Helping children to embrace sports
Childhood obesity is on the rise in the EU, due in part to a lack of physical activity. As increasing participation in sports may be one solution to address the issue, it is very important how sports coaches motivate and empower the young generation to take up sporting activities. The EU-funded project PAPA developed a new strategy to achieve this aim. Designing the Empowering Coaching™ programme to help coaches motivate and engage the youth in sports, the project team sought to make physical activity more enjoyable. It worked with 46 expert coaches and 846 coaches through 87 workshops to potentially impact over 8 000 children in England, France, Greece, Norway and Spain. Football was then chosen as the common sport for the field study that was planned in the different countries. To achieve its aims, the project documented good practices and research worldwide related to sports and motivation among children. It examined the feasibility and effectiveness of the Empowering Coaching™ programme, considering as well the mental and emotional well-being of players. The project team then disseminated the principles of adaptive coaching to coaches and other stakeholders, targeting politicians and sports governing bodies as well. The coaches received the new programme positively and field workshops demonstrated success in lowering drop-out rates among children. Particularly, the programme showed promise in grassroots sports — i.e. amateur participation in sport at lower levels with a 'sport for all' mentality, favouring enjoyment rather than competitiveness. A new business plan to launch a European-wide social enterprise, Empowering Coaching™, has emerged from the project in association with the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. If this ambitious drive takes off and spreads to the rest of Europe, our children may become fitter, healthier and happier.
Keywords
Sports, coaching, children, health, well-being, childhood obesity, physical activity, sports coaches, Empowering Coaching, grassroots sports, sport for all
