Making sport a lifelong commitment
- Published: 08 December 2008
Source : Irish Times
Tue, Dec 09, 2008
The falling levels of sport participation need to be reversed, writes Giles Warrington
LAST WEEK we looked at the principle of Long Term Player Athlete Development (LTPAD) as a model for the effective nurturing of our young talented athletes.
One of the main criticisms of the model is that it is often perceived as being very elitist and catering for only the gifted few.
Based on this premise, the need for a wider, more inclusive strategy for mass participation in sport and exercise in Ireland is required. Such initiatives should focus on promoting and encouraging individuals to engage in a long-term involvement in physical activity which caters for recreational and lifelong participation in sport.
Irish data suggests that there are falling rates of physical activity across the population leading to higher rates of obesity and other health-related problems. In particular, the level of drop off in participation rates is most striking among females from about 14-15 years onwards.
School physical education programmes, community-based sports activities, and family-centred activities and sport recreational programmes all have the potential to promote greater participation, particularly among adolescents.
Critical to any physical activity and sports participation strategy, therefore, is the creation of a positive environment that enables participants to achieve their optimum potential.
By developing fundamental movement skills as well as creating a positive attitude to sport and physical activity during the informative years, people are more likely to maintain a lifelong involvement in it.
With this in mind the Irish Sports Council in conjunction with Coaching Ireland has developed a broader model of Lifelong Involvement in Sport and Physical Activity (LISPA) which encompasses all levels of participation and can be adapted to individual needs.
The addition of a Long-Term Recreation (LTR) pathway is designed to encourage people, if they choose to, to stay involved in physical activity and recreational sport throughout their lifespan.
According to the LISPA model, a number of opportunities have been identified as being critical to a lifelong involvement in physical activity and sport. These include:
• Active living:A way of life that values physical activity as an essential part of living, characterised by the integration of physical activity into daily routines, eg walking whenever you can, cycling to work and gardening, etc.
• Active recreation: The use of leisure time for activities that require moderate energy expenditure and produce health and/or social benefits usually performed in a non-competitive setting, eg going to the gym, walking, jogging, swimming, social soccer/tag rugby, etc.
• Organised sport: Participation in sports that have a significant element of planned and purposeful physical activity with competitive goals. Organised sports participation involves competing at all levels including local, club, county, provincial and national levels, eg local leagues in basketball, county championships in hurling, regional competitions in swimming.
• High performance: Long-term commitment to training and competing at the highest standard in the pursuit of excellence at national and international levels.
The long-term recreational pathway therefore focuses on accommodating those individuals who choose to stay involved in sport at a recreational level and results in participants pursuing active living, active recreation and elements of organised sport opportunities.
Of particular note is that the recreational and performance pathways are not mutually exclusive and individuals may choose to move between pathways depending on personal circumstances or stage of the life-cycle they are in.
A copy of the LISPA document can be downloaded from the Coaching Ireland website, www.coachingireland.com.
• Dr Giles Warrington is a sport and exercise physiologist and lecturer in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU
© 2008 The Irish Times
