London Sport’s Post

🥇 As we prepare to light the flame for #Paris2024, how can we ensure the games have a lasting impact on wellbeing? In our NEW #COGITO blog, Amy Heaton-Finch of Spirit of 2012 discusses how we can look to the #London2012 games for insight. Key Highlights: 📊 London 2012 left a strong impact on the UK, with poll results showing that 65% of the public still believe its effects are felt today. 🏟️ The regeneration of East London and iconic venues, like West Ham's stadium, stand as lasting physical reminders. 🌟 Spirit of 2012, with a £47m endowment, has funded over 200 projects, reaching 3.2 million people across the UK. 🤝 Emphasizing wellbeing, projects like Get Out Get Active (GOGA) show lasting benefits, with 61% of participants staying active 6 months later. Read below 👇

🏒🏓👟Engaging in sports and physical activity plays a vital role in young people and children’s lives, with recent data gathered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport showing that 52% of all young people have participated in sports clubs or fitness classes over the past year.  💪These experiences not only promote physical health but build confidence, teamwork, and resilience—key skills for personal growth.  Let’s continue to support and encourage accessible opportunities in sports to help young people thrive. 🌟 Read the executive summary here: here: https://lnkd.in/e44RueGw  Find out about how to involve young people: https://lnkd.in/euRP8W2v #SafeInSport #SafeguardingInSport #InvolvingYoungPeople #SportandActivity 

New data from Sport England shows that the annual social value of community sport and physical activity is £107.2 billion. Active children and young people (aged 11 to 16) generate a wellbeing value of £4,100 annually; for fairly active children, it’s £3,100. In 2023, we engaged 1503 young people for £3,100 per young person, for a total wellbeing value of £4.6 million. Help us to continue making a massive contribution to young people in London - https://lnkd.in/eRTGH6iA

🤔 Interesting article this morning… My take 👉 Sport has been replaced by active recreation and informal sport options, due to a number of factors led by cost (cost of living pressures and higher cost to participate), commitment (a want for less commitment and formality) and capacity (lack of facilities/services/products to serve new way people want to participate). But we still continue to prioritise delivering traditional sporting facilities. We’re then likely to be hit with a perceived surge in demand for sport facilities thanks to the Olympics. While intense, this will be short lived. We need to be cautious of the vocal “squeaky wheel” and plan for the long term support of participation in physical activity in the way society now prefers. As the article says “Governments need to find sustainable solutions to ensure all Australians can continue to participate…” key word being sustainable. https://lnkd.in/gBrPS6j7

Based on the research from Deutsche Sportjugend (dsj) im Deutschen Olympischen Sportbund 🇩🇪 : 🏃♂️ Young people who are more active in sport are less likely to suffer from worries, stress or fatigue; 🏄♀️ Sports club membership is associated with higher life satisfaction; 🏊♂️ Parents of inactive children see the lack of opportunities as a problem; 🏋♀️ Social inequality is a decisive factor for sporting engagement. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/dESkqQwS #youthsport #MOVEFORHEALTH

The Need for Youth Sports Facilities Youth sports play a pivotal role in shaping the physical, mental, and social well-being of our future generations. Beyond just the ability to play, they instill discipline, teamwork, and resilience—valuable life-skills. ⚫ Holistic Development: Youth sports foster physical, mental, and social growth, instilling discipline, teamwork, and resilience. 🏅 ⚫ Health Benefits: Facilities promote physical activity, combating obesity and encouraging lifelong fitness habits. 🏋️♂️ ⚫ Talent and Skills: High-quality facilities nurture athletic talent and skill development. ⚽️ ⚫ Social Interaction: Sports teach collaboration, communication, and leadership, fostering diverse and cohesive communities. 🌟 ⚫ Academic Success: Physical activity through sports enhances academic performance and focus. 📚 From Stacie Wells #YouthSports #Sportsbiz #LinkedInSports #Kids #Parents #Facilities https://lnkd.in/ggkSYEvc

