Young people from deprived areas don’t play Golf

Used Pro V deal going down on the streets.

Young people from deprived areas tend not to play golf because of the costs involved, according to new research from the London School of Economics.

We almost choked at this startling news. Really? Are you sure? How on earth did you figure that one out? They should have just got on the blower to us, and we could have saved them all the trouble. Or they could have taken a common-bleeding-sense pill. But no, they went and researched it, and this is what they –obviously –found out.

The cost of playing the sport was identified as the biggest barrier for young people. There is ‘good news’ as researchers found that there is a desire to do activities and have come up with recommendations that could get more deprived youngsters playing the game.

The report, Moving the Goalposts, written by researchers from the London School of Economics’ Centre for Analysis for Social Exclusion (CASE), in association with StreetGames, interviewed 60 young people aged 14 to 25 from five of the most deprived areas in England and Wales about sports provision in their local area.

The report found that once young people leave school their involvement in all sports and social clubs and activities declines. This, coupled with the finding that young people fear using green areas as sports facilities, means young people are more likely to ‘hang-out’ rather than engage in physical activity.

“Schools could open up their facilities much more widely after school hours,” states the report. “Some schools do this. In one case in East Ham, Newham, schools cooperate with local clubs to deliver much more comprehensive sport activities.

“Both schools and clubs talk about training volunteers in order to involve young people in helping other young people as a way of motivating the community more generally. This has a big impact on young people.

“Free provision through clubs are really important, but parents are invariably worried about area conditions and level of supervision. They worry about clubs catering for a wide age band, and often do not want younger children mixing with older children. They are afraid of bad example and negative influences.

“Leaving school is a cliff edge for sport and for general involvement in clubs. The biggest barrier for over school age young people is cost.”

Well, blow us all down with a feather. 

Meanwhile London's last inner city course is set to close. Find out why here.