18 Ltd Present some highlights from the SPARC Stay and Play Research Project

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18 Ltd Present some highlights from the SPARC
Stay and Play Research Project Why is there a
trend of teenagers dropping out of sports
participation? and What can be done to make
them stay and play? Presented by Spencer
Willis General Manager 18 Ltd
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Focus groups with Youth aged 14 17
Online study of Youth aged 14 21 (277)

• Focus groups with
• parents
• Interviews with
• Coaches
• Interviews with
• teachers

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Sport - A Definition

• Sport is a formal and organised activity
• Sport is competitive
• Sports are games that have their own traditions,
  systems and structures (i.e. rules and
  regulations)
• Sport has official referees or judges overseeing
  the games or
• competition being played
• Sport can be played by either individuals or
  teams
• Activities like netball, swimming, cricket,
  soccer, rugby, golf, and
• competitive BMX riding are all sports in our
  definition
• Activities such as skateboarding, streetball
  and surfing are not
• sports unless they are played under organised
  and competitive
• conditions.

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Teenagers and Physical Activity Defined

• Active Kids are defined in our research as
  teenagers who are between 14-17 years of age who
  engage in 5 or more hours of sport in an average
  week
• Relatively Active Kids are those teenagers who
  participate in sporting activities for between
  2.5 5 hours in an average week
• Relatively Inactive Kids are defined in our
  research as those teens who engage in less than
  2.5 hours of sporting activity in an average
  week
• Sedentary Kids are those teenagers who have not
  participated in any sporting activities during
  the last few weeks.

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• Social and Biological Currency Motivating
  Factors
• The Kids focus groups revealed that sport has a
  number of key functions for
• teenagers aged 14 -17 which we have called
  Biological and Social Currency

Biological currency in sport operates at two
essential points Improved fitness allows
teenagers to benefit at the personal and physical
level which leads to the second point, the
potential to increase their confidence in other
important social settings.
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• Social and Biological Currency Motivating
  Factors
• Social Currency tells us that sport has a vital
  social function and should not be
• viewed as an activity that is only about winning
• Sport is an activity that lets kids hang out with
  friends and team mates, meet new people, and
  friends can take part by encouraging even if they
  arent playing in the game itself.
• Sport can promote inclusiveness - interest in and
  enthusiasm for sport can significantly increase
  if the competitive dimension is taken out and
  everyone has equal opportunities/access to
  sports-related activities.
• Being part of a team and interacting with others
  is important.
• With the right social ingredients kids can find
  happiness in sport.

These comments demonstrate how there is so much
more happening on and off the sports field.
Friends and participation in a sporting
environment ultimately has the power to enrich
teenagers social relationships and increase
their social abilities.
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• Social Power as Motivator
• Our teenage focus groups revealed how friends
  possess various forms of social
• power that are able to motivate them to play
  sport.
• There are two main types of Social Power that
  exist around friends and sport
• 1. Social currency
• 2. Encouragement and support
• There are those kids who only get involved in
  sports-based activities if a friend is
• taking part. Importantly however the social
  aspect of sport is not just confined to
• what happens on the field. Games themselves have
  significant social power which
• is evident in the way that friends will often
  turn up at fixtures to cheer mates on or
• text those playing to wish them luck.

Going out in a group after a game can further
extend the web of inclusivity that some kids will
create around their chosen sports. This activity
could be re-defined as the teenage equivalent of
the after-match function in the club house or bar.
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• Involved and Influencers Professional
  Motivators
• Professional Motivators is a category that
  recognises how the adults who take
• part in the organisation, facilitation and
  supervision of sports can either directly or
• indirectly encourage teenagers to play sport in a
  positive way
• Coaches encourage teenagers to get involved.
• Coaches and administrators respect kids (e.g.
  dont mistreat or hassle, are polite)
• Coaches support teenagers when they need help and
  teach them what they need to know to improve
  their game/ability.
• Good organisation of sports activities.
• Sports staff behave in a professional and fair
  manner.

