One year on, but is there a legacy?

Today marks the one year anniversary since the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Although Olympic legacy is hardly an original topic of conversation at the minute, given that I have spent the last 9 months or so working on exactly that, I feel it only right that I have my say-so. Many will argue that the Olympics may have been fantastic at the time, but that the aftermath has not really been value for money. I would argue that this is not the case and I believe that there is a relevant, meaningful and sustainable legacy being created, using the inspiration of London 2012.

There are several problems with legacy. The first and, perhaps, most important is that the word in itself is incredibly vague. This leads to many people questioning what legacy is, but in reality a legacy is how you use the inspiration of an event to change a mindset for the future. Another problem is that many people expect legacy to just be given to them on a plate. As John Steele, CEO of Youth Sport Trust, said at the Doha goals conference at the back end of last year, there had been a pause since the Olympics and it seemed as though people were waiting for a new and exciting government policy that would be the legacy of the Olympic & Paralympic games. This, however, was never going to be possible as a Government policy would not be able to provide a legacy that is effective and popular with everyone.

This is why I feel that the Youth Sport Trust’s ‘Lead your Generation’ project, launched by John Steele at the same conference is an effective legacy scheme. It plays on the Olympic tagline ‘Inspire a Generation’ and provides the perfect follow up to that. It gives young people the opportunity to, as the name suggests, lead their generation and create a legacy statement and plan that will benefit their own school or community. This allows them to tackle the problem areas that they know exist and that can range from getting girls involved in sport to providing greater sporting opportunities to primary school children by using the inspiration of London 2012. As Paralympic athlete Sam Ruddock said at the recent Lead your Generation Legacy Summit in Loughborough, ‘we have inspired a generation, now you have to do your bit and lead your generation’. This rings true and the Youth Sport Trust has given the impetus to young people, the generation that has the opportunity to really implement a legacy.

The only qualm that I have with this, is that it is only available to young people. Whilst I do feel that this is the correct target ‘generation’, it is not the sort of project that will silence Olympic critics in the media, for example. The older generations will not necessarily be able to see the various legacies that are being created in schools across the country and so when they write about whether or not there has been a ‘legacy’ they will undoubtedly say no. I hope that people do become aware of Lead your Generation and that young people and schools do take the initiative themselves and get involved with the project, as it can provide great benefits.

As I write this I am on my way to London for a UK Young Ambassador Steering Group meeting to discuss how to take the project forward over the coming academic year and I am sure there will be many more exciting ideas on how to continue using the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for years to come. 

The future's bright in Black & White

Well, that's my opinion anyway. But maybe that is just me being forever the Notts County optimist. Either way, although I don't think we will be anywhere near the top of the table this season - I anticipate a lower top half finish, perhaps between 8th and 12th - I do think there are many reasons that my optimism is justified.

The end to last season was a shocker. Having taken charge, firstly in a caretaker role then in a permanent capacity, Chris Kiwomya lead Notts to only 5 wins in the final 17 games of the season and ultimately a 12th place finish. Hardly the desired result for a team who had had aspirations of the play-offs and promotion before a ball was kicked way back last August. This poor run of form led to many people questioning whether the new man was the right man in charge. I have to admit that I agreed. I was still bemused at the decision to sack Keith Curle, especially as there was no successor lined up. I know that the team had been under-performing and that performances and results alike were poor, but it's not as though we were in any danger of getting relegated so, for me, the only reason to sack the manager would have been to bring someone in 'Cotterill-style', in the hope of gaining momentum and having a real push for the play-offs during the run in.

Instead Kiwomya was hired and fans were 'treated' to a similar show to that which had occurred under Curle, making it seem as though the change in manager had been a massive waste of time and that this man did not have his own ideas. But I think the hierarchy at Notts must have had a change of plan. Up until this point it seemed as though the chairman and board were putting up a large budget - in the context of League One - in the hope of spending our way to promotion. It now seems that this philosophy has changed and the emphasis now is on Kiwomya bringing players through from the youth ranks and molding them into the first team.

I have to say that I think this is a change for the better, and probably the main reason for my optimism. All great sides - and I'm not trying to say that Notts are to become a 'great' side - are built on bringing in players from the youth team and filtering them into the first team picture alongside experienced pros. Manchester United under Ferguson is probably the most obvious example of this working perfectly and being sustainable over a number of years. Obviously Notts don't have anywhere near the spending power or the size of youth scouting network available to United, but the club is situated in a city that does have a history of developing a large number of successful footballing careers and I think that, in Kiwomya, the club have the right man in charge to bring on these players and to see them prosper in first team action.

