“ While community sports are widely seen as an important source of influence in the development of today ’ s children and youth , Canadians are by no means sure this role is being fully realized , and that children and youth are benefiting as much as they could be . Fewer than one in five feel very confident that community sports are , in fact , promoting positive values and character building in children and youth as they feel it should be .”
An informal needs assessment of community sport development and delivery undertaken by Makadiff Sports begins to identify what needs to happen to ensure that community sport meets its potential to promote positive values and experiences , build character , enhance health and contribute to community building . Key concerns that merit attention , as we shift our mindset , are outlined below .
From top-down to grassroots development
• Sport participation is shrinking despite significant investment , whether the goal is to win gold medals or to combat childhood obesity . Meanwhile , international research is united in calling for attention to community sport development ( CSD ). That is , a movement away from “ top down ,” elite-focused models toward “ bottom up ” community-led sport that equips everyone to be active all life long .
• Local sport clubs too often tend to focus on elite athletes to the detriment of everyone else , even though those clubs are ideally situated to promote community-wide sport participation and physical activity .
• Sport development research strongly supports the growth of grassroots sport programs that use community development approaches to both benefit the community and increase sport participation .
• Highly localized and joined up networks are needed to ensure clear pathways into sport participation by coordinating activities across key sport , recreation , education , health and transportation agencies and authorities .
Involving our youngest
• Today ’ s overriding focus on competitive sports is at odds with the motivations driving many of our inactive young people — and , at odds with international evidence . Investment in “ sport for all ” ( in contrast with traditional “ elite sport ”) is linked not only with greater overall participation , but also with success in high performance sport .
• Sport development needs to engage youth in creating youth-focused public sport policy and community-based youth sport strategies and activites - rather than simply providing ‘ for ’ young people .
• We must engage youth at critical transition points , when participation drop-off rates are highest — including the vital transition from primary to secondary school .
• To truly create a “ sporting habit for life ” and ensure that our youth can confidently choose a variety of ways to be active through sport , our focus needs to embrace younger ages emphasizing physical literacy and offering diverse multi-sport experiences while de-emphasizing early sport specialization .
• More resources and effort must be dedicated to “ quality assurance ” initiatives that refocus community sport offerings ( especially for ages 4 to 12 ) so as to meet healthy child development objectives . Community sport needs to be fun and safe !
Building sector capacity
• The emergence of new sports , coupled with the rapid growth of a diverse immigrant population , increases the demand for alternative approaches to sport at the community and provincial levels .
• Few , if any , Alberta communities have integrated community sport development strategies or plans . It ’ s time to make sure every community has a clear roadmap that reflects local sporting needs , conditions and aspirations .
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