Here coaches emerge as the central professional
motivator. Importantly they are able to provide
teenagers with confidence and specialist
knowledge about sport that no other involved or
influencer adults can pass on in quite the same
way.
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• Other Motivators
• In addition to Biological and Social Currency and
  Professional Motivators there are
• various other motivators that can inspire kids to
  participate in sport
• Having the option to play a wide range of sports
  is seen as extremely desirable.
• Not being forced to play traditional sports (e.g.
  rugby, netball) is another potential way to
  encourage sports participation.
• Teenagers want to be able to play anything
  regardless of ability level.
• The church was a motivator for the Pacific Island
  focus group who described how their local
  churches provided the facilities to play sports
  such as volleyball.

These other motivators should not be viewed as
random. Instead they illustrate how teenagers are
growing up during a time when choice, novelty and
in some cases tradition underpin everyday life
and consumer behaviour in contemporary NZ.
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• Sport What de-motivates teenagers?
• Real De-Motivators are key driving forces that
  either implicitly or directly push kids
• out of sport at the high school level
• Friends have dropped out.
• Too scared to play.
• Harassed or laughed at for not being good at
  sport.
• Doesnt like competition or find that sport is
  too hard or competitive.

When teenagers lack confidence, feel threatened
or alone, sport as an activity is undermined and
this can subsequently push kids with sporting
potential into the relatively inactive or
possibly even sedentary categories.
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• Sport What de-motivates teenagers?
• Excuse De-Motivators are those factors that can
  be seen as throwaway
• comments by teenagers about sport that are
  creating a psychological barrier to their
• participation
• Sport is no longer important any more and could
  drop it at school.
• Has more important things to do sport is too
  time-consuming!
• Sport sucks or is boring.
• Shopping or missing out on parties.

Although excuses like shopping or going to
parties can be central to the teenage experience,
some of the above comments look more like easy
ways to avoid active sports participation.
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• Sport What de-motivates teenagers?
• Professional De-motivators are those factors in
  the domain controlled by
• the adults in charge of running sports and
  training kids that throw up a barrier
• to teenagers sports participation
• Coaches being mean and rude to players.
• Being pushed or not having personal limitations
  recognised.
• Being forced to play sports they dont enjoy.

Earlier we saw how coaches can be positioned at
the centre of the school sports system.
Alternatively the above points reveal how coaches
can also have the adverse effect of pushing kids
away from sports participation via a mix of
old-school coaching behaviour and disregard for
their players.
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• Other De-Motivators
• Institutional De-Motivators (Homework, NCEA,
  studying)
• Financial De-Motivators (Part-time employment)
• Post-School De-Motivators (lack of adequate
  knowledge of where to play sport after leaving
  school)

The transition from high school to tertiary
education or the workforce is a grey or even risk
area that is potentially frustrating for many
older teenagers who may want to keep playing or
take up a sport for the first time.
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• Sport Social power as de-motivator
• We discovered a few different forms of peer
  pressure or negative opinions from
• classmates that can act as potential barriers to
  sports-related participation
• Some sports have negative connotations or stereo
  types attached to them that generate a stigma
  that kids who play that sport are too
  effeminate.
• Parties and relationships with the opposite sex
  starts to gain increased social currency around
  14 17.
• Not playing well in front of friends or peers can
  also undermine teenagers social status, not to
  mention damaging a teenagers confidence for
  future sports events.
• Peer pressure to get involved in anti-social or
  deviant activities such as drugs or gangsta
  culture can create barriers to sports
  participation that are extremely difficult to
  pull down once they are established.

While testing socially acceptable boundaries or
embracing positive or negative stereotypes is
another dimension of teenage evolution, the above
points suggest that the social power that
surrounds sport can erode teenagers interest in
sports activities.
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• Parental Power Positive Facilitation
• Parents can drive their children to games or
  training.
• Parents are able to offer support from sidelines
  (e.g. being there, cheering).
• Showing genuine interest in sports their children
  are playing.
• Parents (especially Mothers) often take part in
  club activities.
• Parents can encourage their kids to keep playing
  and not give up sports.

While men are often represented in the media as
being more active or interested in sport, some of
the teenagers who took part in the kids focus
groups acknowledged the central role that mothers
play in teenage sports.
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• Parental Power Parents as a barrier
• Parents may refuse to support their kids
  involvement in a sport due to their own loyalty
  or support of another sporting code.
• Parents sometimes fear dangerous play and
  injuries that their kids may face on the sports
  field.
• Time management/intervention to put childrens
  studies first.
• Parents sometimes say no to driving their
  teenagers to sporting fixtures.

