The reader who got in touch last week to complain about the contents of this column knows how to hurt a man.

I didn't mind being accused of political correctness, because that is a standard attempt at a slur from those who do not like us to draw attention to their prejudices. However, his conclusion - that I am consequently unprepared to cause offence to anyone when expressing my views - had the potential to be painful, albeit also amusing for many involved in Scottish sport.

Well it would have, had it not been for the fact that the tone of his comments made it perfectly clear that he himself had been stung by my observations about the unpleasantness of the continued existence of male-only golf clubs.

Once upon a time, though, writing on that subject would elicit far more in the way of hostile reaction than a message from a solitary correspondent. This, I hope, suggests that it is becoming increasingly unacceptable to defend such institutions in decent society, as seemed evident during this year's Open Championship.

A parallel came to mind with the way  the world has changed since the 1970s, when low-level racism used to feature in popular culture. Black actors and comedians have, more recently, registered horror at having accepted roles or told jokes which reinforced the stereotypes of the time. We live in a much- improved world which, to some extent, could support the view of those who believe that, having highlighted the problem, we should now leave the sexists alone to become marginalised with time.

Yet a report being carried on network television yesterday suggested that to do so would be to become complacent, highlighting as it did the fact that, even in these more enlightened times, only eight of the 4000 professional footballers in England's football league are of Asian descent.

Views vary as to why this is - it is a complicated issue with not one single cause or solution - but it chimes with a point I have been making for some time about a similar situation in the sport I have covered most down the years.

Let me acknowledge readily that there is a possibility that Joe Ansbro, adopted by a white family and educated at private school in England, is not the only black player to have represented Scotland in more than 140 years of international rugby. There may, apparently, have been another, sometime in the 1870s.

However, the extent of the research those in question have undertaken in order to debunk the statistic merely reinforced its relevance, and rugby is by no means alone. This year, I have attended mass-participation national golf events at the Scottish Boys, Scottish Amateur and Scottish PGA Championships and my recollection is of all three being monochrome in terms of participants, officialdom and spectatorship.

In last week's article, I observed that there has been a "middle-classification" of sporting opportunity with "sport for all" now apparently abandoned, both as a catchphrase and, it seems, in terms of government policy.

That theme was picked up by a senior figure in Scottish sports administration who contacted me last week following the announcement that the Scottish government was investing £300,000 into linking up with Street Soccer Scotland as a "national legacy partner for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games".

It seemed a bit odd given that no form of football is involved in the Commonwealth Games but that was not his main point.

"Street Soccer Scotland is a good organisation but only exists because the market has failed - the market being the provision of sport for all - and I guess the traditional club structures which are by nature exclusive," he said. "Sport facilities should be free at point of delivery just like the health service. Sport saves NHS costs later. Maybe free only for the unders and un-waged and off-peak but that would be a start. Instead, we have a sports policy focused on performance and loads of mandarins watching that."

I completely agree that the argument must be about providing opportunities for all in order to maximise our talent pool.

To that end I was disappointed recently to discover that, when the monthly fees are added up, the cost of membership at The Peak - Stirling's superb multi-sports facility - is comparable with the annual subscription at local golf clubs.

When I explained it that way to some of their staff they, too, seemed surprised and I would like to think they might revise it. However, even reducing the cost by half would leave it beyond the reach of many, many families.

Just for the record, my thinking on this is not based on politically correct altruism, even if I am far from revolted by an expression which - for all that it has been demonised - merely means the pursuit of fairness while waging war on the prejudiced.

No, the motivation here, after many years of covering Scottish international sport - in particular rugby - and suffering too many uncomfortable days among crowing colleagues from rival nations, I just want to see real efforts made to extend the talent pool by finding out what all of our kids are good at.