Increase participation and opportunities

By Heather Barker Vermeer

Industry Reporter

Digital games provide dopamine hit with instant rewards, so perhaps increasing rewards can boost engagement in sports too? Reward and recognition

With young people so used to the dopamine hit that comes from activity on their devices, the issue of reward and recognition can prove more of a challenge. If, as some studies suggest, devices are steering kids away from sport, how can school sports look to emulate digital experiences? Think bigger than participation trophies! In junior sports, major fast-food chains are known to jump in with burger and drinks vouchers incorporated into ‘player of the day’ type certificates. So why not think local and link up with food, service, or entertainment providers in your neighbourhood to collaborate with on rewards, prizes, and incentives? It can be a win-win-win for school, students, and local businesses.

Choosing exceptional coaches can have a major impact on your school sport department’s credibility and help bring new players on board in different sporting areas, depending on sporting expertise.

Post-COVID participation hit

Now that the prospect of regional and international sports trips has returned; these are a great way to generate excitement around sport participation for students and staff. Still, compliance with social distancing and strict return-to-play protocols has, perhaps, forever changed the way that children and young people engage in organised sport, according to a 2021 BMC Public Health research paper. Researchers conceptualised the ‘4 Rs’ in their bid to increase understanding about the pandemic’s impact on youth sport: • Recognising struggle • Reconnection

• Re-engaging after restrictions

• Reimagining sport A broad geographical sample of youth athletes across a range of sports including soccer, netball, swimming, tennis, BMX bike racing, athletics and basketball were part of the project, as were sports administrators, coaches, executives, and teachers, with online and inperson interviews and focus groups used to collect data. In recognising struggle, findings showed, “a shared experience brought on by the pandemic was emotional struggle”, which “provoked a sense of disappointment and ‘mourning’.” “Vitally important” reconnection was established and maintained throughout lockdown between youth participants and coaches via social media platforms, note researchers. Meanwhile, some athletes expressed “a hunger” to re-engage in sport: “However, the struggle to maintain fitness and skill reported by other junior participants appears to have led to a decrease in confidence and self-efficacy.” When reimagining sport, the pandemic was seen as an opportunity to refocus and re-evaluate their purpose, responsibility, and involvement in sport.

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Develop inclusive sports pathways for students

School News spoke with Deaf Sport Australia General Manager Phil Harper, and Communications Liaison Officer Lauren Townsend, about how schools can make their sports more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing students and families.

One “handy tip for those working at schools with students is to physically demonstrate how an activity should be done--this makes the demonstration much more visually comprehensive for the deaf and hard of hearing students, regardless of their hearing level,” they advised. Some of the issues students and their families may face in schools include a “lack of general awareness in school and sport settings on the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students, in particular communication needs and skills”, and “not knowing what information, opportunities, and resources are readily available for public access”. Another issue that Phil and Lauren have noticed come up for students and families is a “lack of access to information/instructions because of low literacy skills and/or inability to hear”, as well as “seclusion or reduced participation/interest in sports due to lack of communication, access and awareness,” which they explained, “leads to risks of poor mental health and wellbeing and isolation”. “There are two sports participation pathways that deaf and hard of hearing students can consider: the Deaf pathway and the mainstream pathway. The mainstream pathway varies from sport to sport but involves working with the child personally/ collectively within their chosen club or team to achieve goals. “The Deaf pathway encompasses many sporting opportunities as well as individual ones that include competing locally with other deaf athletes, going to National Deaf Championships, the Australian Deaf Games, Deaflympics and World Deaf Championships. Deaf Sport Australia’s (DSA) achievement recognition pathway works with schools through their ADK program under the Government’s Sporting Schools Program, and youth are also given the opportunity to represent their states/territories in a sport they’re eligible to play in. DSA and its state counterparts have rewards that vary from state to state.” “When the SSP funding round opens near the end of each school term, schools have the opportunity apply for funding and select what sport/organisation they’d like for their students to learn in/from, in the following term. DSA is on the directory alongside other National Sporting Organisations (NSO). If DSA is selected in the booking process, staff/coaches appointed under DSA – sometimes including support from NSO staff – will visit schools. The visits ensures that the deaf and hard of hearing students are getting the most out of their learning, especially from those with lived experiences.”

The quiet epidemic in school sports for the deaf students

Many deaf and hard of hearing students across the country are found to be lacking access to information in sports compared to their hearing peers. Deaf Sports Australia has a solution to combat these issues nationwide.

Not being able to hear and comprehend information is a common occurrence found in deaf and hard of hearing students learning about and participating in sports in mainstream education. Failure to fulfi ll students’ needs can either delay or leave a detrimental eff ect on their health, sport and social skills. The Hearing Health Sector Committ ee’s Roadmap for Hearing Health says “For children who are deaf or hard of hearing, there is a poor understanding in the community, among families and in schools and other institutions, and particularly in remote, rural and regional areas, of their communication needs. Indeed, they may not be able to express their needs.”

There are over 26,000 students with hearing loss (Hearing Australia, 2020) in Australia. Most of them are in mainstream schools with one or two students with a hearing loss, so potential to be marginalised is signifi cant. Students who use assistive technology may not always be guaranteed full access to communication. Moreover, students with varying degrees of language acquisition skills may have been a result of certain infl uences in their lives such as lack of access to Auslan.

Fortunately, with Deaf Sports Australia’s extensive experience and understanding of deaf and hard of hearing students’ needs in sports, there are three useful tools for PDHPE staff to use:

• Identify student’s preferred communication access method

• Give physical demonstration of the sport activity • And ensure good eye contact Each sport should have easy-toread or visual resources available for young people to access. Active Deaf Kids, an initiative under Deaf Sports Australia, is funded through Sporting Schools Program and designed for school students to learn the health and social benefi ts of participating in sports. Schools that used the program have reported positive results – students have developed good friendships, confi dence in themselves and improved health, both physically and mentally.

More information

deafsports.org.au/active-deaf-programs

Active Deaf Kids is a deaf-friendly sports and development program that increases awareness of the health and social benefits of participating in sport to deaf and hard of hearing students across Australia.

The program can include athletics, basketball, lawn bowls, AFL, cricket, golf, table tennis, touch football and other sports.

“Having Deaf Sports Australia facilitate their program in our school has been an outstanding success. I have seen first-hand the value that deaf sport bring to our students; we have seen an increase in participation in sport across all of our students and we now have students who actively seek career paths in promoting sports to deaf community (young and old).”

– Ashley Weir, Hearing Teacher