WE applaud the move for greater "boardroom diversity" in sport governing bodies which was revealed in last week's Department for Culture, Media & Sport policy paper.
Sport is devolved to Holyrood, but this document, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', suggests a Whitehall aspiration to cut Scotland's grass.
The Herald has long championed women's sport, and broader and better depth of coverage, so you will find no argument here with any campaign to encourage a greater female role in sport governing bodies: it's not just right and proper, but overdue.
This will present no problem for the likes of scottishathletics whose 14-strong management board contains six females, swimming (four of nine directors) or gymnastics (two out of six). But for the SFA - who have none, and the R&A whose 20-strong executive board has just one - it will be a wake-up call.
If they don't have at least 25% female representation on their management boards by 2017 they will be ineligible for public funding. And sportscotland will be asked to endorse and support this new governance code.
This has helped focus minds in the past, with misogynist golf clubs coming to heel under a similar threat. The R&A agreed to toe the line, but now face major boardroom change.
So far so good. But a move towards equal representation for women in management should surely not be by government diktat. What next from our nanny state? Quotas for board members on grounds of ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, or gender-orientation? The sole criteria should be ability to do the job. Life is a meritocracy, and we should face that fact squarely.
Maureen McGonigle, once executive administrator of the Scottish Women's FA, founded Scottish Women in Sport, says Scotland is far from being the worst nation for low female representation in sport governing bodies. "But 52% of the population is female, so the balance is just not there," she explains. "The pathway to management boards starts with local representation, then regional and national. That has to be looked at. The environment has to change, to make women feel welcome.
"I was at an SFA convention where the question of women on the board was raised. They apparently engaged a head-hunting company, but seemingly could not find anybody."
Buried in the detail of the government paper is the observation that England has no equivalent to Event Scotland or Visit Wales, both of whom have proved highly successful in attracting major events. This, says the document, "can put English venues at a disadvantage".
UK Sport has been most successful in bringing major events to the UK, and it is hard to see how England has been disadvantaged, yet with regional development organisations having been abolished some some five years ago, there is little doubt some parts of England feel disadvantaged.
"It is unreasonable to expect UK Sport, as a UK body, to support English bids where they may be set against those of other Home Nations, but we are committed to ensuring the English venues have the necessary support for developing major event bids."
Perhaps the honeymoon is almost over for Event Scotland whose record in helping bring a succession of major events from the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup down, has been remarkable.
Paul Bush, their chief operating officer, said last night: "I welcome the competition." After all, his organisation has been up against global opposition in many events which they have succeeded in landing.
Bush, however, raises one concern: "I would not wish them to replicate what UK Sport does already. They do a good job. It could end up just duplicating bureaucracy. I'd hate to think DCMS would favour English bids when looking at UK strategies."
I foresee a potential turf war between sportscotland and UKS/Sport England, even though elite performance funding will not change.
In his introduction, the Prime Minister speaks of the new strategy for sport and physical activity moving, "beyond merely looking at how many people take part . . . In the future, funding decisions will be made on the basis of the social good that sport and physical activity can deliver, not simply on the number of participants."
Sporting success is being redefined, judged on physical and mental well-being, individual development, and social, community, and economic development. The UK government says it work with non-Olympic sports governing bodies to prioritise their long-term elite success as well.
Yet Sportscotland is batting on a different wicket, with championship medals and participation numbers the key drivers.
Despite Scottish autonomy on sport, sportscotland may be obliged to look afresh. If participation in exercise is to become a driver of funding, then there are dozens of activities which do not surface on sportscotland's agenda - such as zumba, aerobic dance, tai chi, yoga, and body balance.
Too many sports - even ones in which Scotland has had World and continental champions - are only minimally funded, because the quango is obsessed by Olympic and Commonwealth medals. Sportscotland's view of what constitutes "physical activity" may have to change if Westminster moves the goalposts.
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