When it’s difficult to engage children in sports or active play, here are some ideas to help get kids moving, whatever their ability. “Come on, let’s go!” It’s a scenario that many parents have experienced - armed with enthusiasm and a sales pitch, you attempt to...
Mary Woessner, Alexandra Parker and Aurélie Pankowiak look at what it doesn’t tell us. In the Netflix documentary Beckham, the footballer is asked how he coped with the abuse of his entire country after the 1998 men’s football World Cup. David Beckham responds: I was able to...
New Research is providing updated insights into childhood concussions. Concussions are a growing concern in youth sports, but new research has brought forth game-changing advancements in diagnosing, preventing, and treating these injuries. A series of studies involving experts from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute has delved...
The FIFA World Cup women's football in Australia & New Zealand presents a great opportunity to encourage girls' participation in sports. Research by Year13 and Visa reveals that girls tend to drop out of sports around the age of 15 due to various factors, including...
Cassy Dittman asks how should parents respond? The new year often means a new season of kids’ sports. Many families may be pondering whether to commit to another season or discovering their child is now saying they’d like to quit their usual sport. My husband and I...
Watching her son spend yet another game on the sideline prompts Rebecca Chaney to reflect on whether a winning-is-everything mentality belongs in children’s sport. My 12-year-old son’s football team won a hard-fought match on the weekend, but my son isn’t happy. My son played well, with...
After a dramatic year in which Elizabeth Reed introduced her son to all manner of sporting pursuits, he made it quite clear he wanted to write his own script. Ten years ago we had our first child, a son. Obviously he would enjoy sport; all boys...
Repeated concussions can thicken the skull, Monash University study finds Now that the winter sports season has finished, new research has found that repeated concussions can thicken the structure of skull bones. Previous studies have shown damage to the brain following concussion, but have not looked...
School playgrounds are getting squeezed, write researchers Brendon Hyndman, Jessica Amy Sears and Vaughan Cruickshank. Here are 8 ways to keep students active in small spaces. As enrolments climb and urban spaces become more crowded, some Australian schools have been left with less play space per...
How do we protect kids from abuse in sport, writes Blake Bennett, without creating a ‘culture of suspicion’ that ruins it for everyone? Although sport is often touted as a vehicle for positive experiences, many investigations into sporting cultures – particularly high performance sport – have...
