It's sheer hypocrisy for politicians to claim they are investing in tomorrow's athletes but then cut back PE and playing fields
School was tough for me. Abandoned as a baby, I was raised in a children's home and was too emotionally disturbed to succeed academically. My first school was a difficult place to be – kids like me on free school meals were harassed. But sport was my saviour. The playing fields were the only place that allowed me a sense of freedom. It was there that I could engage as an equal with my peers, earn the respect of my teachers and challenge myself.
School sports are what led me to my adoptive family. Barbara Whitbread, my adoptive mother, was the PE mistress at a rival comprehensive. I met her for the first time playing netball in an inter-schools match – I remember her threatening to send me off the pitch for shouting too much, such was my enthusiasm for any sporting activity at school. Later, after we met by coincidence at the local athletics club, she became my javelin coach. It is precisely because of these fond memories and nostalgia for a time when school sports was a key part of school life, that I find attempts to cut it back even further so distressing.
It is sheer hypocrisy of the government to indulge in the success of the London Olympics, which has seen such outstanding British athletic achievement, to spout the "Inspire a Generation" strap line and then to cut back on provision for school sports. By scrapping the compulsory two-hour weekly minimum of PE for pupils and abolishing regulation on the minimum size of school playing fields, we are doing a disservice to this next generation of potential champions.
It is already absurd that some schools within miles of the Olympic Park have to use car parks to play games on.
Instead of cutting back, now is the time to invest in the grassroots and capitalise on the youthful interest a broad range of Olympic sports. The key to this is linking schools up with local sports clubs, whether they specialise in athletics, cycling, judo or any other discipline. These clubs form the foundation of the sporting community and are where new talent is developed. We can't expect teachers to have expert knowledge in a broad range of sports, but they should be able to help spot talent. I have spent the best part of 30 years constructing development programmes with schools and local athletics clubs in the south east. Much of the time it involves hours of painstaking work with the local authority. And despite all this work I still feel that millions of children are slipping through the net, their talent going unnoticed.
We were awarded the Games seven years ago, and both the last government and the present one have had ample time to establish this sort of infrastructure. It is nothing short of shameful to hear stories of enthusiastic young kids being turned away from oversubscribed cycling clubs after the Olympics simply because the resources aren't there to accommodate them.
Back in the early 1970s, sport was placed almost on an equal footing with academic study. In fact, it complemented it by teaching us how to concentrate harder, to learn teamwork and push ourselves. I was given the ability to flourish back then and it's all the more important our children are given that ability now. This begins with investment not cutback, with kept promises, not hot air.