4.1 National governing bodies GapFill

National governing bodies (NGBs) have various important roles in sport. Discussed below are some of the ways in which NGBs achieve each of these roles with sporting examples to support.

Some of the roles of NGBs in sport:

1. Promotion of participation

• Dispersion of information through media exposure – NGBs will often make official statements through their websites and social media channels. For example, this may be when announcing new  finescampaignspartnersslogans, such as World Rugby's 'Try and Stop Us', which aims to attract stakeholders in the women's game. 
•  RulesInstructionsLawsPolicies to increase participation – many, if not all, NGBs will have anti-  shamingviolenceviraldiscrimination systems in place which encourage members to be advocates of equal opportunities in sport.
• Schemes to increase the  benefitsrevenuescrutinypopularity of sports – this is particularly important for minority sports, which receive less coverage in the media. For example, UK Ultimate, the NGB of Ultimate Frisbee, offers schools five free discs when they sign up to the Schools Affiliation Scheme. 
• A lot of the funding distributed by NGBs is devoted to the construction and development of  facilitieshospitalityretailequipment. The LTA offers an interest-free loan from £25,000 to £250,000 for local clubs and centres to invest in indoor courts to promote tennis participation all year round.

2. Development of coaching and officiating

• Qualifications and  discountsawardsadvicemoney – it is important for NGBs to provide opportunities for progression in the range of roles offered by sports. For example, the FA provides both coaching and officiating courses which allow attendees to work towards various levels. In coaching, this starts at Level 1 and ends with the UEFA Pro Licence at Level 5.

3. Organisation of tournaments and competitions

• NGBs are responsible for organising tournaments,  leaguesprize moneytrainingscoreboards and competitions. For example, British Athletics organises the British Athletics Championships, which acts as trials for athlete selection for major competitions such as the Olympics.

4. Enforcement of rules

• Every NGB will provide guidelines to its member bodies on how to enforce rules and any  illegaleducationaldisciplinaryfire safety action that needs to be taken. For example, Basketball England states that someone dismissed by the referee should have no further involvement in the event and must completely vacate the grounds.

5. Ensuring  profitabilitysafetyperformancelongevity

• Rules in sport are constantly being reviewed in order to protect participants from injury in sport. For example, recent changes to the guidelines for Age Grade Rugby have brought the tackling height down from shoulder height to armpit level, in order to reduce the occurrence of head injuries in the game.