Letter to the future Prime Minister from England Hockey

Today, the Women's and Men's England Commonwealth Games hockey teams have sent a letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss calling on government support to back the provision of PE and team sport within schools.

Dear Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss,  

At the Commonwealth Games our women’s and men’s hockey teams achieved gold and bronze medal success.

Throughout the Games, we spoke about our legacy and goal to inspire a nation. We were inspired by the success of the Lionesses at the Euros, the other team sports at the Games, and we too delivered on behalf of the nation.

We’re now looking to the future. We want to inspire the next generation and make real change in this country. We want to create more opportunities for children and young people of all backgrounds and abilities to enjoy sport and physical activity.

To achieve this, we believe the Government should prioritise and promote the importance of team sport.  New research led by Portas Consulting, in collaboration with England Hockey, England and Wales Cricket Board, England Netball, England Rugby and The Football Association (‘The Social and Economic Value of Childhood Sport Participation in England’) shows children’s mental and physical wellbeing is significantly enhanced by playing team sport with children reporting 12% higher life satisfaction and 6% higher happiness, which creates positive habits and brings significant benefits in older age. However, Sport England recently reported that four million children aged between 5 and 16 failed to meet minimum recommended activity levels during the last year.   

The Portas research also shows there is a significant gender gap in team sport participation driven by unequal sports provision in schools, differences in mindsets towards sport participation between boys and girls, and imbalanced access to facilities and programmes. Providing equal access and more opportunities to PE and sport in schools would lead to more children living healthier and happier lives and giving future generations the opportunities to succeed as we have at these Commonwealth Games.  

This all requires active Government support, policy change and investment. So, we’re asking you, if you become Prime Minister on 5 September, to help us achieve that change:  

• Every child in this country to have access to a minimum of two hours of PE and School Sport per week.   
• PE to be a compulsory subject on the national curriculum with team sports, including hockey, a core part of this offer   
• Substantial, targeted investment in PE and School Sport to improve facilities and the number of PE teachers in primary and secondary schools.  

We are committed to a more equal, diverse and inclusive sport, but we cannot achieve this on our own. We collectively need to create the early opportunities for children from all backgrounds who in turn will inspire future participation in every level of hockey and all team sports.   

We want to inspire a lifelong participation in sport and physical activity and so we ask you as our future leader to invest in what we believe is a fundamental right for every child in this country.  

We all need to play our part and we urge you as our future Prime Minister to take the lead and invest in our collective futures.  

Regards,  

The Commonwealth Games Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams