The Sport of Tomorrow: Insights from International Youth for Decision-Makers

Practicing a sporting activity for fun or to spend time with friends: the broad consensus among thousands of young people from seven geographical areas of the world is striking. The study by the international think tank Skema Publika, entitled The sport of tomorrow, needs and ideas of international youth for use by decision-makers covers 7.6 million tweets relating to sport, sent by more than 670,000 individuals aged 18 to 24 in seven geographical areas (South Africa, Brazil, China, United States, France, French-speaking Africa and English-speaking Africa ), analyzed between October 2021 and January 2023, and on qualitative interviews with 95 students of 18 nationalities from two schools.

The young people questioned mention their practice as being a hobby, a passion, a source of pleasure and great motivation. They describe sport as a game and/or fun above all else. Emotion and entertainment thus seem to be essential factors in sports practice. A student sums up in his definition of sport the distinction between “doing exercise” – associated with constraint – and “doing sport” – associated with joy. About 40% of the most engaging tweets from each country or zone mention the personal benefit of sport for their health, especially mental health. They also tell us about what sport has given them in terms of self-confidence. The creation of friendly ties, the need to compete with others and the pleasure of playing are thus recurring motivations of the students questioned.

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Non-athletic for lack of time or means?

Sport is cited as a creator of lasting friendships and a vector of socialization. Teamwork is an essential part of sporting activity. Obviously mentioned in team sports, it is also mentioned by practitioners of individual sports, who never train, play or fight alone. Teammates and opponents are an integral part of the sporting experience, including in its competitive aspect. A source of discouragement or failure for some, it is a source of motivation for others: measuring yourself against others allows you to better appreciate your level and your value, but also to learn about failure and self-questioning. . More generally, the students we met recognize in sport educational virtues that are complementary to the skills acquired in the school environment and transferable to the professional environment.

The less than half of the young people we surveyed in the interview do not naturally play sports. However, during interviews as on Twitter, aversion to sport remains a minority feeling and non-athletes say they are mainly due to lack of time, money or support. At the question, ” What could possibly lead you to play sports one day? 29% of respondents ask for better accessibility and consider prices, transport and lack of time as factors limiting their practice. Only 7% believe that nothing could get them there. Concretely, if the family often appears as the first support, the need to develop local sports infrastructures at an affordable cost and to facilitate the practice of sport at school emerges on a recurring basis, to allow easier practice for all, more free, more spontaneous and why not self-organized.

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From personal to political

The emphasis on personal experience does not prevent these young people from judging the political significance of sport. At the question “Is sport in itself a bearer or instigator of values? Or do societies choose it as a vehicle for the promotion of values ​​and virtues that are dear to them?», the answer is that sport carries universal values ​​and that sports personalities play a role of role model and inspiration for everyone. These demands place an important responsibility on the actors of the sports system. As for Olympism, the term is hardly mentioned. Perhaps too specific, it does not seem to be part of the vocabulary of 18-24 year olds, even if its values ​​seem to be recognized as those of sport. Finally, even if the national identification is present, our young people seem aware of the possible influences and the strategies of the States to exploit the sport.

The conclusions of the study are numerous and require further work to give them a definitive character. However, the importance given by young people to pleasure and personal development in the practice of sport already appears to be a blind spot to be addressed by public policies. There are many levers for action: increasing easy and accessible local sports infrastructure while supporting practice, insisting on the benefits in terms of health and on a playing environment that accepts all bodies, and why not arouse envy by valuing the pleasure that sport can provide? In the end, an obvious maturity of judgment and unequivocal appeals.

2023-07-06 13:11:32
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