Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Tackling Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Mr. John Treacy:

I will come at it perhaps a little differently. I believe that this is really the important piece. All the sporting clubs around the country want to keep the children involved in their clubs and part of what we are doing around good practice in children's sport is highlighting to the clubs that competitiveness will come from within and not all children want to be competitive. That is a critical piece. We need to be respectful of the children who do not want to participate for competitive reasons and are a bit more casual. There is a piece around the club not pushing the children too far or too hard. What we want is for the children to have a very positive experience in sport. We do not want them to be put off by going into highly competitive environments. The children, by their nature, will be competitive anyway. There is a piece there in terms of the volunteers and coaches making sure that the opportunity is there and letting the children decide for themselves, but ensuring that the child who is not really competitive is very much welcomed in the club and that he or she is not sitting on the sideline all the time. This makes sure they are involved in the club, are part of it and feel part of any team or activity and that they are welcomed and valued in the club. That is a very important piece.