Concerning sideline behaviour at netball courts has prompted Netball New Zealand (NNZ) to get behind the nationwide Good Sports campaign, which aims to promote positive sporting experiences for children and young people.
NNZ National Programmes Manager Alysha Jensen said the campaign, led by Sport NZ and Aktive, supports and educates parents, caregivers, coaches, teachers and sport leaders, who all contribute to children’s sport.
“Following feedback from our Centres and Netball New Zealand’s Voice of Participant Survey, we know that if we improve sideline behaviour it will make for a better experience not only for our players – but for our coaches, umpires and administrators too,” Jensen said.
She said the emphasis for young people’s sport needs to be around having fun, developing skills and having that social connection with mates.
“Unfortunately, the research we have tells us that not everyone is having that experience - and that needs to change. The feedback shows that our Year 5 to 8 players have been impacted the most, but we’ve got to remember it’s not just young netballers who feel it. Poor sideline behaviour puts stress on everyone involved in the game - and that’s not okay.”
Both practitioners and researchers agree that many issues in youth sport stem from adult involvement. These issues include poor side-line behaviour, overuse injury, burnout, and disaffection with sport - and they can hinder success on and off the Netball court.
To address these issues and give children and young people the best chance of developing a lifelong love of sport, Good Sports focuses on raising adults’ awareness about their behaviours in youth sport and, if necessary, promoting a positive shift in that behaviour.
Jensen said poor sideline behaviour wasn’t a problem isolated to any one sport or community, but that Netball wanted to take a stance to show that it was not acceptable in our sport.
As part of the campaign, several short fictional netball videos have been created to highlight some of the sideline behaviour that is regularly being seen at courts around the country. Jensen hopes parents will watch the videos and perhaps identify, reflect and if necessary, think of changes they can make to help support their child’s sporting journey.
“Our game relies on parents getting involved and contributing – and we love that, we just need to remind ourselves to keep it positive.”
“This is about long-term change, and the first step is to help make parents aware of what is and isn’t appropriate. If we can help parents reflect on their own behaviour then that’s a big step forward,” Jensen said.
The campaign is led by Aktive and Sport New Zealand, there are fifteen regional and national organisations involved and it’s funded by New Zealand Community Trust and AUT.
Read more about Good Sports here