Organized sport in the modern era
Six out of ten young people leave organized sports during adolescence, and young people from lower social classes leave first, new analyzes by Ungdata show. At the same time, the young men did not train again. Gyms are filled with youngsters, and centers are constantly lowering the minimum age to be able to accommodate more fitness-loving youngsters. Young people draw their inspiration from the internet, where YouTube and Tik Tok are filled with more videos from the fitness center than videos from football and handball matches.
What are the consequences of this change in the leisure habits of young people? Are we inclusive enough on the sports team? What community do we get from individual leisure activities that win over organized community activities?
Where I grew up, there were no gyms. She participated in both handball, football and athletics organized by the local sports team. The sports team embraced the vast majority of young people, and the vast majority of my classmates were members. Until then, there were a few enthusiastic people running the sports team, the motive being to create shows for their children. Almost like a sport run today! Then, of course, there were some—the kids had long flown out of the nest, but had established their social lives on the sports team—and joined in.
I don’t remember sports teams being any better at inclusion in the ’90s than they are today. The civil war in Yugoslavia brought many new residents to Helgeland, but I did not see any of them in training. Today, the variety is better, but head coach Rana FK’s thoughts on reading this weekend in May made an impression on me.
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Young people who have to arrange volunteer activities themselves, which parents do not arrange, what is the easiest option? Pay for training at the fitness center or be part of team sports run by volunteers? Can charitable activities promote unity rather than exclusion?
Today we are seeing a clear increase in dropouts from organized sports. There are many reasons for this. Groups of children are smaller, individual training is more attractive, young people have more possible fields to find their affiliations now than before and the workload may not be suitable for everyone. But does it have to be so?
I think there are a number of companies that want to contribute to grassroots sports. All-inclusive sports that have inclusive values as a foundation. This doesn’t differentiate between someone with a car big enough to drop off, or a network big enough to sell a lottery book in an instant. Then I don’t think that young people should come to a fully covered table, but there is an idea that implementation is possible for everyone – beyond volunteer activities.
Sports organizations at the national level have done well in the past 10 years, a framework has been put in place for how sports teams are run, there is an emphasis on efficiency, limits are set when awards and competitions start, sports leaders and coaches are largely paid and the public professionalization has been done. At the same time, bigger and better sports facilities, and much more were built with a high hourly usage rate. Over the past 10 years, Idrettslaget AS has incurred a number of fixed costs for the quality created.
Membership fees are still a small part of the income base at Idrettslaget AS, as there is not as much focus on employment as before. in the report”Finance as an obstacle to sports participationShe says:
In addition to membership fees, training fees and other payments from parents, voluntary income, public subsidies and sponsorship income have been identified as the most important sources of income for sports teams. At the same time, the public sector indicates that their goal is to be for everyone who wants to have the opportunity to exercise.
I hope that in the future there will be greater demands on sport from the public sector and from sponsors. The public sector and sponsors can rank grants based on the number of members, what equipment support schemes are available to families with poor financial resources, and is there a cap on how much equipment is okay to own? How much dropout occurred between the ages of 9 and 17? Is there a wide offer for a 17 year old?
Broadband sports are important in our society, they create joy, unity and belonging. It should be a low-threshold service that strengthens our local communities. Personally, I hope that young people will find their place on the sports teams, despite abandoning their career plans in line with their own vision. I hope that sports teams can reverse their declining membership numbers, and that sports teams also consider their own organization where informed choices about inclusion will be important to them.
Perhaps the public sector should also recognize the importance of volunteering for the attractiveness of the place. I don’t think we can expect the volunteer sector to bear all the costs of operating with the halls and facilities in the future, at the same time that the continued professionalization of sports teams requires their own paid structure. Any municipality with growth goals should see sports teams as important supporters:
– against dropouts from working life,
For good mental and physical health and
– As an ambassador for the local community.
We don’t have to choose between a fitness center and popular organized sports. There is room for both and they should be available. But sports teams must adapt to their audience, have a conscious attitude toward inclusion, and perhaps set realistic goals. The business community and the public sector can control this development. Organized sports can be an excellent community building tool for both the business community, the municipality and the county municipality. Through sports teams, we can build attractiveness, reduce differences, and build unity and pride.
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