In the past we have been occasionally critical of a number of the initiatives introduced by the BTA/BTF to promote the growth of the sport at the grass roots level. In general this criticism has been because in almost all previous attempts by the national body to introduce the sport to young people they have made a lot of headline noise but there has been very little in the way of an ongoing support structure to foster the programme once the initial funding has been used up. And, in the way of public funded programmes, that’s not unusual – and certainly not a problem which only affects triathlon!

When, last year, the Corus funding was announced with its two-pronged strategy of providing for both the elite and a series of children’s events we were, in the manner of those who have been previously disappointed, slightly sceptical. The good news is, at least so far as the children’s events are concerned, it looks as though the Corus money is being invested more wisely and with the benefit of a wider experience than may have been available before. [We can’t comment on the elite series because, quite simply, they haven’t started yet!]

Based on the reports from Plympton last weekend and first-hand experience of the Crystal Palace event this week it is obvious that the approach is very different. It came as something of a shock to learn that the average school child is lucky to get two hours of sport in a week, and that’s just a baseline for the Healthy Schools Initiative, and so the decision to start the whole process off with the co-operation of schools makes sense. Children of between 8 and 13 are invited to attend the day’s events with the entire emphasis being on “having a go” rather than being expected to compete against one another. There are some obvious pre-requisites; being able to swim and ride a bike (bikes and safety equipment were provided for those without) being pretty essential, but with the emphasis on participation rather than racing it didn’t seem to matter if you could manage one length or one stroke in the pool.

In fact, once the children had their red Corus branded swim hats and T-shirts it was pretty clear that their day was already “made up” and they were up for almost anything. With plenty of volunteer support, including the presence of Helen Tucker, one of the BTF’s Corus Ambassadors, the steady stream of children moving from the 25m training pool (complete with a slightly incongruous and massive red open water buoy!) though to the bikes and then finally out onto the run loop was marked by happy and smiling faces. Here were children who actually seemed to be enjoying themselves as opposed to being herded to some form of PE that they would all much rather have avoided.

Corus, being an internationally-sized business, understands that, in some areas where it operates, it is the sole provider for its employees. Talking to their representatives at Crystal Palace it is clear that they understand that what they are doing with the children’s events is drawing on that experience: they know that they need to leave a legacy and that legacy needs to have a support network. All the events around the country are being organised by the BTF in conjunction with local schools sports partnerships and local triathlon clubs are also being included in the process. Not all areas will have a suitable club to which children can go if they want to do more with the sport and in some parts of the country, Teeside and Corby were highlighted, local Corus Business Units are helping to set up and run clubs that can carry on the work.

The Corus funding runs for 2007 and 2008 and the Kids of Steel programme will run next year as well. What will be interesting is to see how the BTF monitors the uptake in the sport as a result and how both the children and the clubs can then translate what has been an obviously fun experience into an ongoing involvement. Triathlon is, ultimately, a competitive sport and children’s triathlon is often highly competitive (and not just between the children racing...). Managing that process successfully will be the ultimate judge of how well the programme performed...but we won’t be able to judge that for a couple of years yet. In the meantime, however, both Corus and the BTF seem to be getting a big “thumbs up” from the children and all the indications are that the series will be a great success.