publication date: Oct 8, 2007
The
HSBC survey¹, published today, reveals different
sports can have a significant and
unique impact on a child’s
development.
Sports
psychologist Jamil Qureshi says it is the l
ink between different
sports and specific
values that parents and teachers will find most
interesting:
- football promotes teamwork and passion;
- athletics breeds self confidence and humility;
- golf instils integrity and decision making.
The top
three values most associated with
football were the
ability to work with others,
passion and
leadership. The same
trio also applied to
rugby union, underlining the
set of values learned through
team sports.
For
individual sports such as
athletics, the top three most associated values were
self-confidence, perseverance and
passion.
For
golf it was
perseverance, decision-making and
self-confidence.
Despite the high i
mportance attributed to
sport, some
55 per cent of parents surveyed have
never watched their children
participate. Lack of suitable
facilities seems to be a barrier to
involvement, with 53 per cent believing that there are not enough
opportunities for young people to take part in
sport where they live.
“Sport is a
crucial element in a child’s education,” commented Professor Joseph Maguire,
sports sociologist from Loughborough University. “It helps create
character, develop courage,
honesty and leadership.”
“What sports
people play can offer clues to their
personalities. Our current Prime Minister
Gordon Brown, for example, often refers to the
lessons he learned playing
rugby at school, and following
London’s selection to host the
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games he now talks of turning
sport in this country from ‘a national pastime to a national
characteristic’. Nelson Mandela was a
keen boxer when he was growing up, which could explain his
bravery and
resolve.”
As well as looking at the
links between different
values and sports, the
study also looked at which
top sports people provide the best
role models to children. The voting was:
- David Beckham;
- Kelly Holmes;
- Jonny Wilkinson;
- Tiger Woods - the only non-British name in the top ten.
“At HSBC we
recognise the positive role
sport can play in the
development of young people, which is why it is an
important part of our
sponsorship programme,” said Giles Morgan, Head of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship at HSBC. “Around the
world, we support a number of
different sports so we were particularly
interested to understand which
sports help develop which
values.”
¹Survey carried out online by
Henley Centre Headlight Vision who interviewed more than
1,800 adults in the UK, US and China.
