The headline this morning is that 400,000 LESS people are participating in sport than a few years ago. Why? The answer is pretty simple – people have LESS time and LESS money. The hidden costs of the economic downturn are that families have had to make sacrifices to “balance the books” and keep their families together. Enjoying sport and the associated costs of membership, travelling and time spent away from the family have resulted in people giving up their sporting pastime.
The result is worrying – Less activity, Increased pressure and stress don’t bode well for the physical and mental well being of society. It’s creating a timebomb that could have a devastating impact on our futures unless we address it now. Understanding the frantic pace and stress of modern lifestyles is really important if we are to create sustainable sporting programmes for future generations.
The answer could be very simple – Make sport MORE accessible, MORE Affordable, MORE enjoyable and MORE of a family experience that can be played in a shorter time that complements modern lifestyles.
Finding these “windows of opportunity” in peoples hectic lifestyles is critical if we are to increase participation in sport.
Here’s a couple of final thoughts – What if our place of work was also our place where we enjoyed sport? What if we could cut our commuting time by thirty minutes a day?
Creating more time in peoples lives by doing things “smarter” could be the answer to increasing participation.
