DAVID Stubley (Letters, March 16)) is correct when he states how sports should be funded. It is farcical that Lottery funding is now use solely to support competitors who have chances to win medals. Surely a better use would be to finance sports that encourage youngsters to participate especially in deprived areas.
Thousands of people derive great enjoyment from just competing. It is good to be gracious in defeat and to congratulate one's opponent. The behaviour of a number of top performers is appalling. To see someone of the calibre of Andy Murray smashing his racket at the back of the court sets a dreadful example to young, impressionable players. If only referees could disqualify players who persist in offending. Alas, money talks so it never happen.
Wilf O'Malley,
11 Delnies Road, Inverness.
THE recent survey from The British Journal of Sports Medicine which suggested that children go off the idea of exercise from as young as seven years old, comes at very interesting time as we launch our own Boys’ Brigade sports participation survey. Our aim is to find out how much our own BB members are taking part in physical activity and how much as an organisation we can help with this worrying trend.
As the study indicates, exercise plays an important role in children, especially out of school and we want children to be more active in their own time. As an organisation, we incorporate play, sport and recreation activities throughout our programmes and deliver a wide range of indoor and outdoor physical activities from the age of 5 to 18. We believe that in addition to the health benefits, sport can also set a young person’s moral compass and challenges them to become competitive, a good team player and work towards goals while having fun.
Hopefully programmes such as ours will help boost confidence and overall levels of physical participation among all young people and we can become one step closer to creating a future generation of healthy, active young people.
Alan Hunter,
Acting Director for Scotland, The Boys’ Brigade, Carronvale House, Larbert.
SO the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers has finally succumbed, and ladies will be admitted to play as members on the hallowed turf at Muirfield (“Women golfers celebrate as men-only rule is bunkered”, The Herald, March 15). It is difficult to collate accurate statistics, but it appears there are perhaps 26 lady-only golf clubs in Scotland, which compares with a little over 20 men-only establishments. This raises the obvious question: equality for men?
Iain Tulloch,
Swallow Ha', Symington, Ayrshire.
IN view of the Muirfield decision, can we now look forward to the St Regulus Ladies Golf Club and its ilk now opening their doors to men? No? Why not? Aileen Campbell, Sports Minister for Scotland, has stated that "we want gender equality across all parts of society in Scotland".
Elizabeth Mueller,
12 Bank Street, Hillhead, Glasgow.
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