‘We’re losing kids from sport. But you can change that.’ Was the key message in a public awareness campaign launched by Sport NZ and five sports in early 2020. Here you can find all the material that was created for the campaign.
In February 2020 Sport NZ and five of the largest participation sports (Hockey, Netball, Cricket, Rugby and Football) launched a public awareness campaign to highlight some commonly held beliefs around youth sport and the shift in thinking required to halt declining youth participation numbers in New Zealand. The campaign was called ‘Keep up with the play’.
This collaborative campaign had a message to all parents, coaches and sport administrators: ‘We’re losing kids from sport. But you can change that.’ Unfortunately we see too many young New Zealanders walk away from sport and the benefits it brings, and the campaign centred around some of the reasons they walk away:
- Is it too many practices a week?
- Is it specialising in one sport too soon?
- Is it being expected to play like professionals?
- Is it believing you have to be in the top team?
- Is it because we’re writing them off too early?
Sharing ‘Keep up with the play’
A number of great assets were created as part of this campaign and have been made available below. The first theme of the campaign was ‘Missing in action’, based in a secondary school sporting environment with kids walking away from their chosen sport.
Hero video
Missing in action posters
Below are a series of ‘Missing in action’ posters set across the five sports – rugby, hockey, football, netball and cricket. These posters can be downloaded and printed in A3:
Using living proof examples
Another big part of the Keep up with the play campaign was having sporting champions and experts in this area speaking out and sharing their thoughts on what keeps young people in sport, and what makes them walk away.
These posters and videos are also available below.
Living proof posters
Videos you can share
Please note, there are a number of videos that we have put into a YouTube playlist that you can watch and share. To view the full playlist you will need to click on the playlist button on the top-right of the video screen.
Image Credits: Sport NZ
