What the pros think

Designing activities

Learning intention

To understand what the key things are that keep sports people wanting to be active and to work out how this could help us design activities to keep our community active.

Discussion

Some of the most active people in Aotearoa New Zealand are our professional sports people.

What do you think they did to stay active when they were at school?
If they were designing an activity to help keep your class active, what do you think they would include?

As it happens we asked a few sports people those questions! Read below what the various sports people have said. Look for patterns in what they have to say as it will help us as we start to design our activities.

Aldora Itunu

When I was in school, during lunchtime, because of the competitive type of person I am, I liked having competitions with my friends. That meant having running races or seeing how many flips we can do.

Definitely a warmup that involves everyone, that is fun. I really like multisport, so all kinds of sports joined into one. That helps get everyone involved.

TJ Perenara

I used to do pretty much whatever was going at the time, whether people were playing touch, soccer, basketball, whatever was happening at the time at my school, I used to like getting involved with.

It would definitely be something to do with sport, and outside, but I'd like to include games that make you think as well. I enjoy riddles and stuff like that so maybe some sort of sport-based game that has a thinking aspect to it as well, that you have to solve some sort of problems with.

Maddy Green

I enjoyed all sports at school and it was through Physical Education and Health classes that I learnt more about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Naturally I played plenty of cricket throughout my time at school but I would also run and swim regularly to keep my fitness levels up.

Any activity with a game element kept me interested at school so I would include plenty of games to keep kids active. Keeping any activity fun is another key element for me as this ensures kids stay involved and stay active.

Credit: Photosport

I was big on my sport when I was younger, playing both cricket and rugby all through my school years. I always enjoyed athletics days to try out all the different track and field disciplines. In my final few years at college, I started to hit the gym on a regular basis and noticed the great feeling you get after exercising. Backyard sports with friends and siblings were also a big part of my younger years.

We used to have some great inter-class battles in Physical Education at school. I really enjoyed competing against my fellow class mates. I would always include a ‘game element’ to any activity, for instance, you can get a great sweat up playing touch without really realising how much running you are doing.

Renee Holmes

I pretty much played all the sports I could. I really enjoyed everything, and being in the outdoors.

Definitely a fun warmup always, where everyone is included. We used to play stuck in the mud. Not tackle bullrush, but bullrush and tag.

I did everything. Any sport I could do, I would participate in. Basketball, rugby, cricket, athletics. I suppose on the playground bullrush, tag, everything.

I would probably come up with some sort of hybrid game. It would include basketball, touch rugby, a bit of netball, something for everyone in the class to keep them involved.

At school I loved staying active and I was especially big on athletics, particularly competitive running. I played a variety of sports at school including cricket, indoor cricket and football in the winter. I wanted to try lots of different sports while I was young to see which ones I enjoyed the most.

Being a teacher at Tawa Intermediate, I get to see first-hand the benefits of getting outside and being active. I think any activity that gets the heart-rate up is a great start and it’s always fun splitting the class into teams to get the competitive juices flowing while always keeping it fun!

Staying active at school was massive for me as someone who has always had plenty of energy to burn. Naturally I played cricket at school but also dabbled in football, hockey, squash, touch rugby and even netball to name a few! In recent times I have also tried my hand at archery and body surfing to stay fit and active.

I love challenging myself and trying to achieve better results. I think any activity for kids where they can measure themselves and tick off milestones along the way is important. It’s always nice to know you are achieving something and that can look different for each individual, so modified targets or goals for a group or individual is something I would look to incorporate in an activity to keep kids interested and active.

What the players think

NZ Rugby Player Kendra Cocksedge and NZ Cricket players Sophie Devine and Kane Williamson have made videos talking about youth sport. Watch the videos and listen for the reasons that kept them motivated to stay active when they were younger. Once you have viewed the video then answer the following questions as a class, a group or just by yourself.

What experiences do they share in common?
What would you say are their two key messages for us?
What lessons are there for us as we start to design our own activities?

What the pros think

What the pros think

Designing activities

Learning intention

Discussion

Aldora Itunu

TJ Perenara

Maddy Green

Tim Southee

Renee Holmes

Brad Weber

Jess Kerr

Glenn Phillips

What the players think

What the pros think

What the pros think

Designing activities

Learning intention

Discussion

Aldora Itunu

TJ Perenara

Maddy Green

Tim Southee

Renee Holmes

Brad Weber

Jess Kerr

Glenn Phillips

What the players think

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