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I am happy to go down any rabbit hole, or country lane, in search of innovation in sport. Driving back from a trail race the other day, I passed a small sign tucked on a grassy verge in deepest Sussex. “Punk Padel”, it seemed to whisper rather than shout, as if conscious it was out of its usual milieu. Turns out I was being directed to one of the venues of a business “using barns in beautiful locations to create a secret padel paradise”. Swipe the surface of the Punk Padel website and you’ll find its courts are unmanned. Their lights turn on and off automatically to mark the start and end of a session in which you are encouraged to “Laugh/Cry/Scream – it doesn’t matter…” This, it declares, is “NOT a normal sports club”. A sign we’re approaching peak padel, or evidence of the sport’s ability to innovate its way to continued growth? Either way, if it works it’s a great idea. And how remote must a governing body that’s attempting to give structure to padel appear to those having a game in a farmyard barn? In Britain’s case, that’s the Lawn Tennis Association – although its padel role has been somewhat contentious within the racquet world. Jazzing up sports Sport is littered with commercial initiatives to jazz up – or punk up – the experiences of amateur participants. Often at arms length – or further – from sporting officialdom. The world of running, in particular, has spawned many variants, from colour runs to night runs, Tough Mudder to Spartan Race obstacle courses, and a sprawling industry organising races on multiple terrains in just about every corner of the nation and wider world. As much PunkRun as ParkRun. Only this month a new variant dropped into my inbox – a trail marathon on the South Downs whose final few miles will blend into the mass Brighton Marathon, giving the off-road runners a big city finish-line experience. Might make shoe selection tricky, but that’s a minor inconvenience compared to the likely buzz from the choruses of ‘You got this!’ from Brighton’s huge crowds in that tricky last stretch. Hats off to Maverick Race and London Marathon Events for this collaboration. Fresh event presentation, new formats, punk marketing. All these are part of a search for new audiences, a search encouraged by the appetite of younger generations for one-off experiences in the Instagram age. The downside of which is the challenge of turning casual participation into repeat habits in a world of fleeting fashion and multiple leisure options. The hardy perennial activity Broad waves of sporting fashion can be observed in major sports. Golf waxed and then waned, new courses appearing, charging eye-watering membership fees and their owners then going bust. Cycling it seemed had pushed it aside. Now golf is on the rise once more, although anecdotally it is casual play rather than the commitment of membership that is in fashion. Cycling, by contrast, is off its peak – at least for now. Running appears a hardy perennial activity, races recovering from the Covid hit and their numbers swelling. The upswing in race entries is notably far stronger among women than men. Too early to tell whether this will follow a wave pattern or a sustained upward curve. Marketing and race logistics (more portaloos as a minimum) catering for female runners are clearly in evidence and are bearing fruit. Reports of women as overall winners of ultra races help too. My new sporting diversion? Canicross – off-road, hands-free running with your dog. I guess our pet will decide for me whether this becomes a habit or simply proves a fleeting interest. Canicross is clearly a growing element within the running event market though. The lockdown puppy boom having a sporting impact? Governing bodies find themselves in a difficult position in a world of commercial innovation. They are often ill-tuned to think creatively, are responsible to memberships that are typically structured into clubs that deliver traditional formats of a sport, are as prone to move as slowly as their most conservative constituents will allow, and may have little or no spare cash to devote to entrepreneurial projects that come with the risk of making no financial return. Against the grain for sport It would be easy to conclude that those governing a sport should simply step back and let commercial players take control. This, though, is to ignore their responsibility to nurture and grow their sport while protecting its foundations. Profits flowing exclusively into investors’ wallets represent an opportunity lost to reinvest into a sport’s infrastructure. Why does this matter? Because that infrastructure provides a hedge against fickle fashion, and is typically the source of tomorrow’s elite athletes who will burnish a sport’s image and hence its appeal to new generations. Help frame a mixed economy and governing bodies may yet reap their reward. They could offer a degree of legitimacy, some light-touch oversight, and assistance in marketing new ventures to their committed audiences in return for some share of the commercial action. Not all of the punk rockers of yore remained rebels into old age; some morphed into treasured members of a broadly-defined national establishment. Similarly, not all start-up sports enterprises will want to remain outside the governance fold as they mature. It may go against the grain for many sports leaders, but being a facilitator of myriad outside initiatives rather than an innovator of a few may cement their relevance in today’s kaleidoscopic sporting world. Meanwhile, I should book that padel barn. Apparently you can “blast your tunes”. Must download my ultimate punk playlist then. Ed Warner is chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and writes his sport column at sportinc.substack.com
