Well what a way to end! The Closing Ceremony was a bit slow to really amaze (as seems to be the case with a lot of events in Britain this year) but the last hour was great & a brilliant way to end the Olympics. Of course us Brits are swelling with pride that Team GB came third in the medal table, basically the best of the rest behind the USA and China!
So now perhaps the most important work is now ahead of Britain & our Olympic organisers. Where do we go from here? What shall the legacy of these games be?
One thing’s for sure, we cannot just go back to what we were doing before. It's amazing to think that just around a year ago London and other parts of the UK were basically burning as rioters swept the streets, now we stand tall after welcoming the world and delivering one of the greatest Olympics ever. It's time for Britain to put its best foot forward, to show that we are a nation of kindness warmth & respectability, and that include laying down the full force of the law to criminals.
Life still goes on y'know. The murder case of Tia Sharpe has been on our screens for the past week & whilst a truly tragic story is a telling reminder of what parts of society in Britain have become & that to prevent our welcoming of Olympic athletes being branded as having a mask hiding the true face, then justice must be served whenever necessary.
Moving on to the sporting aspect, it is obvious that a reasonable number of compulsory hours of competitive sport must be introduced from Primary School then gradually become optional at Secondary level. There are too many children (and to be fair adults) who spend their life never having no said to them whether they are right or wrong. Sport can do a lot more than just earn you gold medals. If used properly it can teach life lesson, like how to win & lose graciously. It can bring egos into check, keep little brats in line & make people strive to do better next time. However in Secondary School however it has to be more flexible. Some people just don't like Sport. If they don't like it and are of an age to make their own decisions you cannot make them. It's their own loss. Just get them to take part in another way like setting up a pitch clocking someone’s 100m time etc.
This of course need cooperation from everybody, that includes Parents who are scared of their children losing and throwing a tantrum, along with Teachers and their Unions who are more concerned with trying to make the paper by striking against government pension plans which they know they now cannot alter & making sure that the Health & Safety Officer doesn't turn up! This Liberal way of thinking needs to stop in our Schools, there are winner and losers in life.
Funding is also needed to get top quality coaches from a whole variety of sports to work in School to inspire success. So Mr Michael Gove Education Secretary. I like the majority of your education reforms, but could you please do the right thing and restore the whole of the government funding you took away from Sport in Schools in 2010. Thank you very much :)
Finally, speaking of inspiring success, it sure as hell inspired me. Being in the Olympic Park on August 5th was as I previously mentioned on my last blog was one of the best experiences in my entire life. Watching top quality Hockey mixed with mingling in a crowd of thousands seeing fantastic architecture and there just being an overall friendly atmosphere and a sense of enjoyment by all. There was the TV coverage by the BBC here in the UK & I must say it was nothing short of outstanding, with Jake Humphrey & Claire Balding shining in particular. Must also mention Ian Thorpe. Absolute Legend! :)
Seeing Team GB do so well along with the foreign Athletes like the legend Usain Bolt, the legend Michael Phelps & now the legend David Rudisha has earned widespread praise and will now hopefully get more people to do sport. Including me.
I used to do quite a bit of sport. I did football, cricket & athletics for both my Primary & Secondary School. I also did Cricket for Stevenage up to Under 15 Level (Highest score of 15, BOOM!). Then for some reason or another I just stopped but never got back into it.
Now after watching the Olympics, I want to do sport again, and would actually like to do more than that. I would now love to compete in an Olympics games.
Now they might sound ridiculously over-ambitious. Believe me, I know. But think about it. I've done 3 sports and wasn't very good at them. But with so many sports on offer at the University I want to go to, and quite a few are done in the Olympics. What's even better is that quite a few of them you can just turn up with no experience, so who knows whether I have a hidden talent at Volleyball or something? Hey you don't know until you try.
Of course I am realistic & that my most likely route to the Olympics again will be in the journalistic discipline. But I'm sure that the most key thing of these Olympic Games will be that many people will want to take part in new sports and see where they take them.
So take up Sport Britain. And see what great places it can take you. As for me, maybe just maybe I'll see you in 2016/2020 ;)
Thanks for reading. Tomorrow, my focus shall switch back to football, to be more specific Liverpool FC.
Thanks for reading and see you soon :)
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