Wake up to the Value of Sport by Ali Abdi

It’s time to wake up to the power and value of sport and physical activity.

The new report from Sport Wales on the value of sport to the country is unsurprising.

It shows that for every £1 invested in sport in Wales, there is a return of £2.88 and there is a total of £3,428m of financial benefits for communities from participating and volunteering in sport in 2016/17.

Sport is still a relatively untapped resource but its potential is staggering.

Every day we see news reports about rising obesity levels and the strain on our health service or we read about the increase in gang culture and knife crime. A common thread running through them all is disengagement.

In the sessions I run with Cricket Wales in the Community it has really had an impact in making the game more accessible to diverse groups.

We do this by listening to the communities about what they want and how they would like sport sessions structured. We develop the capacity of local volunteers and community leaders to deliver Pop Up Cricket session. We offer ‘money can’t buy experiences’ such as watching International and T20 cricket matches for free.

From these arrangements I regularly see engaged children and adults enjoying sport.  They are healthier, they are learning life skills, they are keeping out of trouble. The benefit of sport to the wider community is clear to me.

I live and deliver sport across BME communities in Cardiff South. I have been successful in bringing young people from these communities into the volunteering process. They start by helping at various sessions and gaining qualifications and often onto gaining employment in sport too.  The community is very diverse with families living here from places like Pakistan, India, Somaliland, Yemen, Poland, Romania, Czech, Portugal, Sudan and the West Indies. Sport is a universal language.

Of course, sport is not the only answer and it is more complicated than that, but it can and should be held as an important tool in preventing some of society’s problems before they begin. Let’s look at prevention over cure.

Sport needs more investment to make more gains.

Projects such as Cricket Without Boundaries need continued support to develop, invest in kit and equipment that remain in the community and have a vision to sustain activities beyond taster sessions. This will give our kids the best start in life.

If we pay attention to the value sport has and the power it holds in engaging all parts of society in Wales, the UK, and further afield, we will see all walks of life reap the benefits – and make savings to the public purse in the process.

It’s a win-win.