giving a foul in instances where they were unsure. There was no booing from fans, there didn’t appear to be any resistance from players and the game was officiated fairly.

If football sought to utilise these resources, the recent match between Everton and Sunderland might have ended with a win for Sunderland. Those of us who watched the replays clearly saw that the only thing that brought Osman down in the penalty area was his own two feet. Despite the outrage from fans and players alike, a penalty was nonetheless rewarded and Sunderland had to settle for a draw.

There has always been the argument that introducing technology to football will have a negative impact on the pace of the game, but I suspect Sunderland fans will vehemently disagree with that sentiment. Technology doesn’t need to be cumbersome as is evidenced by its role in rugby, basketball, tennis and cricket.

Sepp Blatter reckons goal line technology could be in place by the 2012 – 2013 season, here’s hoping instant replays are introduced at the same time.