{"id":37062,"date":"2026-05-15T10:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/37062\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:16:12","slug":"how-getting-young-people-into-sport-could-save-the-uk-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/37062\/","title":{"rendered":"How getting young people into sport could save the UK millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just a legacy of the past. Young people today are still dropping out of exercise. Sport England found 1.3 million teenage girls give up the sports<\/a> they previously loved, citing lack of confidence, strict rules, kit required and the cost of and access to clubs.<\/p>\n

OnSide<\/a>\u2019s Generation Isolation research shows young people are giving up out-of-school hobbies like sport because transport and fees are unaffordable. We found that while 85% of young people spend their free time on screens, just half (48%) participate in sports outside of school. Almost half (47%) told us screen-based activities make them happiest, while just 15% said sport\u00a0 had the same effect.<\/p>\n

How do we make physical activity more accessible and enticing for young people to avoid years of ill health in adulthood?<\/p>\n

Part of the answer lies in youth clubs<\/a>. At OnSide we see 60,000 eight to 19 year olds through the doors of our network of Youth Zones, built in disadvantaged parts of England, every year. Entry is 50p a night. Each of our clubs has a large sports hall, a well-equipped gym, boxing ring, climbing wall and football pitch. Funding comes from local businesses and philanthropists, with public money as well.<\/p>\n

The magic ingredient is youth workers who have the time and training to encourage members to try sports they may not have encountered at school and to feel that anyone can be active, not just the sporty kids.<\/p>\n

Youth clubs are spaces where physical activity isn\u2019t about being the best or wearing the right kit. It\u2019s about having fun with your mates.Whether it\u2019s badminton, roller skating, weights, volleyball or wheelchair racing, young people can try something for ten minutes without pressure to stick at it \u00a0and often discover they love it.<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

Kiara, 18, a member of the Hive Youth Zone in the Wirral, told me: \u201cSport has massively built my confidence because it has shown me not to give up and to be more positive even if things don\u2019t go well. I\u2019ve tried things I wouldn\u2019t have tried before and I have got really into playing football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined because I used to sit in my room on my phone all the time and it wasn\u2019t good for my confidence. I didn\u2019t interact with people. But the amazing staff have helped me try new things and pushed me out of my comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When someone like Kiara finds a sport they love and has a talent for in a youth club, they also have the facilities and encouragement they need to excel. For some, this leads them to national and international stages. Paris Olympic medalist Cindy Ngamba<\/a> discovered her love of boxing at one of our Youth Zones, Bolton Lads and Girls Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Success like this starts with giving young people a wide range of choice and focusing on fun in a supportive environment. Young people tell us the secret teenage codes that apply in school changing rooms and dictate what you\u2019re willing to be seen doing, don\u2019t hold in youth centres because there\u2019s so much going on.<\/p>\n

Our sessions are split into juniors and seniors so older members don\u2019t dominate and girls-only nights give young women the opportunity to participate without feeling self-conscious.<\/p>\n

The government is funding new and existing clubs through its national youth strategy. But if we are to invest in the health of the nation, we need schools to learn from youth workers, go bigger and bolder, and focus on fun, so all young people can access and stick to sport, saving the nation millions.<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

Jamie Masraff is CEO of youth charity OnSide.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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You can also support online:\u00a0Subscribe to the magazine<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0support our work<\/a>\u00a0with a monthly gift. Your support helps vendors earn, learn and thrive while strengthening our frontline services.<\/p>\n

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Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not just a legacy of the past. Young people today are still dropping out of exercise. Sport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[96,16019,613,771,5,6,4126,18312],"class_list":{"0":"post-37062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-and-wellbeing","10":"tag-opinion","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-young-people","15":"tag-youth-centres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116578076872300056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}