SportStart Home was designed by Sport Canterbury in 2012 to encourage tamariki to take the lead engaging their whanau in play and physical activity.
 
However the success of this resource has relied upon local leaders and partners in the community who are advocates for the value of families being active together. 
 
Greg Spence from Origin Sport is one of these true champions. Spence has worked alongside Sport Canterbury for over five years.
 
Origin Sport is a community recreation provider based in Spreydon’s South West Baptist Church, committed to the promotion of physical literacy and wellbeing for primary aged children.

Origin Sport delivers SportStart Home to five schools across Christchurch’s southwestern suburbs. Coordinator Greg Spence calls the Sport Canterbury programme a “fantastic link between school and home.” 

“It’s all about helping these kids to build a strong foundation of movement so they can choose any sport with confidence from Year 5/6 and beyond.”

At the same time that Sport New Zealand is advocating for New Zealand families to consider the benefits of balance, and the drawbacks of early specialisation, SportStart Home supports ‘having a go’ and finding the fun in a wide range of activities.

“Craig is one of our partners in the community who understands that developing physical literacy means we have to encourage kids to take the lead,” says Sport Canterbury Chief Executive Julyan Falloon. “We know that when the participants lead activities, motivation is higher, regardless of age or environment.”
 
“We hope to expand the reach of this programme with the development of providers like Origin Sport and continue to enable leaders to deliver in their own communities.”
 

Find fun games to play at home and more about SportStart Home via the Sport Canterbury website: https://www.sportcanterbury.org.nz/Resources-and-Toolkits/For-Teachers-and-Parents/SportStart-Home 

Article added: Tuesday 14 July 2020