It also seems as though this is a return to the way that Notts County used to operate as a club. It's the philosophy of bringing on young players and seeing them develop that I have heard many fans talk about, but being of the younger generation, have never had a chance to witness. In my opinion, it is the only way that this club will be able to progress. Without having a huge budget to splash on players left, right and centre, the only logical method of progression seems to be this slow philosophy of bringing on young players. The club doesn't have the financial power to compete with the bigger clubs, so must find an alternative way of progressing. It is not a method that will provide instant success but with patience it should, hopefully, be equally as successful.

I'm hopeful that Kiwomya will, therefore, be in charge of the side for long time to come. That does, however, rely on a change of mindset from a chairman who has previously been more than happy to pull the trigger on any manager suffering any sort of poor run of form. I don't consider that to be the best way forward, especially now that we have a manager who is young and still learning his trade. I am 100% sure that Kiwomya will make mistakes, but I am also hopeful that he will learn from those mistakes and improve himself as a manager. Stability is the key, and I think the club have the right man in charge to provide that - albeit only if the chairman is willing to give him the time.

An Immense Weekend!

Where to start?! The weekend just gone managed to produce an incredible viewing of sport that I didn't think could be possible with the absence of football!

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The British and Irish Lions were the ones that started it all off, clinching their first series victory for 16 years in style, condemning Australia to a 41-16 defeat. I suppose you could say they were mauled or even 'malled' - too many bad puns to handle there! The scoreline makes it seem a routine victory - which, in many ways, it was - but within it there was also an incredible show of mental strength. With Gatland having dropped Brian O'Driscoll, many were criticising his decision as well as his naming so many Welsh players in his starting XV - I bet he's feeling pretty smug about that one! To win in such style amid that pressure is impressive, but there was also an incredible display of character midway through the game. It could have had a crippling effect on the team's performance when the Wallabies pulled the tie back to 19-16 in favour of the tourists, who had at one stage been leading by 16 points, and many teams could have collapsed and lost the match and the series in that situation. But the Lions didn't and in the end managed to run out comfortable winners and claim victory, setting the tone for what was to come over the weekend.

Then, if you are of a Nottinghamshire persuasion, the day got better. It must strike fear in the eyes of the opposition when Alex Hales and Michael Lumb step out into the middle to open the batting for the Outlaws, exemplified by Lumb's fantastic 96 against the Durham Dynamos on Saturday. His form is as hot as the temperature at the minute and Notts seem to be stand-out one-day side this year - let's just hope they can get a bit more luck in this year's T20 competition.

Then to Sunday afternoon - and what an afternoon it was! Firstly, although the German Grand Prix had an incredibly predictable outcome - Vettel winning again - I have to say that I found it entertaining. I'm not usually one for watching Formula 1, I have to admit. In fact, in the past, I found it perfect on a Sunday afternoon during the football season to arrive home from a Sunday league game, sit and watch the first few laps, fall asleep and wake up in time to see the winner. But this week's actually managed to keep me enthused throughout. I think it was the constant tactical changes that had to be made throughout the race that kept my attention, with teams changing their drivers from two to three stop strategies for various reasons and I just found it fascinating - then again, maybe I'm just sad?

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Then, by the end of the Grand Prix, I was able to flick over to BBC One, in time to see the weekend's main talking point. I'm quite open about not being a fan of tennis - I just don't like the sport - but it must have been the patriot within me that made me watch Andy Murray see off Novak Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British winner of Wimbledon since 1936, and you know what? I'm glad I did. I was amazed that Murray won in the style that he did, especially as I had a feeling that he might once again be disappointed. But it shows what an incredible confidence boost that winning a big competition can give you as, since winning gold at the Olympics last year, Murray has gone on to win two and come second in one of the last three majors that he has competed for. You can also see just how much pressure he felt to deliver the title in the final game of the match, losing 3 championship points before then recovering to win after the 4th deuce. I guess that victory makes him British and not Scottish, at least for another year...

I love weekend's like the one just gone, when everyone in the country gets behind various sportsmen, women or teams and even more so when they are victorious. Let's just hope the England team can continue the trend in the first Ashes test this week - if the weather stays like this, it makes for a fantastic few days of cricket and I can't wait to take my seat in the sun at Trent Bridge on Wednesday and Thursday!

Another sport-filled day!

This time it was the Sainsbury's School Games, Nottinghamshire edition held across Nottingham yesterday. It was another fantastic day of sport, started in great style by GB & England hurdler Julz Adeniran as master of ceremonies during the opening ceremony. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to work with him, and had a chance to interview former Olympic champion Jason Gardener and Paralympic silver medalist from last year, Nottinghamshire-born swimmer Charlotte Henshaw as part of the opening.

