Badminton England has lost 10 per cent of its Sport England funding after failing to achieve required participation figures for the 26+ demographic.
The national governing body (NGB) was informed of the decision in June and will now have £234,000 (US$303,349, €274,334) of its 2016 funding award decommitted by the grassroots sport quango.
After making the commitment to engage with a certain number of 26+ year-olds over 2015/16, the organisation fell short resulting in Sport England’s decision. The latest
Active People Survey results revealed that Badminton England lost 28,300 overall participants between March 2015 and March 2016, with 421,600 active players registered.
Also under threat of losing funding is the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) which has been told it will lose 20 per cent – £193,000 (US$250,198, €226,319) – of its 2016 award if it does not meet special conditions after it failed to meet the agreed participation figures for 14-25 year-olds.
Sports Management understands that the RYA will present KPIs around awareness, connection, trial, outcomes and regularity of participation, as well as latest participation figures, to Sport England before the funding body makes its decision next month.
Key to the RYA’s pitch will be its Push the Boat Out initiative – which gives people the opportunity to try sailing out for the first time – and subsequent retention rates.
Badminton England and the RYA were among 20 NGBs that missed at least one NGB target in 2015/16. Within its Sport England’s annual report the body revealed that of the 20, eight still showed overall growth in the number of people participating, while 12 attended panel presentations to discuss their performance.
However, the two organisations were the only NGBs which were referenced in the 2015/16 report as being under threat of losing funding.
“Despite the missed targets, we agreed not to decommit any investment immediately and will instead focus on helping the relevant NGBs transition to the approach and priorities outlined in our new investment principles,” stated the report.
“We expressed our disappointment publicly and privately, and worked with NGBs to identify the operational and management issues they needed to tackle.”
