GOOD SPORTS

Good Sports® is a behaviour change initiative aiming to create positive sporting experiences for children by educating and supporting the key adult influencers in youth sport - in particular, parents and whanau.

Good Sports® Promo Launch from Aktive on Vimeo.

It is widely accepted that parents are an important influencer of young people in multiple aspects of their lives, and this includes the critical role they play in young people’s participation in sport. We also know that the influencing role of parents changes as young people grow, mature and as a young person's needs change.

Research from New Zealand indicates that there has been a gradual decline in the number of children and young people participating in organised sport opportunities over the past decade. There are a number of different factors that may be contributing to this decline, one of which is that many of today’s sport experiences are no longer meeting children’s needs as effectively as they could.

Importantly, adults in their various roles (parents, coaches, teachers and sport administrators) are critical for enabling sport experiences which meet the needs of children and young people. Unfortunately, research indicates that (even despite the best of intent at times) adults can inhibit children from having great sport experiences.

The following examples of challenges in contemporary youth sport illustrates how pivotal parents and whanau are to young people having good or bad experiences:

The poaching of players and construction of ‘super teams’
Rigid movement patterns and limited opportunities for children to develop a breadth of functional skills
Adults berating officials and kids from the sidelines, some leading to violence
Families starting year-round training earlier in hopes of reaching elite status
Clubs and organisations holding close to traditional, but outdated models, of competition that no longer serve the needs of young people
Adults demonstrating overly competitive behaviours and an emphasis on winning putting unnecessary pressure on young people.

We know that this isn’t the case for everyone. There are many examples of adults who focus on creating quality experiences.

Unfortunately, problems such as those mentioned above prevail enough for a collective call to arms to address these issues. Sport Bay of Plenty, clubs and regional sporting organisations want to put an end to the behaviours that spoil sport for young people.

So come on guys, let's get together and spread the Good Sports message.