Outgoing Army sport director 'proud' of service's sporting achievements

The outgoing director of the Army Sports Control Board, Major General Shaun Burley, has taken a look back on his seven years at the helm of British Army Sport.

Maj Gen Burley, who announced his retirement earlier this year, has been succeeded by Major General Darrell Amison, who took over as director earlier this month.

Speaking exclusively to Forces News, Maj Gen Burley reflected on his first days as director when, he says, the importance of sport had been "forgotten" within the Army.

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He said: "It was my view, certainly when I arrived, that because it has been so busy, a lot of the Army had forgotten how important was.

"Sport is required by our people, it is that competitive edge that they have all got that they wouldn't be in the Army if they haven't got it.

Maj Gen Burley sights the Army Sport Elite Programme as one of his proudest achievements. An initiative set up in 2014, the programme exists to identify Army athletes who have the potential to compete at the highest level in sport.

He said: "I am particularly proud and pleased with the elite programme and the way that has worked because we have got over 170 members of the Army who are representing their sport at national level, internationally, and that is something that is quite remarkable.

"With the partnership that we have established through that programme and one, in particular, the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme, we have people who are now training alongside those selected by the NGBs to be the best of the best in their sport and train for the Paris Olympics and the Los Angeles Olympics beyond that."

He also sights the rise of women's sports in the Army and getting grassroots sport in the Army up and running as "the top of the pyramid" of the things he is most proud of.

He said: "There has been a 15% increase across the board of unit-level participation and that is really what we are about.

"What we're about is trying to provide opportunities to have a go at a new sport for someone that has never seen it."

One of Maj Gen Burley's last duties as director was at the opening of a new Army Rowing boathouse, where he also had a scull boat named in his honour.

He added: "Rowing is a very good example, we have just opened a new boathouse with the idea of trying to get more people to have a go at rowing.  

"But we are offering all sorts of other varieties of spots and that is what I am really proud of and that is the work of the associations and unions.

"And then we have got the ability to take them from that beginning all the way up to the Olympics, if they are good enough, and I am particularly proud of that," he added.