Engaging Channel 4 the ideal platform Britain's second tier sports

"Support a team that might actually win" is the sentence that concludes the opening titles for Channel 4's coverage of the 2017 Women's Euros prior to the clash between England and Scotland. Meanwhile, on More 4 the upbeat unofficial anthem for Paralympic sports 'Harder than you think' blares out before the cameras start rolling at the London Stadium for the World Para Athletics Championships.

These two opening sequences give you an idea of exactly how Channel 4 will go about broadcasting the proceedings of two events which will not exactly see the country grind to a halt. Minority and women's sports have recently gained ground in obtaining a small fraction of the media spotlight which just several sports in the UK dominate and although the BBC has recently done much good work in women's football and cricket the past week seems to have suggested that the less publicised sports have found a perfect home on Channel 4.

C4 has always prided itself on being different and genuine, never trying too hard to impress but always offering up a slice of something slightly different and it is in this environment that smaller sports should thrive. Coverage of Paralympic sports on the network is nothing new with C4 their home for the past five years since London 2012 and the network's treatment of the para athletics this week has continued in a similar vein to its presentation of the past half decade of the Weirs, Peacocks and Storeys of this world. A broad selection of pundits, interviewers, athletes and former athletes populate the presentation team, the vast majority of which will be new to the average viewer. There is no need to rely on familiar faces of sports broadcasting as we are stepping into their world. They're all experts and know exactly what's what in their field but importantly this is blended with a warmth and affection which other broadcasters simply wouldn't be able to pull off. The king of sports coverage remains the BBC but you get the impression that for all its panache and professionalism the corporation would almost seem to earnest. Under the direction of fresh faces who love, care and know about their sport combined with some personality which wouldn't quite fit with the BBC C4 has created an environment in which interest can flourish in sports which are made accessible not through simply knowing who's who but understanding the thoughts and hardships of athletes on a network which thrives on such honesty and personality. For example injured New Zealand sprinter guest presenter Liam Malone started mouthing off about how he was going to run faster than Bolt and how he would easily beat World Champion Jonnie Peacock whilst another guest presenter sprinter and long jumper Stef Reid was on the sofa during her husband Brent Lakatos' stormed to victory on the track. This was all very familial and friendly but was all part of the charm. The coverage for all my continued lack of understanding about race categories and who some athletes even were was all simultaneously slick, ragged and quirky but most of all enjoyable.

Crossing the Channel to the Netherlands this week saw the beginning of Euro 2017 with the crunch match between England and Scotland early in the tournament a suitable stage for C4 to set out its stall for women's football. Spearheaded by sporting chameleon Clare Balding the broadcast team had a more familiar look than their Paralympic counterparts drafting in he of many goals but questionable punditry talent Michael Owen, Match of the Day stalwart Steve Bower behind the commentator's mic along with Faye White and Eni Aluko. An air of familiarity may be more important for fans of men's football as a gateway into a game of which the they have little prior interest maybe than it is for para sports. The opening title sequence showed various fans and supporters getting behind their country whilst a Who's Who of the sport contributed to a well balanced combination of passion and behind the scenes knowledge. It wasn't all so different to the BBC's approach two years ago at the World Cup in Canada but the staging did seem to offer up a slight bit more genuine interest and care. The VTs were inciteful and slickly produced and the 45 minutes prior to the match flew by generating an atmosphere of excitement coupled with the personal knowledge of players and individuals which the substantial punditry team had to offer. On C4 - in much the same manner as their para athletics coverage has provided - the love and enthusiasm in the game really seems to come across. Amidst all of the slick coverage, getting to know the players and the teams with a cast visibly engaged in the sport is a real antidote to many commercialised forms of the modern game. Women's football isn't men's football so rather than selling it as the same package a more personalised and relaxed approach to coverage of it would be showing off the sport on its own terms emphasising players and sheer enjoyment to engage unconverted viewers to its ranks.

Personalities and showing the real people and athletes may be a better route to gaining increased popularity in sports which don't dominate the tabloids than the sheer force of being earnest and C4 seems the perfect platform to do this on. The two events this week seemed to have been a real source of pride for the network giving off an impression that they actually care about the sports giving them center stage rather. Rather than languishing as a secondary area of coverage with overly earnest presenters trying to be really serious about sports which we want to take seriously as could be the case on other networks C4 is be the ideal spot for development. If sports want traction, more participation, greater funding and excitement generated from the young then C4 with its unwillingness just to fit into the mould offers a route to smaller sports where they can show themselves off through a mix of affection, knowledge, personality and sheer enthusiasm. For the likes of basketball, handball, (dare I even say it water polo) and other less known Olympic sports which appear once every four years but are desperate for more players and a stimulus for funding Channel 4 may well be the place in the sun which they yearn for, not as a token section of the schedule but as an engaging cornerstone of its output.

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