New Code Promoted For Sporting Youth
The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. encourages National Sporting Organisations (NSO) to adopt a new Code which places youth at the centre of decision-making involving their sporting participation. The Code, which NSOs are invited to voluntarily adopt, has been developed in response to increasing concern over the promotion of high-performance-development relative to life-long-participation.
We, [NSO], when promoting our sport to youth, undertake to:
1. equally promote the importance of education and social development;
- (as essential for a successful adult life)
2. encourage membership of local community clubs;
- (as a foundation for life-long participation in our sport)
3. fairly describe both the actual risks and possible benefits of a sporting career;
- (to ensure individual and family decisions are based on well-founded considerations)
4. ensure that the physical well-being of all participants is a priority;
- (limiting time spent training and playing to appropriate standards for each age group)
5. foster a love of the game.
- (to ensure that the primary outcome of participation is enjoyment).
Association Chairman, Gordon Noble-Campbell, notes that the attraction of sporting careers needs to be well-balanced with the social good that simply comes from being part of a local sports community. “The Code brings into focus the true purpose of sport in our lives as New Zealanders and will help young people and their families develop a relationship with their chosen sport(s) centred on a “love of the game”.
enquiries@asa.org.nz