It should be recognised that some parents are
simply not interested in sport. By not
experiencing some degree of enthusiasm for sport
in the domestic sphere, younger children might
miss out on developing an interest in sports.
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Kids Qualitative summary chart

• Sport is boring
• Sport too time consuming
• Sport no longer important

• Competitive nature
• Social dimension
• Lack of friends
• Parents / Coaches
• Post-school experiences

Can Influence

• Part time work
• Biological issues
• Homework/Study

• Going to parties
• Shopping
• Peer pressure

Cant Influence
Real Issues
Excuses
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• Quantitative study of 14 21 year olds Key
  Stats
• 55 of kids are sedentary
• 15 of kids are relatively inactive
• 15 of kids are relatively active
• 15 of kids are active
• 70 of kids who participate in sport drop out
  between 13 and 17
• 50 of kids dont do any sport
• 62 of kids who play sport indicate they highly
  likely to drop out of sport
• 72 play one hour of non competitive sport during
  summer - 65 in winter
• 39 play one hour of sport during summer - 45 in
  winter

The trend here suggests high activity of non
competitive sports throughout the year but
especially in summer and sport activity peaks
during the winter months.
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What do they do with their time Looking at the
main activities that are undertaken by at least
50 of the respondents in the space of a
week Five hours Downloading / Listening to
Music Five hours Hanging out with friends Five
hours Part time work Five hours Using the
internet Three hours Doing homework Three hours
Family time Two hours Playing Computer Games
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• Sport, whats popular.
• 50 of kids do no sport
• 50 of kids partake in team sport
• 33 of kids participate in an individual sport
• The four most popular sports were (in order)

This tells us that of the kids who do take part
in a sport around 2 thirds are involved in more
than one sport thus the drop out rate is not
necessarily about a particular sport but from
multiple sports and the sport category itself.
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Sport What motivates them? 1. Social /
Biological currency (Being fit / looking good) 2.
Fun and Interaction Things like competition,
winning and achievement accounted for nearly 50
of the responses when asked about motivators in
general but when it came to asking for THE key
motivator, these attributes were only mentioned
by 12
Does being competitive and winning sit
comfortably with the two key motivators of fun
and looking good? Probably, but there is a high
risk that the opposite can occur when losing or
making mistakes.
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Sport What de-motivates them

• De-Motivators
• Competition
• Unfair play
• Fitness
• Ability

• Motivators
• Social / Biological currency
• Fun / Interaction

The issues that de-motivate people are at
complete odds with the motivators, fitness and
ability effect social / biological currency where
as the competitive nature and unfair play can
take the fun out of sport at this age.
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Why do they give up? Here we asked for reasons
why people gave up sport and weve grouped them
together to simplify the responses
PHYSICAL
TIME /
3
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Numbers represent how many times as a percentage
of the total responses this was mentioned.
Motivator 1 48
5
18
29
7
5
14
39
12
FUN
SOCIAL
Motivator 2 - 65
Other significant reasons given for dropping out
that do not fit into these categories are coach
(7 of mentions) Parents (2) and most
importantly leaving High School (20)
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• Distractions Reasons or Excuses?
• 62 of kids are shallow or convertible from sport
  in other words, 62 of kids indicate they are
  in a position where they will stop playing sport.
• But
• 45 are ready to be converted from using the
  internet so much
• 49 are ready to be converted from shopping
• 52 are ready to be converted from doing nothing
• 64 are ready to be converted from play computer
  games

