Page 3804 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 24 August 2010
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Mr Coe: One in 65, I think.
MR SESELJA: Pretty bad odds here. You would not buy a lottery ticket if you were Alistair Coe—or perhaps you would, because they would just say, “You are not getting it.” I should not digress, Mr Speaker. I return to junior sports. Junior sports are critical, not just here in the ACT but right around the nation and around the world. We want to talk about the importance of junior sports to the health and wellbeing of our young people and its importance to the sense of community that flows from the wonderful participation in sports.
I also want to talk about some of the wonderful community organisations who make such a contribution to community sport right around the ACT and the wonderful volunteers who put in countless hours for their passion, for their sport, for their community and for their children, and also about some of the challenges faced by junior sport in the territory.
There is no doubt about the preventative health benefits of participation in junior sports. Participation in junior sports has preventative health benefits, particularly in the context of rising childhood obesity rates. It also contributes to the prevention of chronic disease. Junior sport is an important tool in which to involve kids and parents in the community.
According to ACTSport, studies that have examined the impact of participation at the society level, and specifically the association between organised activity and social inclusion, support the fact that participation in sport and active recreational activity also increases levels of social cohesion in the community, diverts youth from antisocial behaviour, including crime, improves the individual’s mood and self-esteem, promotes positive social values and assists in the development of life skills. There is absolutely no doubt about this. There are countless studies to back this up. Common sense tells us that it is indeed true.
I think the other point to make in relation to the importance of junior sport as we move forward as a community is that there will be increasing challenges for sporting facilities. What we are seeing is a changed model of housing. We are seeing less private open space for families. Many of the standard block sizes these days are a lot smaller than they were 15, 20 or 30 years ago. The standard quarter-acre block for many people is no longer a reality. Given that, the ability to participate at your local oval or your local sporting facility in junior sport becomes even more important. Unfortunately for many families, the space in the backyard just is not there as it once was.
I want to talk a little about some of the issues faced by some of our junior sporting clubs. Leading up to estimates, there was a sentiment expressed from clubs and sports such as football, AFL, rugby union, rugby league, hockey, basketball, tennis and volleyball associations representing approximately 95,000 Canberrans. Some of the sentiment expressed included that community sports facilities are running at capacity and are being stretched to meet demand.
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