Bringing sport back to schools offers value for all Tasmanians

THE sports editor of the Mercury, Brett Stubbs, recently wrote an article headlined “Schools key to footy rebuild” ( Mercury, November 26).

“Getting football back into schools will be one of the key objectives of the new Government-created Football Tasmania Board,” he wrote.

Why just footy? What about getting all sports back into our schools?

In the early 1980s the Education Department walked away from school sport and handed the accountability and responsibility for sport and physical activity to the community.

With the benefit of hindsight, this state government-led initiative was a poor decision with far- reaching and unintended consequences, including inequality of access to sport and poor health and wellbeing outcomes.

It is time for the State Government to reconsider its position on the role and value of sport in our schools.

But it is also time for the Government and for sport itself to reconsider their approach to sport in our suburbs and towns, and more broadly across Tasmania.

Compounding the consequences of the government’s decision a generation ago is the inability of sporting codes to find a way to work together and innovate.

The football and netball partnership in country Victoria is a great model with many community benefits.

However, in Tasmania, the many sports simply go about their business in isolation to each other, and the sharing of resources and the building of partnerships is not explored or encouraged by state or local government.

This working in isolation attitude is madness; especially given almost every sporting club at a community level has the same underlying problems, including: MANAGING the demands of club administration, in particular competition operations, marketing and communications. ATTRACTING, retaining and supporting volunteers. RECRUITING, developing and/or catering for participants. INVESTING in the training and development of coaches, key support staff and volunteers. ATTRACTING and servicing sponsors. GENERATING sufficient funds to develop facilities. DEVELOPING and resourcing future growth strategies.

Sport in Tasmania is swimming against the tide and the old ways will not continue to sustain it.

The majority of state sporting organisations (SSO) are governed and managed solely by volunteers and those that have resources generally devote their effort and energy towards high performance/ talent, because providing their most talented athletes with opportunities to represent their state and their country is both necessary, rewarding and actual core business.

Most SSOs would like more investment into their high performance/talent programs.

In the main, grassroots community clubs and district associations do most of the participation grunt-work and receive little, if any, funding from their SSO or government.

It is time for all three levels of government to use sport as a vehicle to add value to education and preventive health strategies, and it is time for sports to embrace a more meaningful community wellbeing role at a grassroots level.

Getting sport back into schools would be a wonderful and logical first step.

Sport and physical activity has the power to do so much, including help prevent or manage medical conditions; reduce anxiety, stress or depression; improve a person’s confidence and build selfesteem and resilience, bring people from diverse backgrounds together, stimulate civic pride and provide people with great enjoyment and opportunities to develop vibrant and lifelong social connections and networks.

An amazing opportunity exists for our education, preventive health and sport leaders to embrace the benefits of sport. So why won’t they? It is time for government departments to take the lead, come together and innovate; imagine if sectors such as education, health, community services, arts and sport all worked together to build connections and mutually beneficial partnerships, rather than continuing to work in isolation to one another?

Imagination, innovation and determination will result in progress.

Surely, a state the size of Tasmania is best placed to implement this kind of approach and realise its benefits.

Sport in schools would be a good starting point and with imagination and persistence Tasmania could become the benchmark for creating co-operation and interaction between the multiple levels of government, government departments, and community and industry sectors.

Don’t we all want to help build healthier and happier communities? Sachie Yasuda and former AFL Tasmania chief executive Scott Wade are sports and community wellbeing advocates.