School Directors

5. Work on the sports facilities (inside and outside of school)

Integration of sports in the school curriculum should also provide young people with access to facilities and resources, where they can be physically active.

The provision of adequate facilities, supplies and equipment are as important as providing adequate incentive for the athletes, but the maintenance of such adequate facilities, supplies and equipment use by many often constitute a managerial problem. Traditionally, at the secondary schools level, facilities, supplies and equipment management are usually the responsibilities of those persons who are in-charge of physical education and sports programme. The facilities for which they are responsible include outdoor facilities – such as playgrounds, pools, skate parks, courts and fields – and indoor facilities – such as locker and shower rooms, natatorium, racket, sport courts, weight and exercise rooms, arenas, climbing walls, and gymnasiums, their supplies and equipment. Facilities, supplies and equipment management includes not only the effective scheduling, operation, and maintenance of such facilities, supplies and equipment but also, at times, planning new structures to keep pace with the demand for participation in physical education and sports programmes of the school.

Too often, facilities are constructed and out-grown their use within a very short time. Most facilities constructed in our secondary schools are very difficult to expand or exchange. It is noticed in today’s schools, the increased population, rising school enrolments, city life, limited space, and skyrocketing labour and material costs, are all altering physical education and sports facilities and equipment production and management.

In order for the school to ease the process of management of sports facilities, it can share them with the community and adopt different models of management:
• Single management: in this model, a single agency is responsible for managing the facilities at all times, including school hours, and all operational staff are employed by that agency. It follows that there is normally a single budget covering both school and community use. The management agency can be the school, a single client department within the local authority, a management contractor or even an independent agency such as a trust. Where the facilities are not managed by the school it may be invoiced for their use but it is unable to dictate how the overall budget is spent.
• Dual management: In this model the sports facilities are managed by a partnership between the school (responsible for overseeing and funding school use) and some other agency (responsible for all aspects of community use). It follows that the overall budget for operating the sports facilities is split between the partners and each controls their own proportion of it. Effective co-operation between the partners is then essential if this money is to be spent wisely. Again, in theory it does not greatly matter what the school’s partner agency is, but in practice it often tends to be the community education service or something similar.

Learning Objective

The learning objective of this step is to give school directors knowledge of the different approaches of management of sport facilities in and outside of school. After completing this step school directors will manage to consider various opportunities of using sport facilities, not only for the benefit of the students in the framework of the PE curriculum, but also for the benefit of the whole school and community.

Online Resources

• Sport facilities and equipment management in schoolA study of good practices in sport facilities management at schools
• Guide to community use of school sports facilitiesGuidelines for management of sport facilities at school.
• Managing School Facilities for Community UseGuidelines for additional use of sport facilities at school.
• Managing Sport Facilities and Major EventsThe document presents case studies analysis in managing sport facilities and events.