The interview itself was fairly basic, as I was time-restrained and was therefore not able to ask them too many questions. But it was what I saw from them both after the interview and throughout the day that really made an impression on me.

Immediately after the end of the opening ceremony, the official photographer for the day asked both athletes to come for a photo - asked being the key word. Both of them were far too busy having their photos taken with many of the competing children to be whisked away for an official photo! The fact that they seemed so reluctant to have the official photo taken and seemed to want to allow as many young athletes as possible to have one taken with them showed that they really were there for the young people and not to raise their own profile. They were eventually forced into the official photo, but even that had to have some young people in!

Later in the day, was when the most impressive thing, in my opinion, happened. Halfway through the Sports Hall Athletics session, Jason Gardener went in to show his face and see his own sport in action on the day. It is good enough that both Jason and Charlotte stayed to watch some of the sport and talk to young people, given that I know there are some athletes who would have cleared off after the opening ceremony. But it gets better. Jason not only went to watch the sport, but even offered to go the extra mile and gave one lucky student from each of the competing schools the opportunity to race against him. It was something that didn't take much on his part, but it was something that he didn't have to do and was a nice touch from someone who could easily not have bothered. I'm also sure Charlotte would have done the same, had swimming been one of the sports present!

It's not the first time I've been impressed by the way that Jason Gardener has conducted himself at a School Games event. Last May at the national event at Olympic Park, I was one of two Young Ambassadors that were assigned VIP tours around all the School Games venues and Jason was one of those VIPs. Throughout the day, whilst we were showing him the different venues, it became increasingly difficult to drag him away from each of them. Whilst this was frustrating for us, as we had a fairly tight schedule that we were supposed to stick to, it was great to see an athlete so genuinely enthused by sports that were not his own and that he was so interested in talking to the young athletes and finding out more about their sports, as he was yesterday.

Overall, it was a great day and from my personal perspective it was not only great to get the chance to speak to both Jason and Charlotte, but also to be close to the running of the event to see just how much has to go in to making events such as this happen.

An event to inspire, reflect & gather new ideas...

The event that I'm referring to, is the Lead your Generation Legacy Summit, run by the Youth Sport Trust and hosted by the University of Loughborough yesterday.

The inspiring was, in my opinion, certainly done. The day opened with interviews with a Paralympic games maker and official, as well as a 2012 torchbearer, all of whom were able to give insight into their unique journeys to London 2012. It was a particularly unique experience for the latter, as the torchbearer was Jordan Duckitt, one of the seven young people that had the opportunity to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony on that incredible night almost a year ago.

Those in attendance were then treated to two very different athlete insights from GB women's hockey bronze medalist Helen Richardson, and Paralympic sprinter Sam Ruddock during a question & answer session. For Helen it has been quite a journey since her first Olympic games in Sydney in 2000, and it was particularly inspiring to hear that, after the team's disappointment after the Beijing games in 2008, the team all sat down and told themselves that they were going to win the gold in London. Unfortunately that was not the case. But the fact that they were still able to win a medal and how they all came back from the disappointment of previous games is still an impressive and inspiring feat.

As I said previously, Sam's story is quite different. He only started Paralympic training in March 2012 and competed in his first athletics event in April 2012, so to make it into the GB Paralympic squad was something quite remarkable. But that wasn't the main thing I picked up from what he was saying. The thing that shocked me most was that he didn't seem aware that he could compete separately from able-bodied athletes until after he took up athletics. For me, it's a tragedy that this is the case and it's vital that young disabled people are made aware of the opportunities available to them.

Something else that Sam said that I thought was interesting was that the athletes had 'inspired a generation' so it was now time for young people to lead their generation - and he's absolutely right. The Olympic and Paralympic games certainly were inspiring but now is the time to use that inspiration in order to create a relevant, meaningful and sustainable legacy of the games.

I personally think the reflection and gathering of new ideas was also done well, with some great legacy project presentations made by some of the schools in the region. Hopefully other schools were able to take note of what they have done and can implement something similar. They were also treated to some practical sessions run by NGBs of non-mainstream sports, such as Boccia and Hockey, as well as given a chance to try out some short, fun games that could be used with primary school children.

But, for me, similar is the key. The whole point behind the Lead your Generation project is that each school across the country has different problems and will therefore need different solutions. The hope is that schools will be able to identify the problem areas and then address them, using the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in order to do so and thus creating their own legacy. Legacy can't be something that is just handed down from the top, it has to be created from the bottom.

As I said in my closing speech yesterday, it was not an event that celebrated a legacy that has been created - the hard work never finishes with regards to legacy. There is always more that can be done using the inspiration of London 2012.