Every youngster should have the possibility to participate in sports activities they enjoy and should be able to participate at the level they are most comfortable (e.g. competitive, recreational etc.). Every club should provide different opportunities for youngsters, where possible, and policies that create opportunities for youngsters with regard to level of participation, variation of training and organisation of competitions should be encouraged. To cater for a broad range of activities and meet the needs of families, every club should provide a wide range of sport activities if possible (i.e. multisport club).
Working actions
Actions for coaches/trainers
- Be aware that overspecialization at an early age denies children an opportunity to learn about many sports and to determine which sports appeal most to them.
- Incorporate other style of play into training; it will increase attractiveness.
- Help youngsters finding and choosing another sport (club) if they want to quit.
Actions for clubs
- Provide coaching for all levels and allow time for player’s development.
- Organize exchanges between neighbouring clubs.
- If schools and sport clubs cooperate, youngsters can get the opportunity to try to choose between different sports.
Tools
Card Games Keep Youngsters Involved
The most important tool in the toolkit are the card games, developed for the Erasmus+ Sport project Keep Youngsters Involved.
These card games help you to get to know more about how to implement actions in the sport club to keep youngsters (12-19 year) involved and prevent them from dropout.
The different card games can help professionals who work with youngsters in sport, young adults and sport clubs how to improve their policy on youth, and help by creating a sport club action plan.
Cards
In total there are 169 action cards. For every factor you can choose a variety of cards. You can choose the cards and print* them in colour to be able to use them. Cut them out and they are ready to be used.
* best printer settings: choose page sizing ‘fit’
Card Games
There are 3 different cards games:
- Card game 1: Choose your cards
- Card game 2: Roleplay Keep Youngsters Involved
- Card game 3: Go Fish
Download the toolkit with card games
Quick scan Y-score for sports clubs
How youth-oriented is your sports club? In other words, is your club accessible and attractive to young members? Does the club give enough consideration to the wishes, needs and possibilities of the various groups of young people? And especially, how can this be improved?The Y-score answers these questions. It is an instrument that quickly and easily gives insight into how youth-oriented your club is. It helps you to look at your club through a young person’s ‘pair of glasses’.