By Matt Kendall

So, 2012 won't get 2 million people more active – we gave up the target. Well why not? What a once in a lifetime opportunity the Olympics is, and here we are 7 and a half months from the opening ceremony and where's the plan? Maybe big events that make everyone sit up and take note don't work? So, when we see a British Handball, volleyball or fencing team compete in London this coming Summer, won't we be inspired, Wimbledon effect-style to have a go? My assertion is that 'of course we will' its just that we won't have anywhere to send those inspired people.

What will happen? Perhaps you will be lucky and your local authority, who's sports development department is being 're-structured' as we speak will put on a taster day for you to try the sport? At the taster day the local club will be invited to provide coaching and a route to continue. But what about the health of that club? Where are the resources linked to the London Games to help the basic unit of sport in this country, the club? If you do end up having the chance to play that sport at a local club, chances are that it's because the volunteers that run it put in a load of effort to help you because they love their sport, and most of those clubs are run by only a dedicated few people, giving a lot of their time to do it.

Clubs are the lifeblood of sport in this country and they are nearly exclusively run by volunteers, they are local, they care and they'll be there long after the latest branded central initiative is a footnote on a sports development officer's bookshelf. Ask quite a few clubs and they will tell you that if their governing body disappeared, it wouldn't make a great deal of difference to how they deliver sport to local people.

So why the obsession with new? Why brand something and launch it, so that your local stretched sports club has to sign up to it, and then sign up to the next one when it comes around? Why get a load of T shirts, key rings and pens made with the new logo on? If private sponsors were paying for each initiative I would understand, sponsors interests change and programmes would only last for shorter periods, but this is state money – and the state is supposed to build for the long term.

I have been fortunate in my professional experience to have travelled to a few countries around Europe to look at their sporting culture, particularly around volunteering, and I am pleased to say – the grass is not always greener. We are ahead in many ways, but behind in many others, and across the spectrum of EU countries there are vast differences in how they address sport.

Sweden is the contrast to start with. The region of Västergötland, to the East of Gothenberg with a population of 500,000 has an organisation tasked with Educating Sports Clubs – not, I might add, doing the NGB qualifications and technical knowhow for the sport, but just helping clubs run themselves – it has a staff of 25. 25! Sweden has the highest sports participation rates in Europe – and that participation is Volunteer led, with paid officer support. Sweden has recognised the value of supporting clubs.

If we changed the sports development strategy to support the development of healthy and well run clubs, could we then have a network of these clubs to:

• Give excellent customer service
• Keep children safe
• Involve their users in decisions
• Recruit and train their own volunteers
• Learn not to rely on 1 or 2 hard pressed super volunteers
• Grow
• Offer casual, casual competitive, or elite level activity
• Perhaps go multi-sport

So the next time you are designing your brand for your national initiative that clubs will need to 'buy into' – perhaps take the time to consider who knows best? Those men and women who make sport happen in our country, and have done for over 100 years, maybe they deserve support rather than a membership form and a workshop?

So what's behind the short termism? What changes every 4/5 years? Who decides where the money goes? Perhaps if sport was allowed to develop a 15 year plan without political interference a plan that included Schools AND Clubs, then we might come up with something better. Perhaps.

Just for debate – I'd be interested to know what you think…

Matt Kendall has developed sport for the past 7 years in a variety of local and regional settings, and has a particular interest in raising sports participation and infrastructure in poorer communities. Follow his twitter rantings at @mrthecoach