Getting Britain active

By Leon Taylor, BT 2012 and Coaching for Life ambassador

As a partner of the London 2012 Olympics we at BT want to encourage Britain to get active and sporty this year.

But don’t think sport has to be restricted to school or clubs- you can get involved with sports any time any place.

Our BT Coaching for Life programme has many great ideas for parents and carers to help children between the ages of 6-11 to try out different sports.

There are instructions about how to set up 12 easy games that can be played in the park or back garden – and coaching tips for parents to make it fun for everyone.

And because they can be downloaded as an app to your phone whenever you want to get active you will have some great ideas in your back pocket.

We all know that sport can have a really beneficial effect on a person’s health, but research also indicates that it can have a positive impact on social life and behaviour.

A recent BT survey revealed that 60 per cent of parents encourage their children to join teams and clubs to increase their circle of friends.

Making friends

And the more teams and clubs a child is active in, the more interaction they will have with peers resulting in more friendships - so sporty kids are often more popular.

The most sociable sport is apparently football - with 59 per cent of children who play football regularly having 17 friends or more, but this is closely followed by swimming at 56 per cent.

According to 44 per cent of the teachers surveyed sporty children also do better at school, because they concentrate more and are better behaved in class.

The skills learnt through sport, such as cooperation, team work, focus and leadership can be transferred to all aspects of life.

And the BT Coaching for Life programme introduces parents to some key coaching principles that they can use to help children tackle life’s challenges.

With the Olympics are just round the corner let’s get this country into sporting action.  

Find out more about BT Coaching for Life.