A number of Salford sports clubs are looking to build their youth teams and get more local children involved in grassroots sports.
With the Rugby League World Cup in full flow, a Rugby Union club in Eccles are looking for youngsters to join their under-13s team.
In an area largely dominated by Rugby League, Eccles RFC are looking to add more local children to their youth teams, which span all ages beginning with under-7s.
Alan Bent, 71, president of Eccles RFC and current under-9s coach who has been at the club since 1971, said: “A lot of kids round here play rugby, but if they do it’s rugby league.”
In a bid to get more children joining, he said: “You can’t relive what I think we’re giving to these kids now. It’s not about us, it’s about the kids enjoying themselves.”
Aside from the physical benefits, Mr Bent added: “Mentally, it’s being part of a group of lads or girls… it’s the camaraderie of playing within a team of people you respect.”
He also added how getting involved at a young age still bears benefits later on in life. He said: “I’ve had boys I’ve coached at nine years old right through to the first team.
“They’ve got mates at the club that they’ll have for as long as they live.”
Aside from just rugby, getting children into sports at a young age has become a big topic over recent years due to the presence of technology.
A report from PE and School Sport in 2022 found that a quarter of year six pupils are classed as obese, and that 54 per cent of children would like to do more exercise or sport than they are currently doing.
Foundation 92 is a Salford-based foundation that offer programmes across a wide variety of areas to support the community, including a number of sessions for young children.
Damon Traverse, 28, head of media at Foundation 92, said: “It’s about getting kids active, there’s so much technology that distracts them from physical activity.
“It’s important that we make sure that’s still there because they’re so beneficial to their physical and mental wellbeing.”
The PE and School Sports 2022 report also found how less than half of all children in the UK are meeting chief medical officer guidelines for taking part in sport and physical activity, and that only 38 per cent of parents know that young people should be active on average for 60 minutes every day – down from 48 per cent last year.
Mr Traverse added that the foundation have found that the young children have seen benefits to not only their physical and motor skills, but also their mental health and confidence.
They also found further that the children that have joined in the sports have had foundation helps children by giving a relaxed feel where they can enjoy themselves and relax, improved teamwork, communication, organisation and leadership all through playing these sports at a young age.
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