Sports Commission urges teenagers to 'stick with' sport

Two of Australia’s leading sporting captains, netball’s Laura Geitz and rugby union’s Stephen Moore have teamed up with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to urge teenagers to keep playing sport rather than dropout.

Launching its latest social media campaign, Stick With It, the pair delve into their doubts and the distractions they overcame to keep playing sport as teenagers.

In the campaign, Moore recalls “when I played rugby at school, I probably wanted to be a cricketer more than a rugby player.

“Try every sport you can – there’s so many great sports out there you can participate in.

“If one sport is getting a little bit tough then maybe give another sport a go and you might find one you really enjoy.”

Geitz adds “sport is one thing that can have such a positive influence on your life. It’s one of the most important things to stay involved in, particularly in those teenage years. It provides you with encouragement, support, self–belief, and confidence.”

ASC General Manager of Participation and Sustainable Sport, Michael Thomson said the dropout of rate of young people between the ages of 13 and 17 was disturbing with the participation rate hitting a ‘cliff’ at these age groups.

Thomson explains “through the ASC’s Play.Sport.Australia strategy, our Stick With It campaign directly targets young people to trigger their thoughts and reasons why they leave sport and to ultimately encourage them to steer away from quitting and to stick with it.”

The Australian Government’s $100 million Sporting Schools programs commitment and drive to get more young people playing more sport more often is focussed and on target.

Thomson adds “already, Sporting Schools has exceeded its targets with more than 4,000 primary schools funded to date and its reputation as a quality sporting program before, during and after school augers well for the secondary schools.

“The ASC’s participation strategy Play.Sport.Australia. aims to have more Australians playing sport more often. If we can introduce kids to sport via Sporting Schools and address the dropout rate of our teens, then more children will be on the path to a lifetime of enjoying sport.”

To keep up-to-date with the latest information, visit Play.Sport.Australia.

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