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Julie Adamson |
Each year the New Zealand Secondary School Sport Council collects and collates a census which details sport involvement rates at secondary schools all around the country.
In January, NZSSSC released the 2013 results which included a Bay of Plenty-specific breakdown.
While the census (like all research), is subject to limitations, it is currently our best source of information regarding the shifting landscape of secondary school sport.
A key measure captured within the census concerns the number of students involved in secondary school sport in the Bay of Plenty.
Last year, 9259 individuals represented their school in sport, up from 7787 in 2012.
Sport Bay of Plenty regional secondary school events director Julie Adamson believes this increase in involvement can be attributed primarily to Kiwisport investment, which has provided local schools with the impetus to run local competitions in non-traditional sports, such as boxfit, table tennis, self-defence classes, dance/hip-hop, archery and ki o rahi.
A secondary driver has been an increased focus by sport coordinators to run local interschool sports competitions, which help to overcome participation barriers such as high travel costs and entry fees, says Julie.
'Schools have been more proactive at making social sport fun, and by setting up opportunities that appeal to their students who are not in first teams.”
Despite this increase in participation between 2012 and 2013, the data suggests a continuing concern is a decrease in girls getting involved in secondary school sport after Year 10.
Julie, in collaboration with Sport Coordinators around the BOP, has taken steps to address this decline by establishing girls-only events.
In term four last year, Julie coordinated versions of this event in each of the BOP sub-regions, using sport providers from archery, bowls, Kiwitag (rugby League), speedminton (badminton) and Zumba.
Regarding the perceived barriers, Julie notes: 'some Girls are shy and feel intimidated when playing competitive sport, and many experience self consciousness about how they look”. 'Other girls love the chance to try a new sport without the need to commit too much.”
Perhaps the most significant trend emerging at a regional and national level is the growing divide between increased overall student participation rates and a reducing number of teachers involved in secondary school sport as coaches.
By contrast, to the increase of students (1472 from 2012-2013), the number of teachers coaching school sport in the Bay increased from just 314 in 2012, to 335 in 2013.
This illustrates the number one challenge in secondary school sport at a regional and national level; if students are becoming more involved and teachers are becoming less involved, then who is stepping in to fill the void? And what does this mean for the changing sports landscape?
For more information, visit www.sportbop.co.nz