This suggests that activities such as playing
computer games, using the internet, shopping and
being idle are all excuses that we use to justify
lack of activity, the kids suggest they are more
than happy to drop the extent of these activities
for something else!
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Is sport cool? Hanging out with friends and
listening to music ranks as the coolest
activities. (86 say these activities are
becoming cool / pinnacle of cool) Non-competitive
sports come next with 69 However, sport is
ranked as being just as cool as going shopping,
using the internet and going to pubs and
bars. Interestingly, going shopping (24) and
Internet (17) carry the highest losing / lost it
perceptions amongst the top activities.
The idea of sport is cool or at least, appealing.
Other activities that we deem as reasons seem to
be no more than things I can do instead of but
not overly enthused about.
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Attributes / Association For sport the two
major attributes were Competitive (97) and
Something you do while at school
(79) Attributes least associated with sports
are Can do even if not talented(19) and Can
do whenever I want(16) Non-competitive sports
had a Can do at any age and Cool attributes
associated with them.
If sport was a brand, it would be totally
exclusive this image attribute is our biggest
challenge - Making sport appear inclusive.
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• Influences and dropping out
• We asked our respondents to provide the things
  that influence their
• participation in sport, in order of influence
• 1. Friends and social life
• 2. Success
• 3. Talent
• The drop factors were ranked as
• Social life becoming more important
• Losing interest / No fun
• Only the serious / best players play

As we have seen before, the story keeps coming
back to the motivators and de-motivators weve
isolated. I want to have fun, I want to be
social and I want to feel comfortable with my
physical self anything that puts that at risk,
Im out.
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Quantitative summary chart

• Doing nothing
• PlayStation
• Internet

• Competitive nature
• Perception
• Lack of fun
• Social

Can Influence

• Part-time work
• Biological issues
• Homework

• Hanging out
• Music

Cant Influence
Real Issues
Excuses
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Parents Some parents referred to the past where
there was total family involvement and not just a
taxi service, they talked about their parents
being involved in sport and it being more of a
family activity. Interestingly, parents talked
about how kids dont play anymore in terms of
playing outside and inventing games like Bullrush
etc because things like computer games, the
internet and TV are a distraction.
Is there a paradox at work here? Parents
reflecting to the good old days of Bullrush and
hanging out in the neighbourhood yet kids hanging
out playing in the street is socially seen as
negative and didnt we (adults) ban Bullrush!
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• Parents
• There seemed to be a sense of abdication of
  responsibility when parents talked about the
  level of sport in the context of the groups we
  ran.
• Parents looked to schools to provide the
  incentive and facilities for sport
• Parents blamed the schools for not supporting
  kids who are not in the top teams
• Parents referred to schools not supplying
  equipment during break time
• Parents believe coaches are the most
  influential when talking about participation
• Parents blame TV / PlayStation / Text culture
  etc for distracting kids.

Parents themselves refer to a time when sport was
a family activity and there was a healthy mix of
competitive sport and other physical activity
which suggests that parental influence is key yet
the shift today is towards blaming the system
and abdicating their own influence.
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The journey through academic studies The coaches
we spoke to alluded to a feeling that they felt
teachers did not encourage sport participation.
Coaches and parents also mentioned how the
visibility and accessibility to sport
participation became less the older the kids
got. The fact that sport is not compulsory in
some schools after intermediate combined with the
pressure that is placed on both the teacher and
the student to achieve successful grades at NCEA
level, means that both parents and teachers are
influencing kids to focus on their studies over
sport.
This pressure occurs at the same time we see huge
drop out rates 45 of kids that do drop out,
drop out between 15 and 17. The time to bridge
the gap between school and club is before 14.
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Adults summary chart

• Competitive nature
• Perception / Cool
• Lack of fun
• Social aspect for kids
• Social aspect for adults

Can Influence

• Parental buy in

• Part time work
• Biological issues
• Exams / Academia
• Time poor parents
• commitments

• Hanging out
• Internet
• TV
• Computer games
• Lazy

Cant Influence
Real Issues
Excuses
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• What is the common story from the kids?
• Hanging out with mates and listening to music
  are important factors that are both cool and they
  spend lots of time doing them
• Sport loses a lot of its appeal when it becomes
  too competitive (apart from active kids)
• Part time work is part of the later teens life,
  its necessary
• Anything that puts the social / biological
  currency rating at risk results in non-
• participation
• Homework and studies are not cool but take up a
  lot of time and are compulsory
• Sport is mostly done by people that are good at
  it
• The lack of compulsory sport as you get older is
  not necessarily a good thing
• Awareness of what and where they can participate
  in sport is lacking

