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John Reid, General Manager, Community Sport and Recreation at SPARC, has a passion for sport and participation at the community level and with his experience as an international cricketer and sports administrator for over 20 years, he certainly knows what he’s talking about.

We recently spoke to John about his views on community sport, its influence on young people and the need for quality coaches at the community level.

John believes that by ensuring young people have access to positive community sporting opportunities, we will provide the foundations for a successful community environment. As a result of this access to community sport, John sees three key positive outcomes – better social cohesion, enhanced learning abilities and stronger communities. In addition, participating (whether as an athlete, coach, official or administrator) in sport is about fun and enjoyment and we all need lots of this in our lives.
 
“We know that movement for young people is important for their development in terms of their brain function and social interaction,” says John. “This comes about through both sport and unstructured play. I’m a strong believer that a crucial part of growing up is having the opportunity to play with friends, siblings and parents. Not only does it develop movement skills, but also teaches them the love of play, physical activity and sport, along with the ability to interact with others.”

John sees sport as an excellent medium for bringing people together from different backgrounds in a non threatening environment, regardless of their ethnic, socioeconomic or religious differences.

“It’s fantastic for young people to have the opportunity to feel part of a team made up of people from all walks of life and understand that, although the world is made up of different people, they can all play together as a team in a non threatening environment and their ‘differences’ don’t come into it,” says John.

John gets animated when discussing sport’s potential for enhancing young people’s learning abilities and the considerable amount of evidence being collected internationally that shows children involved in sport (or the arts for that matter) are more engaged in their schooling.