More than three quarters (81%) of children in the rural area do not participate in sports activities outside physical education classes at school, and 41% of parents say they cannot financially support organised/professional sports activities, according to a World Vision Romania survey.

The sociological survey was conducted among parents and physical education and sport teachers in rural areas and focused on children’s access to organised sport, „highlighting major difficulties and pressing needs,” said a World Vision Romania press release issued on Thursday.

The results of the survey emphasise the existence of problems related to infrastructure, the need for adequate education on the importance of sport, the cited source further mentions.

According to the research, 81% of the children do not participate in sports activities outside physical education and sports classes, 41% of the parents surveyed state that they cannot financially support their children in organised/professional sports activities, and 28% of them do not know where and how to guide their children when it comes to choosing an organised/professional sport.

Moreover, 56% of teachers mention the lack of a dedicated training space as the main important infrastructure element. Regarding the availability of swimming pools, 88.5% of children say they would like to learn to swim, but about 30% of parents say they do not know where the nearest pool is, and 41.5% say the nearest pool is more than 20 km away, the source also shows.

On the other hand, six out of ten teachers declare that in the schools where they teach there are children with inclinations towards sports. However, they fail to participate in sport because their families cannot afford the cost of transportation/equipment/trainers (68%), or they lack accessible training opportunities/spaces (56%) or lack sufficient community support (26%), the survey shows.

According to the survey, there are financial and infrastructure problems in rural areas, as well as a need for education to be able to make informed decisions about sports opportunities in which children could be involved.

In rural areas, „the school sports infrastructure is either lacking or very outdated, which makes it difficult to practice sports activities,” the cited source further reads.

World Vision Romania emphasizes that the existence and use of the necessary infrastructure for carrying out activities in schools are relevant indicators for the quality of the education process.

„In reality, we must recognise that practicing a sport and implicitly the sports performance in rural areas are directly proportional to material deprivation. We, at World Vision Romania, run educational programs that include sports activities or campaigns about the importance of sport, but without the involvement of responsible public authorities our impact may be limited. One such example is the ‘Summer of Firsts’ campaign, through which we aim to provide pupils with sporting opportunities over the summer each year. Summer camps and excursions are an important step, but to support performance sport in rural areas requires a coherent approach and specialised human resources. Only through a joint effort and serious investment can we overcome seasonal limitations and provide long-term support,” said Mihaela Nabar, executive director of World Vision Romania, quoted in the press release.

The organisation believes that it is imperative to invest in the development of sports infrastructure and in making sport a priority for investment, to carry out information and education campaigns to inform and educate communities on the importance and benefits of sports activities. World Vision Romania also advocates for investments in training a specialised human resource to support sports activities and equal and equitable access to these resources for communities.

Moreover, World Vision Romania deems it necessary to allocate resources for participation in sports competitions and to include children and young people who participate in sports activities as a specific category of the Healthy Meal National Program and also to invest in school infrastructure of high schools and sports schools to enable the implementation of this program.

AGERPRES