How do you get kids to take up sport and lead more active lifestyles? Use role models and give them a greater variety of activities, suggests an article in yesterday’s Guardian. Newcastle United striker Michael Owen has been involved in the Youth Sport Trust’s Wellness Campaign, which encourages schools to provide innovative health and fitness activities for young people. This and similar campaigns are cropping up in response to last summer’s £100 million initiative from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide every child with 5 hours of sport per week.
It’s certainly a worthy initiative and professional sports clubs, given their strong role models and infrastructure, are in a great position to provide sporting opportunities for young people. Sue Campbell of the Youth Sport Trust sums it up when she says:
“All anyone can really do is make sure that parents and kids are aware of the importance of exercise and provide them with every opportunity to take the kind of exercise they like. We’ve got to do more at grassroots level in the community as it’s no good pouring time and money into school initiatives if they aren’t followed up; huge numbers of kids give up exercise when they leave school because there either aren’t the facilities available or they don’t know where to find them. There need to be much closer ties between schools and sports clubs.”