ABSTRACT
It is by no means peculiar to sport development that huge amounts of time and effort are invested in the analysis and choice phases of the strategy process, only for the resulting document to gather dust on a shelf. However it has been a signifi cant issue for the profession over the three decades of what might be termed its ‘strategic awakening’. It may seem self-evident that “a good strategy is one that can be successfully implemented” (MacMillan and Tampoe 2000:188). So, in the light of so many strategic intentions failing to see the light of day (a classic example of which was the majority of the ten-year targets set out in England, the Sporting Nation (English Sports Council 1996)) this most optimistic of chapters, with its focus on getting things done, needs to be grounded in the reality of experience.
