Nope same situation last year also.

Issues like this remind me of the 80's politics when they were saying that kids didnt need to participate in competetive sports etc.

20 years down the line and the coountry is suffering an obesity epidemic and closing any spors facility will contribute further !

I stand corrected. Apologies. www.sheffieldeagles.com/index.ph ... Itemid=493

I stand corrected. Apologies. www.sheffieldeagles.com/index.ph ... Itemid=493

I think you're part right and part wrong here. Participation is the key when it comes to obesity I would suspect. In order to have lower obesity we need as high a number of participants in sport/exercise as possible and frankly competition can turn people off in their teenage years for life. I agree with your general point though we need as much sport and leisure facilities as possible and as many different exercise opportunities open as possible so that people can find something that works for them; be it badminton, boxing or roller blading.



It's a deeper and darker issue than you have painted too, the proliferation of fast food outlets, sports sponsorship by tobacco/alcohol and junk food (soft drinks in particular) have normalised the consumption of high calorie rubbish etc etc etc don't get me started.



I wonder if Sheffield Eagles have known that this was coming for a while given that they play a fair few games at Brammall Lane these days.

Add to that lazy parenting (by some), over protective parenting, fear of litigation, less community focus, people having less time and money and effort to run grass roots clubs, lazy kids and x-boxes/playstations and a whole shift in lifestyle from twenty years ago and i think you are getting somewhere near the depth of the problem.

Queue the Socialist Workers Revolutionary Front of Judea!!!

Totally agree with your comments and of course there are many other issues other that participation in competetive sports.

However, quality facilities and top level sport in any area also serve as a catlyst to spark interest.

Inviting people along to these places may encourage an "i'd like to have a go at that" response and whilst it's not everybodys cup of tea, we need to engage as many people as possible.

With the current health of the nation, money would be better invested in places like this than other projects, having said that, on some of the news reports surrounding the Don Valley, it was staggering that in Sheffield, thy weren't reporting any major increase in interest, post the olympics.

Bringing this back to Rugby League, participation is the reason we need BARLA to be independent of the RFL. The RFL are interested, and only interested in the elite level of our sport. BARLA is interested in elite level youth football, but it is also the only voice and supporter of the our game on a numbers basis.



For our sport to be strong we need numbers playing in Pennine division 4 or, NWC 3 just as much as we need sides winning the Superleague grand final. Strangely the RFL don't ever seem to have realised that lower level amateur players have kids; kids that watch their dads (and Mums these days) and they then pick up a ball and want to give it a go. Participation at youth level breeds a production line for elite professionals a decade later. One thing that BARLA always seems to have done is to help support the leagues and clubs with the structures they need to provide a somewhere for the 99/100 lads that don't get signed at 17, or drop out of the under 20s a couple of years later.

Out of interest wouldn't this be classed as an "iconic" stadium?

OOOH thats a cheap shot!!!













On a serious note it could easily be made into the "Wembley of the North"

May be but I think it's very apt.

OK - my take...



Don Valley is a wasted asset - it has been poorly / under used and its current condition is a little sad. However, with a little imagination / some decent events and positive marketing it could / should have been the Athletic Mecca of the North (not inc the North East with Gateshead - a town synonymous with Athletics due to the stadium there).



Sheffield has missed the boat - failed to get people to love the facility and now the pitiful numbers signing the petition speaks volumes.



On the wider issue of sport I would like to make one comment which is a credit to both governments - that the volume / quality of newly built sports halls / pitches & MUGA's (Multi-Use Games Areas) has been immense - I should know as we build them! This is an industry which was tiny 10-15 years ago and now, with PFI / BSF (whatever your opinions on those are), there are literally thousands of bitmac / rubber / artificial and natural grass pitches up and down the country available to schools and communities. These just didn't exist and, if they were there, were poor quality and often off-limits to those outside of school life. Sure there is more that can be done, but it's not the end of the world and much good work has been carried out.



One final point I picked up from the thread - the one bemoaning the fact that it is only interested parents that keep all this alive - when / where was this any different? This is how these things work the world over! I am not involved in amateur sport - my son doesn't like much sport (but he does do gym) - my daughter does netball in and out of school (with Mrs TRB involved in running Phoenix Netball) and Hockey in school (Silcoates - and only because her indoors teaches there), but... I am community minded and I have put 100's of hours into getting a new Community Stadium - because I can and because that's what interests me. So whilst there is a need for professional support and clubs need all the help they can, I can not agree that any government / local authority should replace the honest, dedicated, motivated and interested citizen - this is how it works the world over!



(Takes cover

)

I agree with much of what you say but there's a much improved and more enlightened Physical Education curriculum nowadays. Adapted and modified games make school PE far more inclusive than ever before.

The improved knowledge of PE Teachers over their 70s & 80s counterparts allows them to create groups of mixed abilities therefore engaging those who struggle to compete whilst not compromising the development of the more athletically gifted.



There’s also a wider variety of sports available than ever before meaning there's generally something for everyone, the facilities at some schools are improved over those of the 70s & 80s and PE teachers are often the masters of at least one sport whilst also being the Jack of many others, this once again allows them to engage just about everyone in something.



The standards of PE in this country were making great strides but that all been stymied by ill thought out budget cuts.