The Isle of Wight's Sports Development unit is committed to increasing quality sporting opportunities on the Island. To this end, it has recently hosted its second club conference which included presentations on child protection, funding opportunities and Clare MacLeod's update on Clubmark.

Over 20 sports were represented with over 50 clubs attending. The conference plays a part in developing the island legacy of both the 2011 Natwest Island Games and, of course, the London Olympics.

Part of this Legacy offer is the development and quality assurance of local sports clubs. At the moment the Island has 17 clubs either accredited or working towards Clubmark. The sports development unit has set itself a target of 8 newly accredited clubs per year between now and 2013 so that it has strong and committed club base to attract and retain new members. It also plans to raise the profile of accredited clubs in the future by highlighting them clearly in its sports club directory, unit website and school club links networks. Plans are also taking shape to have clubs promote positive case studies at next year's club development conference.

A further commitment by the local authority involves the support and development of local talented and gifted young sports people. The sports development unit assesses the physical literacy of every child in year 4.

The top 60 children from across the Island are invited to join the new Sports Development academy where they receive a high quality programme of activities (multi skill), plus a range of sports specific activities from high level sports coaches.

These sessions are run by or linked to clubs which have an accreditation award to ensure quality standards. Each child involved in the scheme is provided with club information, linking closely to the work of the School Sport Partnerships.

Lee Matthews, Community Leisure Development Manager on the Isle of Wight said of the scheme " the link between the physical literacy testing in year 4, the multi skills camps and the development of high quality clubs, via Clubmark, on the island is a sporting pathway success story, which we intend to build on in future years."