Active Voice with Cameron Andrews Youth Engagement Advisor (Tauranga)

Have you ever had negative thoughts racing through your mind to the extent these thoughts become more and more intense, and lead to other negative thoughts?

What about feeling as if there is a heavy weight on your chest and you may break into a sweat at any moment? Or experiencing near-constant muscle tension, and you find yourself wringing your hands or balling fists, clenching your jaw, suffering from a stiff neck or a sore back?

If you have experienced any of these symptoms, more than you think you should have, you may have a condition called anxiety.

The youth that attend the Sport Bay of Plenty Youth Engagement Programme know these symptoms all too well.

The Youth Engagement Programme uses sport and recreation to empower youth in the Bay of Plenty. We do this by increasing participation in sport for young adults not just as athletes but as a volunteer coach, manager or being an essential volunteer in a sporting club.

Youth's Fun Day at McLaren Falls

When it comes to anxiety, our first step is to try to get to the root of what may be causing the issue. Once this has been established, we try to help the youth find coping strategies for their anxiety, to help them manage the symptoms, and find strategies so they can deal with day-to-day activities

One way in which we do this is by putting them in situations where they have to use their coping strategies, to be able to complete a certain task or activity – usually through physical activity, or through assisting at sporting events.

A big part of the programme is volunteering in the community and helping out at a number of primary, intermediate and secondary school sporting events.

We also run and organise our own events, such as Fun Day Out at McLaren Falls Park, a day designed for Toi Ohomai's international students who are part of a programme called New Zealand Certificate in English Language. The majority of these students are residents looking to improve their English in order to better engage with the community.

Our youth were given the responsibility to plan and run the day. They had to decide what activities to do, so they decided to split the group into two smaller, more manageable groups. One group completed an orientation-type activity around the park, while the other group completed a series of fun and energising team-building games.

To say the least the youth did exceptionally well. They faced their fears, and learnt a lot about event planning and management – as well as learning a lot about themselves and how confident they can be.