Auckland Council welcomes sport and recreation youth survey findings
Auckland Council has welcomed the findings of the most comprehensive survey ever done into the place of sport and recreation in the lives of young New Zealanders.
Mayor Len Brown says the results confirm that young kiwis love their sport and this data gives the Auckland Council an important benchmark for future sport and recreation planning.
“Spending Saturday mornings on the court or sports field, going to practice after school or being part of a club is part of the fabric of growing up in New Zealand.
“The Auckland Council is committed to getting more young people fit, active and involved in recreation and sports and we welcome the direction that this research provides,” says Len Brown.
In 2011, over 17,000 students from schools around the country participated in Sport New Zealand’s Young People’s Survey. The aim was to better understand how, why and where kiwi kids get involved in sport and recreation. Results showed that seven out of 10 boys (72.6%) and six out of 10 girls (60.3%) said they like playing sport a lot.
“This research is particularly important to Auckland Council as it will enable us to support community sport more strategically and to get more children enjoying, and excelling, in sport and recreation,” says Lisa Tocker, Auckland Council’s manager of recreation facilities and service delivery.
“The Auckland Plan has a strong focus on and commitment to the importance of children and young people, and the Young People’s Survey will help shape this focus,” she says.
Ms Tocker says the research also ensures that council will be better informed to meet the Auckland Plan’s Chapter 5: Recreation and Sport’s targets that aim to boost and support young people’s participation.
Auckland students make up 5,000 of the 17,000 national respondents. A further 3,000 Auckland students were surveyed in a booster sample, to provide the base line for the Auckland Plan target. In total almost 200 Auckland schools (195) participated in the Young People’s Survey.
“Students took part from primary, intermediate and secondary schools all over Auckland. The scale of the survey allows us, for the first time, to explore how sport and recreation fits into the lives of boys and girls of different ages and backgrounds and to share this with our Local Boards and community,” says Ms Tocker.
“Our partnership with Sport NZ ensured the survey achieved an even more comprehensive insight into what Auckland’s young people like to participate in; and this will benefit a range of stakeholders from sector-led initiatives through to community-based activities,” she says.
Key findings of the national report included:
- Children still like to participate in the well-established sports such as football, rugby, netball, athletics, swimming and cycling
- Schools and clubs are important settings for sport and recreation
- Coaches and instructors play a role in developing young people’s sporting skills
- ‘Playful’ activity has a significant role
- Interest in trying (or doing more of) particular sports and recreation activities is strong
- Participation varies with age, gender, and ethnic background
- A lot of young people take on volunteer roles
- Time spent on sport and recreation varies for informal and organised sport.
Go to www.sportnz.org-nz/yps for the full Sport New Zealand survey report. An Auckland report will be available later this year.