Kids get their Games on

Elite sports event should inspire children to be active

THE Gold Coast is set to experience a golden age of elite athletes with children inspired by the coming Commonwealth Games expected to embrace sport like never before.

Speaking at the Our Sporting Future ( OSF) conference at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australian Sports Commission (ASC) chief executive Simon Hollingsworth said the Games could be the catalyst to encourage more young people to get active.

“To be able to see world class, international sport on their doorstep is going to no doubt inspire a generation of Australians not unlike the 1982 Commonwealth Games all those years ago in Brisbane,” Mr Hollingsworth (pictured) said.

“I don’t think you can overestimate just how important the Commonwealth Games will be for the Gold Coast.”

Data collected by the ASC and the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the wake of the Sydney 2000 Olympics supports the hypothesis.

While only a “moderate” number of adults flocked to the field or the pool, when they measured how many children joined in outside school hours sports over the three years following the event it showed 10 Olympic sports enjoyed increased participation levels.

Increased sporting partici- pation among youth was also a key theme identified by the Queensland government in putting together the Embracing Our Games Legacy report.

Guest speaker at the OSF conference was former Australian test cricket captain Michael Clarke.

He said he was impressed by the Commonwealth Games sporting infrastructure already in use at the Gold Coast. “I think we’re very lucky in this country we’ve got beautiful weather and great facilities,” Mr Clarke said.

“You travel to different parts of the world and you can’t find a park to go for a run in or take your dog for a walk in let alone what we have all around Australia and especially here at the Gold Coast.”

The conference, which began on Wednesday and ends today, was attended by 420 delegates from across the country including representatives from grassroots clubs right through to peak industry bodies.

Guest speakers addressed topics ranging from child safety through to how to embrace technology to drive more people back to sport.