Both in terms of access to types of sport and in terms of time allocation kids want more sports. That was the finding of a unique report commissioned by Sports Junction™ back in 2008. Now the charity is working to get it’s message across to all sports providers including schools, that their on-line facility provides a safe and secure environment which can put all sports providers in touch with kids and visa versa.

There is a huge range of sports potentially available but for a variety of reasons many clubs are underused and many after school sports sessions not well attended or the sports on offer restricted to those that attract high numbers.

Sport is extremely important to both physical and mental health, harnessing and developing potential, directing energy and improving fitness. But more than that, sport develops an understanding of how to work with other people, self-control, a sense of achievement and improves confidence.
Getting sports providers and kids together isn’t an easy task and in this Internet driven age it’s often on-line games that kids turn to engage themselves. Putting a sports facility on-line made sense to Sports junction and their development Gaining insight into what kids really want is the key and was the focus of a report commissioned by Sports Junction in 2008. The results showed that kids want more sports, simple as that. But researching this further confirmed to Sports Junction that the main reason for not engaging in more sport was given as limited or no access. 

How much sporting activity young people manage per week is of vital concern for reasons of both physical and mental health. Measuring this age group for the first time in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, the Sports Survey 2008 captured data from those aged 11 to 18 years.  The results of this formed the report commissioned by the Sports Junction™ Foundation, which showed encouragingly high levels of enthusiasm and involvement.

This extensive report and analysis supports the charity’s own beliefs that both under 16’s and over will take part in a variety of sports if given better and appropriate access to information and booking facilities and additionally allocated more time. The report funded by BT, match funded by Sports Match and supported by Buckinghamshire County Council and Bucks Sport, details data and analysis of a grass roots project run during July and August 2008.  A pilot survey carried out in schools in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes elicited the views of over 1400 young people from across the county, on their sporting interests and levels of activity. Following this a range of Olympic inspired sports Taster Sessions ran at no charge to the participants, including shooting, canoeing and TaeKwon-Do.

Headline data from the report shows 69% of young people undertaking at least 90 minutes of formal PE & Sport in lesson time each week, 45% undertaking a further hour of school sport outside of formal lessons, 53% undertaking at least 1 hour sports activity per week as part of a club and 58% undertaking a further hour of informal sports activity with their friends.

Motivation to participate in sporting activities is crucial and of those surveyed 61% said that they would like more free time [to be able to do so], 55% wanted people to go with, 35% said cost was an issue and 34% cited issues around facilities. 
Encouragingly 46% of young people surveyed were club members with the most popular club/organised sports being football, dance and swimming.

Unique to this project was the system it employed for data capture and it’s methodology for facilitating the booking of each Taster Session on-line. This not only allowed the target audience to access information and booking forms from anywhere with internet access, but also allowed the clubs, the parents and the children access to sports session information at the touch of a button and also prompted reminders by dedicated and branded emailing.

The statistics that this project and it’s resulting report have produced give very specific data not only about which sports this age group chooses to engage in but also what motivates them to do it, a prime element in the forward planning at local, county and national level for sports facilitation.

Funding for the research and report came from BT reflecting their longstanding commitment to releasing the potential of aspiring young athletes and to help them best develop their abilities. Mike Galvin, regional director for BT welcomed this motivational move and commented, “The value of this research and resulting report is far reaching, it shows specific elements that need addressing in the way that children and young adults can be motivated to engage in sports. Research targeted at how to engage increased numbers of children and young adults in this sector helps to create the legacy of an inspirational and motivational platform built and driven by a network of committed supporters”.

Commenting for Buckinghamshire’s county council, one of Sports Junctions prime supporters of the project, Ian Barham, Bucks Manager for the 2012 Games said “This survey provides a interesting insight into the current sports and activity participation patterns of young people across Buckinghamshire. It highlights that despite the many pressures placed on young people there remains a strong desire to participate and lead sporting activities in both formal and informal settings. I am sure the report will provide a useful tool for sports leaders to further increase participation amongst young people in the build up to London 2012”

Initial funding for this project was matched by Sports Match, speaking for them Ian Parr, Senior Grants Manager said of the report: “This is a valuable set of data and analysis, the report findings contribute essential information that can be used to usefully target the engagement of this age group”.

The report entitled Sports Survey Analysis Report 2008 can be downloaded from the Sports Junction website on registration at www.sportsjunction.org