By Anna Walker
28.6.24
This week, the World Health Organisation highlighted a staggering statistic: 1.8 billion adults are at risk of disease due to insufficient physical activity. This alarming figure begs the question: what is the relevance of organised sport in this conversation, and how can it help combat this growing health crisis?
We all have a social, ethical, and economic imperative to ensure global sport and physical activity rates do not continue to decline. The Australian Sport Commission’s 'Play Well' strategy points out, "The sport landscape is largely inflexible, and its traditional structures increasingly do not meet the expectations of today’s society." This raises a critical question: can sport undergo the necessary reforms to shift from a sport-led to a human or population-led approach? Or must we urgently explore additional or alternative sport and physical activity support models to address these challenges? Let’s dive a little deeper.
In sporting circles, a strong participation base is often cited as a crucial enabler of a robust performance pool. But does this relationship work in reverse? For years, we've assumed that performance success boosts participation, with athletes and events 'inspiring' our youth to strive for excellence. However, a plethora of recent research suggests otherwise. Strategies aimed at enhancing performance, such as early talent identification and specialisation, are not only counterproductive when imposed on the young but are also contributing to an increasing dropout rate among children and teens. These young individuals repeatedly tell us they just want to play for fun with their friends, a sentiment I see daily in my community. But by and large, traditional sporting systems, led by National Sports Organisations (NSOs) through State, regional organisations and clubs, haven't yet made the fundamental shifts necessary to meet these very vocal requests- and children continue to vote with their feet. All major Australian participation tracking studies, including Ausplay and PASI, show notable declines in organised sports’ participation levels amongst teens and adolescents.
As the global impacts of declining physical activity levels become increasingly evident, surely we must explore alternative systems and models to enhance the role and relevance of sport in meeting the challenge of physical inactivity. So, what organisations or structures are successfully making a difference?
NGO-led approach
My recent contract with UN Women Asia and the Pacific has reinforced the remarkable work that can be achieved when we view sport through an alternative lens — as a tool for addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The grassroots initiatives I had the privilege of learning from were mostly organised independently of traditional sports systems. They were led by charitable foundations, passionate individuals, and NGOs striving to advance the SDGs. In the realm of gender equity I often play in, these programs come to life not because individuals dream of Olympic glory (though that is a bonus for the few talented enough), but because sport offers a safe haven, a protected space. To them, sport is empowering. It enhances wellbeing and develops crucial soft skills such as resilience, teamwork, and communication. It connects women and girls, fostering new support networks that can become their lifeblood in the absence of workplaces or stable homes. Crucially, it also provides an attractive foundation upon which game changers can deliver educational workshops, develop life skills, and apply strategies to counteract some of the world’s most egregious human rights violations. In other words, they make themselves invaluable to their participants, taking sport from a 'nice to have' activity to one that's central to their lives, growth and survival.
Sport and social development sector collaborations
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) Olympism365 strategy aims to enhance impactful collaboration between the sports movement, the social development sector, and for-purpose businesses to strengthen sport as an important enabler for the SDGs. The leadership shown by UN Women in positioning itself within the sport for development realm, in partnership with the IOC, suggests there is a global will and opportunity for greater collaboration between sport and the social sector. Sport, at all levels, can embrace this too.
The TeamUp program, funded by DFAT, is an example of what can be achieved when Australian-based National Sports Organisations (NSOs) work through regional partnerships with NGOs and sports organisations across the Pacific to tackle some of the region’s most pressing social issues, through sport. The program’s key agenda items include gender equality, disability inclusion and leadership development.
Place-based models
Other noteworthy examples of system-led disruption to traditional sporting models include the United Kingdom’s Active Partnerships and New Zealand’s Regional Sports Trusts networks. Victoria’s Regional Sports Assembly network is another example of a more localised exploration of this model. These models lead from a place-based approach, designing participation experiences based on human, social, and community needs. Having worked in or alongside all three of these systems, I can certainly attest to the potential I feel deserves greater exploration in a wider Australian context.
In some enlightened examples across these networks, these models prove their ability to strip competition out of grassroots sport delivery. In a world where National Sports Organisations (NSOs) often declare, “get them young or lose them,” fighting tooth and nail for young participants they later prove unable to retain, these models have the potential to provide a refreshing alternative. They can allow children to develop a broad spectrum of physical literacy skills through exposure to multiple sports without the pressure of specialisation or choosing between overlapping seasons or timetables. These models can also reduce the duplicated efforts burdening resource-poor sports organisations and their volunteers that are otherwise delivered in silos. They can also facilitate sport delivery in regions traditional sports structures cannot reach. In designing plans and programs with community needs at the heart, they are well-positioned (and commonly known for) their impact on engaging underrepresented groups in sports and physical activity initiatives and supporting wider inclusion efforts.
Summary
As under-resourced sports organisations and traditional sports systems are asked to do more with less resources, and with their arguably conflicting mandates of delivering high-performance outcomes while growing the participation base, should we look to alternative models to address some of community sport’s and society’s most pressing challenges? Is sport capable of opening its doors to genuine collaboration with new players so that it may meet these challenges head-on? If the past decade’s participation declines have taught us one thing, it is that if they are is to retain and grow relevance to these agendas, sports organisations must recognise the potential for greater impact through partnerships and/or new operating models.
Personally, I look forward to—and hope for the day—when the ‘sport development’ mantra is a thing of the past, replaced by 'people development' or 'community development, through sport.' For what is the purpose of developing a sporting product if it does not serve the needs of the population? Until then, I hope more people in my network will join me in thinking broadly and strategising about how we can ensure our population continues to thrive through sport and physical activity.
If you are a sports leader and would like to learn more about adopting a more human-centered approach to sports participation growth, you can read more here.
If you would like to understand how you can grow your sport’s participation base and social impact, reach out to me today.
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