In a recent letter, Ruth Daniels, CEO of British Triathlon, argues that sport and physical activity should be mandatory in schools, just as education is. She responds to Cath Bishop's article on the need for structural change to promote sustainable sport and activity in society.
The Case for Mandatory Sport
Daniels highlights the overwhelming evidence supporting an active and healthy nation, yet society struggles to embed physical activity into daily life. She believes childhood experiences shape lifelong habits; if children enjoy or are encouraged to be active, they are more likely to continue. Since school is compulsory, sport should be too, helping to build habits early. However, she notes that curriculum time for sport has been reduced, competition is often discouraged, playing fields have been sold off, and fewer teachers are trained to deliver multiple sports.
Investment and Innovation Needed
With pressures on health services, Daniels calls for leveraging sport to improve general health and wellbeing. She emphasises the need for investment, structural change, and innovation, but stresses that without behavioural change and improved attitudes, the status quo will persist. She praises Parkrun for creating a social sporting community, with one in ten schools now participating. As CEO of British Triathlon, she wants everyone to be able to swim, cycle, and run, asking if this is too much to ask of society.
A Contrasting View: Traumatic PE Memories
Jane Hall from Birmingham offers a starkly different perspective, sharing her traumatic experiences of PE in the 1980s. Now a schoolteacher, she recalls being last picked for teams, forced to run naked through communal showers while being shouted at, and having to strategically cover herself. She states that no amount of buoyant promotion will convince her to enjoy sport and suggests an apology would be a better starting point.
