ILCA UK Chair Blog # 107

Oct 7

In last week’s blog Micky Beckett argued eloquently for buying raffle tickets in aid of the Andrew Simpson Foundation and few would argue with the merits of that. But how far should this go? Should elite athletes and Olympians use their platform to advocate change?

Well UK Sport thinks so. They are the body that funds our elite athletes through the Exchequer and National Lottery. In partnership with The True Athlete Project, they launched a 6-month programme to help funded athletes use their platform to inspire, facilitate and enable positive change. Quoting - In a consultation, UK Sport found that 86% of athletes on world class programmes want to use their platform to make a difference to society whilst they are still competing. The Powered by Purpose programme is a new offering for athletes who have a keen interest in using the power and platform of sport to inspire positive change, aligning with UK Sport’s ten-year strategy, to create the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments; reaching, inspiring and uniting the nation. This pilot will see athletes take part in a series of tailored, highly personal, live online workshops while being individually supported in their progress, which will lead them to explore the power of sport and become agents for social change. The scheme is led by The True Athlete Project, a charity that works with athletes, coaches and leaders to harness the transformative power of sport as a force for good in the world. Over the last six years, they have developed innovative programmes that blend mindfulness, mental skills training and mentoring to unleash the power of sport, engaging participants across the world. The Powered by Purpose programme is designed to empower athletes to make a difference, be that locally in their communities or nationally, for a cause that is authentic and genuine to them.

But a commentary in The Times does not agree. Quoting again -British athletes at the Paris Olympics are being urged to use the Games as a platform to campaign for causes close to their heart. The idea is the brainchild of UK Sport, the government agency charged with supporting high-performing stars. Dozens of athletes have already completed its Powered by Purpose programme to help them become “agents for social change”. Dame Katherine Grainger, one of Britain’s most decorated Olympians and the chairwoman of UK Sport, is convinced of the merits. “Athletes have found their voice and found a platform that they want to talk about, and that’s something we should support. It can be sustainability, it can be accessibility, it can be gender rights,” she said. But what has this to do with winning medals at the Olympics? No one cares — nor should they — what athletes think is wrong with society. Grainger goes on to bracket Olympians with pop stars as “a category of people who are trusted”. She has her thinking cap on back to front: such trust, if it existed, would not last long once British Olympians started mouthing off on the podium.

One of the great attractions of sport is that there is nowhere to hide. Athletes compete based on a set of rules with some jeopardy – we just won’t know who is going to win. And we love that. Winners are not predefined no matter their background and beliefs (there is obviously an argument on how accessible elite sport is). There is a purity to it and that’s why there’s been a feeling that sports and politics should not mix.

But we can’t get away from the fact that sport exists in the context of society and politics which often transcend sport. This happened with Apartheid in South Africa and more recently with Russia following their invasion of Ukraine. It is the reality. In an era where there is so much information available, especially with social media, top athletes have thousands of social media followers. Cristiano Ronaldo has 1 billion total followers and is the most-followed person in the world. Many of these are “ambassadors” or influencers and the reality is that they have a powerful voice. So if Marcus Rashford wants to influence something to make society better, it is hard to argue against, whether you support or not. Hannah Mills has been a prominent environmental campaigner, and we are now starting to see sailors take centre stage. And I think we do care what our athletes think and the question is as much why wouldn’t they use their influence to improve society - even if some want to refer to this as “mouthing off on the podium”? So for me the answer is a resounding yes they should be using their platform to make the world a better place.

What do you think?

Snippets

ILCA UK events

Q5 WPNSA 19-20th October - BOOK or VOLUNTEER

Q6 WPNSA 26-27th October - BOOK or VOLUNTEER

Masters Inlands Rutland SC 26-27th October - BOOK

Inlands Grafham Water SC 2-3rd November - BOOK or VOLUNTEER - This event has limited number of entries

Save the date - ILCA Open and National Championships Plas Heli 9-15th August 2025

ILCA UK Winter Training

ILCA UK are offering many opportunities for winter training 2024/2025 - See our calendar for more

Regional Open Training for ILCA 4,ILCA6 and ILCA 7

ILCA 4

ILCA 4 Regional Open Training is a six-week programme for sailors under the age of 18yrs. Sailors are expected to have experience of club sailing , be confident in sailing in strong winds and comfortable managing full days in inclement/cold weather. Sailors are required to sign up for the six weeks to ensure continuity and getting the best from the programme.

The training programme will take place across three different regions.

Twelve places are available for each region. The ILCA 4 programme is now open for sailors to sign upon the ILCA UK calendar; a great opportunity to develop skills and meet other sailors in your region.

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Regional Open Training

Now open for sailors to sign up on the ILCA UK Calendar. The format will be 6 weekends running between October and March. Four of the weekends will be hosted in each region, with two joint camps when all of the regions will join together, one at WPNSA and one at Draycote SC

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 training will be open to all ages and entry will be on a per-weekend basis. An excellent opportunity to continue to develop sailing skills in your region.

National Training

National Training will be available following the October qualifiers in WPNSA. National Training is open to sailors who come in the top 50% male and top 50% female in at least three of the following events