The last week has seen students going back to school for the new academic year, as well as the proceedings at the 2009 UK School Games.  The four-day event took place throughout Wales from 3rd-6th September, showcasing the best of sporting talent in schools.  The sports included were traditional Athletics, Badminton, Fencing, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Swimming, Table Tennis, Track Cycling and Volleyball.  The games were an overriding success and a great way to start off the 2009/10 academic year, but one thought sat niggling away at the back of my mind: was this a true representation of gifted and talented individuals across the UK or were there many that hadn’t had the opportunity?

To take part in any of the sports that made up the UK School Games, schools have to have the facilities to train budding athletes.  The schools with the best Hockey teams will undoubtedly have access to grass or Astroturf pitches that cost money.  The same goes for the other sports mentioned above.  What happened to the children that were gifted and talented enough to take part in the Games, but could not be identified and developed because their school did not have the resources for a good quality sports education?

Unfortunately, as much as the government engage with drives to widen participation to disadvantaged, deprived areas, it is still incredibly difficult for schools with a limited budget to find their rising stars, let alone to develop and support them in their training.

Those schools need school sports initiatives that allow good quality sports to be implemented without a massive price tag attached.  Moving school sports into the digital age is one answer, as it removes many of the practical logistics of organising competitive school sports that often costs so much.  Initiatives such as virtual competition removes many of the day-to-day difficulties such as travel costs by placing the competitive element of school sports online, ensuring that schools in deprived areas can also be sure to participate in high quality competitive sports.

If more schools from deprived areas can be sure to offer their students good quality physical education, then  we can set ourselves to the challenge of taking those talented individuals who have never had the opportunity to attend events such as the UK School Games and give them the break they deserve.