Published: 30 May, 2013
by TONY DALLAS

Tony Dallas talks sport… and with more than 20 years working as a sports development officer he knows what he’s on about

I WORKED with the Camden Sports Development Team for more than 20 years. The wonderful thing back then was we were able to take kids out of the high rise, concrete council flats that defined and divided areas of the borough, and into the more leafy suburbs of Edgware and Barnet to sports fields owned by Camden Council. Bus-loads of children, some who as adults are reading this column now, enjoyed all types of outdoor sports activities.

Government cuts in the mid-1990s, however, put a halt to that and systematically, facilities were taken away.

Over 40 acres of land in Cannons Park, sadly, fell into disuse and disrepair because of a lack of funding. Chase Lodge, another venue used by the development team, which boasted 16 acres, was sold off to the highest bidder and now Camden find themselves in the ridiculous position of not being able to accommodate more than a certain number of football teams in their Camden and Regent’s Park Youth League.

As is the norm during such “cost saving initiatives”, it’s local people who suffer and decision-makers who have no affinity with the local community. Their jobs were to look at cost-effectiveness and that’s it! Sport For All became sport for all those who could afford it and many of the young people that enrolled on those programmes had to find other ways of entertaining themselves.

I don’t mean to sound bitter but even after all these years, I am!

Now the chickens have come home to roost and there is no more room at the inn. Ironically, as local groups are being asked to cull their youth teams all over the country, there are initiatives trying to encourage people to get fit!

The Olympic legacy, so much talked about, seems redundant with the dilemma now facing these teams. A new generation of sports development workers are having to make unpopular decisions based on political ones made years ago and endure the backlash of parents and children who cannot understand a conundrum such as this.

“It’s the way of the world” I hear some say. Maybe it is, but it doesn’t have to be. Give us back our sports fields so that we can allow our children to play and dream of being the best sports men and women they can be.

What do you think about the government-sponsored sell-off of school playing fields?
Tell us your view @camdennewjournal.com