MAJOR EVENT LEGACIES
Role models such as Rebecca Adlington can inspire
children to get more active
the Legacy Games. Her role is to attend the events, hang out with the kids, have photos taken and sign autographs. “What I love about the Legacy Games is that they are playing and doing all different sorts of activities. More programmes need to be aimed at making sport and activities available to everyone,” she says. The Legacy Games are devised and
delivered by Fit for Sport and Everyone Active, and have been awarded the Cabinet Office’s Inspired by 2012 mark. The aim is to get 500,000 under-16s active. “Let’s not forget that 2012 was very much a spectator year. What we need to do next is move away from watching sport, towards doing sport,” says Duncan Jefford, south east regional director of Everyone Active. “We need to engage youngsters at an early age to show them that sport and activity is fun and rewarding.” The Legacy Games works with councils and schools to get primary school children to take part in a day of community sport, which is free to schools. The children work in groups to learn new skills and activities and the day ends with a series of races. So that the impact can be sustained,
the teachers also learn new ways to work with children to help continue an inspiring programme of activity back at school. Participating children are also encouraged to return to the centre with their parents to try a new sport or activity. “I’m proud because the uptake is
high, the impact is measurable and the 62
atmosphere of each event is energising and inspiring. The postivity literally radiates off the kids and even our more sceptical guests soon accept the concept works,” says Jefford. “The halo effect and continued participation of kids at our centres as well as the feedback we get from schools about the success of their updated PE programmes tells me this is working.”
GAMESMAKERS There are a few organisational issues for targeting this demographic: safeguarding and health and safety being the main ones.
TOP TIPS FOR RUNNING KIDS EVENTS
■ Run a children’s event as an add-on to adult events.
■ Enlist the help of volunteers to meet high health and safety regulations.
■ Make it a fun and positive experience. ■ Make it easy for families to treat it
as a day out: offer refreshments, ice creams, maybe even a bouncy castle.
■ Schools offer a proven and receptive marketing channel. You might even pick up some teachers for adult events.
■ Offer some taster sessions for free. ■ Offer children some token for taking part to make them feel a winner.
■ Make sure a progression pathway is offered.
Most organisers continue to invoke the Gamesmaker spirit of the Olympics by enlisting the help of many volunteers to make sure the events meet the high level of health and safety requirements. As well as achieving the primary aim of getting kids active, there are a number of knock-on benefits of organising events for children. The Mini Triathlon Series has increased participation in competitive sport at Tempus Leisure centres, helped increase leisure centre throughput, and led to further uptake in coaching sessions such as swimming classes. Across the first three boroughs which
ran Legacy Games in 2013, Everyone Active saw an increase of 17 per cent in children’s activities. Following the sports days and Fit for Sport, local camps saw an average increase in participation of 30 per cent. The programme has also boosted participation rates within junior sports clubs and programmes in the boroughs. Children competing tends to make the
day into a family outing, which has boosted secondary spend at Tempus Leisure’s catering outlets. Samuels says the event has also helped with the kudos of the brand, explaining: “Among the triathlon community, Tempus Leisure is now viewed as an organisation which is prepared to invest in youth development.” As the Jesuit saying goes: “Give me the child, and I will mould the man.” This is true of sport. If the exercise habits and skills are learned young, they stay for life. l
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 3 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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