Sport does not need government funding

The under-17 world cup final this year featured Nigeria and Mali. I can't imagine their governments have set more money aside for football than most. I argue that the media has more influence over sport than the government does. Guernsey FC would never have got off the ground without the Press-led campaign.

And someone, somewhere at the Press (presumably Rob Batiste) decides what sort of coverage is afforded to each sport and at what age level.

Rob asks us to imagine a world without sport, which is not relevant and is not what the States are proposing of course.

Even if there was no government funding at all, there would still be sport.

When I was a kid my mates and I didn't need government funding to play football or have running races in a park, on a beach or L'Ancresse Common. And it's hard to see the States abolishing cross-country running – unless the ludicrous IoD has its way and we have so many houses that there is no countryside.

He claims that in a world of no sport, obesity and diabetes would mushroom and suggests that kids would turn to crime because their energy would have no outlet, so Mr Rice would buy more armoured vehicles etc. If you're obese or diabetic your energy levels are low, and I have a hunch that Mr Rice would buy more vehicles if I blinked too loudly, so that's going to happen anyway.

There was no Guernsey FC or inflated government funding for sport when I grew up in the '70s, yet the crime and diabetes and obesity rates were low. Obesity and diabetes are not caused by lack of sport; they are primarily food chain-related and not helped by lack of exercise.

It's perfectly possible to do exercise without sport. The sea will still be there to swim in, the roads will be there to cycle on and the fields, parks and cliffs will be available for running.

Rob also says that without Guernsey-based teams playing in the UK leagues the airlines and our economy would suffer. Often I hear the argument that the teams that come here contribute to our economy by spending money here.

Equally, however, for every home fixture there is an away one, so when the Guernsey teams are in the UK they are spending money there which they would otherwise be spending here. Besides, when Guernsey players are travelling away they are not at working contributing to the economy here.

His suggestion that our States adopt Jersey's sports funding policy is ill- considered. Jersey's finances are a mess. Eighteen thousand people are below the poverty line. Can they afford to send their kids to football minis or for tennis coaching? And how many of the players that play in the Jersey rugby team are Jersey people? I get the impression that some are brought to the island just to play for the rugby team and given jobs almost as an afterthought. Rather like Zola Budd running for Britain.

Who is to say what constitutes giving government money to sport? Parks are used for more than sport. So are schools. And if the airlines are a necessary part of the sports fabric, do we count the States' funding of Aurigny as a sports-related contribution?

It could be argued that any money given to health contributes indirectly to sport; it's hard to take part in sport with an untreated broken leg or an untreated chest infection, for example.

Then there is the Sports Commission which, I understand, receives some money from the States but has other income streams.

And, of course, how do you decide which sports should benefit and how is favouritism eliminated from the decision-making process?

We all have our favourite sports. I often wonder, though, how many sports truly need indoor facilities. I don't see anything too healthy about taking huge gulps of conditioned air tinged with microscopic particles of synthetic materials and toxins exhaled and sweated out by other people for a start, and I never understood why, if 11-year-old girls can play netball outdoors, 20-odd-year-old, six feet-plus blokes have to play basketball inside. For a start, a netball is lighter and there is more catching and passing involved, so netball is more affected by wind and rain than basketball would be.

I have sympathy with Gary Collins' point that sports funding isn't keeping pace with inflation and I would not oppose a correction to that situation. However, any campaign for a massive increase in States funding of sport is, I think, borne out of the 'give us the tools and we can compete on the world stage' mentality which seemed to take hold of the finance sector a few years back. We don't need to produce a Heather Watson, Andy Priaulx, Lee Merrien or Matt Le Tissier every year.

Guernsey FC is close to using Jersey players to further its success and I would not like to see Guernsey taxpayers' money funding Jersey people's trips to play football in Kent.

Guernsey doesn't need to be famous. It does need to be sustainable and there are too many influential people here who don't adopt the principle of cutting the suit according to the cloth.

MATT WATERMAN,

Flat 2,

3, Burnt Lane,

St Peter Port,

GY1 1HL.