News & Results
Youth Sport Forum 2020
To halt the ‘teenage tumble’ in participation, sports organisations across the country are committing to a fresh way of thinking. It’s all about keeping the fun in the game, creating balance and ensuring quality experiences for young people in sport.
In early 2020, Sport Bay of Plenty organised a Youth Sport Forum that brought together experts from across the country to share how coaches, parents, administrators and managers can help young people achieve balance and realise their potential in sport and life.
At the forum, over 95 coaches, parents, administrators and managers heard from author Leigh Ashton about how to avoid the talent trap, learnt more about the physiology of teenage athletes with high performance sports physiotherapist Jacinta Horan, and nutrition with Larissa Cuff, and discovered from community coaching advisor Trudi Kemp what the changing landscape in youth sport means for coaches in 2020 and beyond.
The forum was closely linked to Balance is Better – an evidence based philosophy that underpins Sport NZ’s overall approach to youth sport. The philosophy seeks to address three key problems:
- High performance behaviours are creeping into youth sport.
- There’s too much pressure on being the best and winning.
- Young people are being forced to specialise in one sport too soon.
The focus of the Balance is Better philosophy is on why young people play sport – to have fun, be challenged, develop and improve, be part of a team or group, and enjoy time with friends.
Hear more from Sport Bay of Plenty’s Dave Clarke and Trudi Kemp about the Youth Sport Forum:
