Edoardo Rosso

Promoting physical activity among children and youth in disadvantaged South Australian CALD communities through alternative community sport opportunities

Issue addressed: Recently arrived migrants and refugees from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (CALD) may be particularly vulnerable to social exclusion. Participation in sport is endorsed as a vehicle to ease the resettlement process; however, in Australia, this is often thought as a simple matter of integration into existing sport structures (e.g. clubs). This approach fails to place actual community needs at the centre of sport engagement efforts.Methods: A consultation framework was established with South Australian CALD community leaders and organisations to scope needs for community-based alternatives to participation in traditional sport (e.g. clubs), co-design a suitable community sport program and pilot it in five communities. Interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted with participants, community representatives, stakeholders and volunteers.Results: Regular, free soccer activities engaged 263 young people from a great variety of nationalities, including over 50% refugees, in secondary state school and community-based sites.Conclusion: Alternative community sport programs can provide a basic but valuable forum to promote physical activity and associated well being in CALD and refugee communities.So what?: Alternative approaches can extend the health benefits of sport participation to disadvantaged children and youth who are excluded from traditional sport participation opportunities.

Sport for development (S4D) as ‘core university business’? Modelling university participation in sport-based social development

ABSTRACT Among the recognised strengths of the ‘Sport for Development’ (S4D) framework there is the capacity of sport to contribute to positive community networks, education and community participation. However, its relevance to tertiary education institutions is often under-appreciated. In this framework, the Football United® program was recently piloted in South Australia with an innovative approach offering significant opportunities for integration with university activities, including academic, extra-curricular and skill acquisition programs, as well as for community outreach. This approach is based around four key strategic areas of community engagement, student engagement, research and aspirations towards education. It aims to encourage university leadership and participation and it has a focus on awareness and aspirations towards tertiary education in educationally disadvantaged communities. While it is important to address considerations about the meaning of development and the role that sport can play to facilitate it, this paper argues that there is scope for universities to become increasingly involved with the delivery of sport-based social development programs.

Community engagement and sport? Building capacity to increase opportunities for community-based sport and physical activity

ABSTRACT An ‘engagement through sport’ agenda has emerged in the last few years in Australia, expecting sport governing organizations to increase opportunities of inclusion in sport and physical activity in the community. However, it can be maintained that stagnant or declining physical activity must be addressed through a sound community development approach that transcends sport per se in favour of broader benefits and objectives of participation. This paper reports on the development of a community project in South Australia, run in collaboration between a tertiary education provider and sport, education, community, government and charity organizations. The project provides an example of good practice for efforts to increase physical activity among disadvantaged populations. In particular, it highlights that capacity-building strategies to form partnerships with organizations having access to an appropriate pool of volunteers can assist with increasing physical activity at the community level as well as contribute to broader community development outcomes.