How Sport Benefits Even Those on the Sidelines

Sport is important for the health of those who play. But it’s also a valuable route to reach families who might not otherwise have exposure to public health messaging, for example about good diet or cancer screening.  

Western Sydney University researchers are now set to explore this connection between sport and community health in a pioneering partnership with the Sydney rugby league club, the Wests Tigers. 

"Sport is this incredible tool that’s probably underutilised for the promotion of health," says Associate Professor Emma George, a health and physical education researcher who leads the project. "We want to engage fans within the community with health promotion initiatives that really focus on improving lifestyle behaviours like physical activity and nutrition."

Working with the club, the researchers will invite families to a 10-week educational programme, where they will meet players from the women’s team, practise skills, and hopefully develop healthy habits that could last a lifetime.  

"People have strong social connections to their team and their club. So, we draw on that to get people engaged in programmes they wouldn’t necessarily put their hand up for," George says. 

One important aspect of the course, she adds, is more open discussion of mental health. "Ideally we would really like to catch some of those families who maybe slip through the cracks of more traditional health promotion programmes."

George’s team is trying to find out whether such programmes linked to sport are effective. In a separate research project, they are evaluating community programmes delivered through cricket and rugby league clubs and other professional sports organisations. 

"A lot of these programmes are focused on children, but we are also seeing organisations are trying to get more girls involved in their sport," she says. "Or they’re trying to reach more people from disadvantaged, rural or remote communities."

Despite good intentions, there has traditionally been a lack of evidence about the impact that these programmes have had, which makes it harder to know whether to repeat such initiatives or tweak them to get greater public health benefits.  

"We work very closely with these organisations to understand what they’re trying to achieve, and we design tools with them to assess programme outcomes," says George. "We consistently find that people like the feeling that they are part of something bigger, and they have a sense of belonging when they participate."

Now she is striving to determine if this also translates to improved public health outcomes.