The country's hopes of finishing fourth in the medals table at the London 2012 Olympics could be undermined by a lack of professional coaching, a report published by a sports think tank revealed on Thursday.
The research, carried out by Loughborough University and chaired by former 1,500m world record holder Steve Cram, says the sporting legacy left by the Games could be in jeopardy unless 250,000 full and part-time coaches jobs are created.
While high-profile sports such as football are turning to foreign coaches at both national and club level, Cram believes the lack of home-grown coaches in all sports must be addressed.
"The report highlights that unless we can break the culture of 'gentleman amateurism' in UK sport, we will struggle to become best in the world," Cram said.
"As long as we continue to rely on an army of grass-roots volunteers, with no clear career progression for home-grown coaches, we will tend to look to superannuated foreign coaches to fill the top jobs in UK sport.
"If we don't act now to stem the endemic culture of volunteerism in UK sport, we may have already missed the coach for sporting success at London 2012."
Senior figures in 12 leading sports were interviewed for the report by the Sportnation think-tank which found that nearly 70 percent of sports coaches are volunteers.
It said athletics, the blue riband event of the Olympics, has as few as 12 salaried coaches.
Cram said there was too much reliance on "white, middle-class men who are giving up a bit of time" and it was vital to spread the net more widely.
"You need coaches who are from your background and who you identify with, because they are the people who enthuse you and give you a bit of vision and a dream," he told Reuters.
