There was a time when the words “elite” and “academy” actually meant something. In youth sport, particularly football, they were used to describe relatively small groups of young athletes operating within genuinely high-performance environments. Now? They seem to be everywhere. Elite football programmes. Elite development centres. Elite player pathways. Elite camps. Elite squads. Elite training. Elite academies. And increasingly, it feels as though “elite” is being used less

There is a striking contradiction in the way we educate young children. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), physical development and movement are recognised as fundamental to children's development. Children are encouraged to run, jump, climb, balance, dance, explore, carry, build and play. Movement is woven into the learning environment and is often part of children's everyday experience. Then they move into Key Stage 1. The classroom becomes more formal. Children sp

Hi, this is my first blog! I want to keep these short and sweet, and hopefully some, if not all, of what I discuss will resonate with others in the PE community. Labels — or perhaps mislabelling — our subject is something that still heavily grinds my gears. I trained at the University of Exeter, completing a PGCE in Physical Education with a primary specialism. I am a PE teacher, and yet our subject still seems to have so many different labels, particularly in the independent