News broke last week that the Government is to merge UK Sport and Sport England in order to streamline the running of sport in this country.

I believe such a merger is not only welcome but long overdue. That said it is with cautious optimism that I welcome the announcement for the new structure will be meaningless without the right strategy in place.

What the proposed streamlined structure does is to align the way sport is managed in this country in a way the current model does not.

The development of sport from the very bottom of the grass roots to the very top of the podium should be a continuum, an unbroken chain. Indeed, there is something called "the Sports Development Continuum" which has been overlooked by Government and its Quangos for too long.

The Sports Development Continuum provides a simple model to ensure sport is catered for at all ages, stages and abilities and although only four words long (Foundation, Participation, Performance and Excellence) serviced properly, it covers all elements required in a way that lumping great aspirations together and hoping they find linkage does not.

Under the previous Government, we have seen little understanding of this basic principle as sport has been "lumped" into either "elite" or "mass participation" or "school sport". No flow, no continuum.

This has, in part, been due to the fractured administration of sport where UK Sport looks after their "lump", Sport England theirs and the Youth Sport Trust theirs. Although each has their "strategy", this is horizontal integration of strategy where vertical integration is clearly called for.

That vertical integration of strategy will be further aided when other Government departments, who have a stake in sport, such as Education and Health, find they only need to communicate with one body when coordinating plans. Revolutionary thinking I know, but I did say cautious optimism and I am typing with my fingers crossed!

In bringing the different bodies together care and consideration will be needed to ensure that where there has been good work it is continued and ultimately improved upon while the lower quality delivery all too often seen in many areas must not be mistaken for being better than it is.

UK Sport, for example, have overseen a rise in excellence in elite sport in this country the envy of much of the world although behind the headlines there are sports which have struggled to keep pace and medal counts have been boosted by a small group of overachieving sports rather than higher levels across all (or at least the majority).

Delivery of excellence can only be maintained and improved if the supply route bringing talent through foundation, participation and performance is strong; you cannot plan one part of the continuum without consideration for the rest.

Below national level there will undoubtedly be a rush to restructure before any new unified, Sports Development Continuum based strategy is in place. Such restructuring must be avoided until the demands of strategy are known for, as I have said before in this blog, structure should be strategy’s servant, not its master; a mistake from the past which must not be repeated.

A further benefit to sport which I am sure the Minister has considered, and much of grass roots sport will applaud, will be the reduction in waste as, theoretically at least, more money finds its way to sport rather than to its (currently) overpopulated administration.

So; cautious optimism from this corner but, as ever, the real devil will be in the detail.

Jim Cowan is a former athlete, coach, event organiser and sports development specialist who is the founder of Cowan Global, a company specialising in consultancy, events and education and training. For more details click here