Growing Pains – How Can We Keep Our Young People in Sports?
by Mark Cooper (Sports Editor)
As I took a stroll through Cork City one evening last week, I wandered past the magnificent Mardyke Sports facilities set on the banks of the Lee. The floodlights wrestled with the darkness of the impending January night, but there was no absence of brightness under the darkening sky. Young people of all ages were being put through their paces by a group of experienced and enthusiastic coaches. Walking away from the track, I began to reminisce of my youthful sporting life in Killarney; The great mornings and evenings spent at football or athletics training in the summer, or playing basketball and soccer in the off-season. I realised that some of my greatest memories were at that formative age, when sport meant meeting (and making) your friends, having fun and being active. My mind began to wander as I thought of all my teammates and competitors of that time, the vast majority of whom no longer played any sport at all. A comprehensive 2013 report by the ESRI found that at age 10, over 90% of people are actively engaged in weekly organised exercise. By the age of 20, that figure falls to 29%. That drop of over 65% in participation is startling. I mean to illustrate the benefits of sporting participation, examine the reasons for such a dramatic fall-off in the teenage years and determine what can be done to improve participation into later life.
THE BENEFITS OF SPORT
Research has shown that both exercise and organised sports has a sizeable positive impact on a person’s life. From improved fitness to increased energy, the physical advantages of being active are well established. However, the social and mental benefits which arise from engaging with organised or team sports are what truly elevate sports from a simple past-time. Participation in team sports in particular, at any level, has been shown to increase social skills, social responsibility, empowerment and greater leadership qualities. According to a peer-reviewed US study, participation in at least one team sport compared to non-sport participation for young people was associated with 10% lower levels of anxiousness and 19% lower levels of depression. Those statistics are no joke, and as such there can be no denying the positive mental benefits of sporting participation.
On an academic level, participation in sports is directly correlated with an increase in scholastic performance. A 2013 report identified a marked increase in Leaving Certificate performance across both genders when the candidate plays sport at second level. Interestingly, the difference is significantly higher for female students, the very group who are most at risk for quitting sports altogether in their early teens.
Finally, the social benefits of sporting participation cannot be underestimated. At a formative age, engagement with one’s peers in situations outside of the classroom are invaluable for social development. Life-long friendships are formed through team-sports, as teammates form bonds in both training and competition. However, as young men and women reach their critical teenage years of development, where their social circles and friendships become even more important, many decide to fall away from sport completely. The question researchers have been determined to answer is; Why?
THE WHY
The premier issue which must be examined is why so many young people fall away from sports in the first place. In a report published in May 2022, Lars Espedalen’s extensive body of research in the USA identified six indicators for early departure from sport amongst under 18s. The main three may give us a helpful guide as to the issues which also exist in Ireland.
The third most popular reason is a perceived lack of skill or ability in the chosen sport. This was surprising, as one would have imagined different grade levels and divisions would have done enough to separate those of differing abilities. However, as Espedalen explains, as boys and girls enter their teens and find new interests, those who continue to play sport are generally those who are the most talented. Therefore, the average young enthusiastic sports person may feel inadequate compared to those who remain.
The second is a simple one; Their friends quit. A young person is far more impressionable than an adult, and as such their outlook on life is shaped by their peers. As they grow into their teens, the research proves that leaders within groups often decide that the commitment required for organised sports are less valuable than developing their social lives.
The most common reason why students leave their sporting lives behind is one which will resonate with almost every Irish person. Young people simply reach a point at which they decide to prioritise their education and grades. Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris in an Irish Times article stated that “Our country is obsessed with CAO points”. There is no doubt that as young people reach the Leaving Certificate age sport and exercise falls down their list of priorities. There is no doubt that the priority should be on academics at that pivotal time in a person’s life, but such a distinct lack of balance is a recipe for disaster.
Such journalists such as Damian Cullen have pointed to an over-competitive environment as a potential cliff edge in terms of waning participation by older teens. The Adolescent Girls Get Active Research conducted by Sport Ireland in 2021 likewise revealed that the biggest barrier to young women in sport was their self-labelling as “not sporty”. Their experiences of exercise are often limited to their exposure with team-based sports within structured educational environments (PE Classes). Dr Kate Kirby, head of performance psychology at the Irish Institute of Sport has determined that unique challenges faced by teenage girls are a deep desire to not seem unfeminine and a growing self-consciousness about their body image. Male sportspeople statistically do not have the same issues in the same numbers, and as such participate in sport at a much higher level into their late teens and early twenties.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
A 2018 report carried out by a collaboration of universities (including UCC’s own School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education) carried with it some shocking findings. When published last year, the report evaluated the participation of schoolchildren in sport across the island of Ireland. The recommendations from that report focused on a number of key pillars, including investing in coaches at all levels, improving access to sports for all genders, skill-levels and introducing more minor sports to attract those who would not be traditionally ‘sporty’. There is also a recommendation for mandatory minimum periods for weekly sporting participation in schools.
However, in this editor’s opinion the report largely ignores the true issues which are contributing to the fall in those who engage with sports as they enter their teenage years. As identified in this article the three primary issues resulting in drop-outs from sport are feelings of inadequacy, peers leaving sports and the prioritisation of the Leaving Certificate. None of these issues appear to be a priority for the government. As set out previously, Dr Kate Kirby has called for an Irish evaluation of why girls quit sport, as well as looking to those who continue to participate into adulthood to determine what works. The same applies to keeping young men active in sport into their twenties.
The minority can guide us here. We must look at why some young men and women choose to keep pushing through the barriers to sporting participation. Based on anecdotal evidence, there are always some sportspeople who are not the most talented or fit, but still choose to stay engaged with sport throughout their lives. These role models show that sport is about enjoyment, personal development and keeping a fit body and mind, not about competition or accolades. For the young athletes I saw running laps around the Sonia O’ Sullivan track at the Mardyke, they may not realise that their sporting lives will become more complex in the years to come. However, what will keep them involved in sport for the long run is a culture of enjoyment. When sport is enjoyable it doesn’t matter if you feel unskilled, or you have other priorities or if some of your friends stop playing. That is where the government’s priority should lie, on enjoyment, not on 60 minutes of mandatory physical education a week in schools.
Perhaps it is not Katie Taylor, David Clifford or Paul O’ Donovan who will lead Irish young people towards prolonged participation in sport. Just maybe, it might be the average young cross-country runner who trains to clear their head after a tough day at work. Perhaps it will be the middle-aged nurse who plays with her local ‘Mothers and Others’ GAA team on a Saturday. It could just as easily be the retired schoolteacher who swims in Kinsale on a Sunday morning. The point is, these types of sportspeople may be the very role models that attract our young people to the world of sport and keep them involved throughout their lives.