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• What the adults and kids agree on
• Spending time with friends takes up time
  (hanging with friends)
• Sport can be too competitive
• Part-time work is part of the later teens life
  and part of growing up
• Biological or physical issues are a big problem
• Homework and studies are very important
• There is not enough focus on kids who are
  outside the top 15 (active)
• Awareness of what and where they can participate
  in sport is lacking
• Kids are active in summer with non-competitive
  sports

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• What the adults and kids disagreed on (or at
  least didnt say the same as)
• Adults blame TV / Internet / Computer Games etc,
  Kids say its lack of fun and too competitive
• Parents look at the schools and coaches for
  support, kids look to the parents for support
• The actual definition of sport
• Kids realise their own limits in terms of skill,
  some grown ups dont
• Kids see sport as potentially cool, adults dont
• Adults associate sport with , kids less so

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• Summarising the summary
• Real reasons we cant change or control
• Part-time work Kids and parents alike see this
  as an important part of growing up and learning
  to be self-sufficient and it gives the kids more
  freedom.
• Exams and studies Even for those that hate it,
  they have to spend huge amounts of time doing it.
  Going to Varsity is the norm not the exception
  and even sport stars need an education.
• Biological issues The body is changing, bones
  grow quicker than muscle thus coordination is
  affected. Guys and girls also grow differently
  and weight issues affect girls more than boys
  during the teenage years.
• Parents (1) Society today is very time poor and
  in a lot of cases, financial leveraging means
  money is a serious issue for most below the
  upper-class bracket sport costs money. To play
  kids soccer for a club in Auckland can cost 120
  per child in subs, plus the additional costs per
  week in travel and accessories never mind
  what a sport like hockey or rowing costs!

If we agree that we cant change these issues,
lets park them and move on
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• Summarising the summary
• Excuses we cant change or control
• Hanging out with friends This is an integral
  part of becoming an adult. Building and
  maintaining friendships during the teenage years
  can be defined as good or bad depending on how
  successful you are at maintaining a good social
  environment.
• Music Ever since the end of the Second World
  War teenagers have been defined by the music they
  listen to. Today is no different except that
  music is more available, there are more genres
  and in a lot of instances can be obtained for
  free.

If these activities make up a huge part of a
teenagers life and are too cool or important to
sacrifice for sport, we should then be embracing
them in our efforts to attract participation.
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• Summarising the summary
• Excuses we can influence
• Internet, Computer Games, TV, PlayStation etc
  Kids use these devices to some great extent,
  adults use these devices as an excuse for why
  kids dont take part in sport. There are two
  major reasons why these excuses work so well
  they dont put the kid in an environment where he
  or she can look silly and they can be both
  sociable and fun the two key motivators.
• Sport can be fun, it doesnt HAVE to be
  competitive, sell that message.
• Parents (2) Some parents are negative towards
  sport if they are not active themselves, parents
  are the biggest influencer on the kids lives
  lets get parents active and involved and shift
  the culture of its someone elses job to a
  culture of its my job.

Two key challenges come from this not accepting
the excuses and providing an alternative message
that triggers the motivators AND also gets
parents involved and active in their childrens
lives.
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• Summarising the summary
• Real reasons we can influence
• Sport is too competitive Overall this message
  has to be one of the biggest out takes of this
  study from both the kids and the adults. If we
  are to shift the of sedentary kids down and the
  relatively inactive / relatively active kids
  up then we need to demonstrate the fun and social
  aspect of sport and not just the winning and
  competing aspect of sport.
• Everyone knows that sport is good for you but the
  perception that sport is only for those that are
  good at it will mean our pool of 15 active kids
  wont get bigger providing resources and policy
  around the development of youth social leagues
  with a supporting ABL campaign maybe a possible
  strategy.
• Social aspects Social power is a central force
  in teenager's lives. If a kid is still playing
  but has no friends involved, there is an
  increased chance that they may drop out.
• Recognising the significance of social currency
  and the underlying need of teenagers to feel
  included is necessary.
• Just as important is the social or community
  aspect for parents the more they are involved in
  the sport or team the stronger the bond and
  influence with the sport and their kids
  participation.

These two reasons that we can influence prove
to be the most important in terms of making a
difference of bucking the trend. Spend time on
these two issues!