Play is a right, not a privilege.   Today, on #WorldChildren’sDay, we’re reminded that sport and play are fundamental rights for children, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. But here in the UK, too many young people are being denied these rights – not because of lack of ambition, but because of systemic barriers like poverty, reduced access to facilities, and cuts to school budgets.   At Greenhouse Sports, we see firsthand what happens when children are given the chance to play. It’s not just about being active – it’s about so much more. Deliberate play, delivered by experts helps cognitive development, improves wellbeing, unlocks potential, and improves those vital skills required to succeed in life.   That’s why we’re standing with Sir Mo Farah, Youth Sport Trust and a coalition of British sporting icons calling on the Government for a new national plan to get kids moving: https://lnkd.in/efkqkayq Every child deserves a fair chance to succeed, and the opportunity to play is where it begins.

“The evidence is clear – multiple returns on investment can be achieved if we realise the benefits of sport and physical activity. As we enter another packed summer of sport and ahead of the General Election, the #TakeTheLead campaign is a timely opportunity to remind our politicians that, by committing to making the UK the most active nation in Europe, they will be committing to tackling health and societal inequalities in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. This is reflected in the Sport for Development Coalition’s #OpenGoal framework and being delivered everyday through over 400 organisations in our network.” - Hitesh Patel (CEO Sport for Development Coalition) Sport has the power to change lives and connect with communities that other sectors don't. Today, over 200 bodies from the sport, health, recreation and leisure sectors including our colleagues at Sport and Recreation Alliance, Youth Sport Trust, CIMSPA, and ukactive are calling on party leaders to commit to making the UK Europe's most active nation. The UK lags behind many of our European neighbours for activity among adults. Through #TakeTheLead we are calling on our political leaders to realise the opportunity the sector has to address mental and physical wellbeing challenges, and build more connected and inclusive communities.

Early sports specialization has become a hotly debated topic in many sports circles. The youth sports scene has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and while many improvements have been made, some changes have not been good for children. Check out this blog from the International Youth Conditioning Association to hear more about what I am referencing: https://bit.ly/4aKEpUp

A Need to Know MAT 07-29-2024 Edition 1.    BREAKING BOUNDARIES - With the 2024 Olympics, Paris joins London as the only cities to have hosted the Olympics three times. Paris previously hosted the Games in 1900 and 1924, making it 100 years since it last hosted. The Paris Games are the first in history to achieve a 50-50 gender split among participating athletes, with an estimated 10,500 athletes expected to compete. This year, “breaking” (a form of competitive breakdancing) makes its Olympic debut, with its addition being part of the IOC's efforts to make the Games more appealing to younger audiences and urban cultures. The Paris Games surfing competition will take place in Tahiti, approximately 15,000 kilometers from Paris, making it the furthest Olympic event ever held from its host city. [source: olympics.com] 2.    GUARDIAN GAMES - France has transformed its capital city into an open-air fortress, rolling out the largest peacetime security operation in the country’s history to protect its 10,000+ athletes and 15+ million visitors during the Olympic Games. France has mobilized 77,000 police, soldiers and security guards, nearly three times as many security personnel as the number deployed for the 2020 London Olympics. Even American police departments, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, have stepped up to help by lending some of its officers to France for security detail. [source: nytimes.com]   3.    HAVANA HARDSHIP - Between 2022 and 2023, about 10% (1,011,269) of Cuba’s 11 million population left the country due to economic hardship, political repression, and lack of basic necessities, reflecting a growing disillusionment, especially among young people. This is the biggest migration wave ever out of Cuba, both before and after its revolution in 1959, and the Cuban government has not taken any substantial steps to stop the mass exodus. Most of those who left ended up in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. [source: miamiherald.com] 4.    CELL BLOCKED - 72% of U.S. high school teachers report phone distraction (some say addiction) in classrooms as a major issue. In a trial in New York, some schools implemented daylong phone bans, initially facing student protests. However, the bans led to higher test scores, better grades, increased attendance at events, more classroom engagement, and more social interaction at lunch. NYC, the largest U.S. school district, may ban phones system-wide for its 1.1 million students across 1,800 campuses. Similar bans are set for January 2025 in Los Angeles Unified (429,000 students) and Virginia (1.2 million students). Some students have secretly expressed gratitude for the bans. [source: npr.org] Let me know if you want to know more.