Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 12 July 2016.
First Minister, I’d like to join with you in saying what wonderful news it was last week. Not only did our Welsh team do as well as they did, but they actually managed to turn someone like me, for whom, I can honestly say, football was of absolutely zero interest, into a passionate supporter. I could probably even talk about the offside rule if I tried hard enough. But I was very proud of them, and I was also incredibly proud of our fans and the way our fans behaved. Also, our footballers came across as real, decent, grounded human beings, and a real example to our young people. So, I come to the heart of my question, which is: will you have discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Education to talk about how we can up the hours and minutes that young people in primary school spend in sport? It’s actually been cut consistently, year on year. If we want to identify not just our football stars of the future, but also our sporting stars of the future, we need to start early, get them early, get them healthy and get them really used to the whole sports agenda. Instead, at the moment in primary schools that is becoming a dwindling time, and very difficult for rural children, especially those with no access to public transport, to access after school as well.