Little to Celebrate from the formation of new UK Sport Management Institute

The end of this week marked a significant milestone in sport and leisure management in the United Kingdom with the formation of the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (IMSPA). The body has resulted from a merger of the former Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure (ISPAL) [a successor to the former Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM) and the Institute for Sport Development (ISD)] and the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM). While the creation of a new professional organisation on the other side of the world may not appear to have much relevance to Australia or New Zealand, it is worth pointing out that professional associations and institutes, while being a vestige of the old British Empire, are alive and well in our part of the world. In addition, many of Australia or New Zealand's professional bodies in the leisure industry have often looked to the UK for guidance and, in some cases, leadership. Last week, outgoing IPSAL Chief Executive Marcus Kingwell wrote "there has been a long build up to this event but given the strong widespread support from members and stakeholders, I have no doubt that this is the right move for ISPAL and for the wider sport and physical activity sector." While the formation of IMPSA is being seen by many as a grand coming together, scratching the surface of the merger reveals a less happy picture. Ten years ago, ILAM had a membership of over 6,000 industry professionals backed by a range of resources including an industry leading, and pre-internet, information centre. It also owned ‘The Grotto’/ILAM House, a substantial country house on the banks of the River Thames near Pangbourne, which it had inherited from an earlier parks and landscape management college. However, as of its formation, IMSPA will have a membership of just 2,000 and will be located in leased office space within Loughborough University's SportPark. In terms of membership decline, it would appear that as ISPAL moved towards the formation of IMSPA and sought to be more inclusive of sport management, so those members involved in the management of attractions, culture, events, parks, venues and tourism have felt disenfranchised and left. In addition, none of the former ILAM/ISPAL staff will be moving to the new body so there will be a large hole in the collective institutional knowledge of the new organisation. According to a leading UK leisure industry commentator “with regard to the aftermath of ILAM and the ISRM, it has gone about as badly as one might have feared. “The end result of years of work and arguably millions of pounds of expenditure (if one takes into account the sale of ILAM House and the fact that ILAM's closing account will show a few hundred grand in the bank) seems to be a re-titled ISRM with a new set of trustees and a slightly revised set of objectives. “While engaged on this process both organisations shed most of their members and, judging by the conversations I've had with people across the sector, almost all the goodwill of anyone who might have considered themselves a potential member of a new organisation. “Just as the current (UK) Government's decision to send the country into economic and financial meltdown signals the end of public services, the sport, leisure and culture sector in the UK has no coherent professional voice to state its case."
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.
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