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A world with no Pat Rafter
05 February 2010 From the Editors desk...
We see so many TV advertisements from both the State and Federal Government about getting fit and healthy, doing your 30mins a day, how we are all heading down the path of being obese and not only is that bad for us, but the Health system will not be able to cope with it, etc. etc. I have to admit, the Pat Rafter 30 mins a day ones are my favourite as I think he is a legend of a bloke, the ultimate sporting role model, great athlete, inspired a whole generation of kids to play sport, proved that a sportsperson can earn a heap of money and still not be a selfish tosser and more importantly, came from nothing and worked hard to get to the top, he is a really good choice to front this particular campaign. The sad fact is though, if Pat Rafter was a kid today, it is highly unlikely he would be doing those ads in the future.
Sport for kids is so expensive it is ridiculous. Leone's 7 year old is starting soccer this year, and they have had to fork out $300 already, and that is before you buy boots! A lot of the other sports are not much different. The biggest chunk seems to go to Public Liability costs, with the next in a lot of cases being ground hire? How is a parent, particularly with more than one kid, supposed to encourage their kids to play sport with those sorts of costs? It doesn't take millions of dollars in fact finding reports to work out what the benefits are of a kid starting sport at a young age. It gets them into a habit of being fit, it has them outside (in most cases) in a healthy environment, and teaches them physical skills. I won't even start on the benefits of learning a team sport and the communication and sharing skills that imparts... Years ago, playing a Saturday sport was more like a right, and standard for just about every Australian kid. Not today, the percentages of kids that play absolutely no outside school sport (and what they have at school now is pretty pathetic), is appalling! Most of this is due to cost, families with more than one kid, paying a mortgage and every other day to day cost going up, just cannot afford it. You imagine having 3 young boys, and forking out $300 bucks each for them to play one lousy season of soccer, and we haven't even factored in the boots and fuel costs of driving them all over the joint each weekend?
Which brings me to my point... With the famously large family that Pat Rafter comes from, could his parents really afforded those costs with all those kids?
You might have some better ideas then me to get kids back on sporting grounds on a regular basis, thereby making a healthy future, but these are mine.
1. Governments should change the legislation so that you don't need the public liability insurance to be paid by junior or amateur sporting clubs, as they would come under that old-fashioned, outdated concept of 'Accidents happen in Sport'. Allow them to have a form that every kid and every adult entering the grounds signs to waive them being able to sue if they trip over their shoelace. I know the Insurance companies would howl, but hello, what is more important, more than halving the cost of sport and having healthy kids, or making nice money for shareholders, the majority of which are either other large corporations, or people who are old enough to have previously had the luxury of playing sport cheap and are now inadvertently denying it to a future generation?
2. Instead of the millions of dollars spent on advertising, how about Governments actually invest that back in sport itself. AND I don't mean 'committees' or 'studies'. Most clubs I know of here on the coast would think the heavens were smiling if they got even $500 bucks a season to help with costs?
3. Make local government authorities responsible for public sporting amenities. The State Government should enforce a local government law that each council should have a certain amount of public sporting grounds or facilities per capita (and it should be a decent allocation) for 'AMATEUR' sport. Don't want any loopholes to spend it all on the local AFL team... and, they are NOT allowed to make any profit on clubs using the grounds. Gee, Council could probably afford to build more or allow more land for these junior and amateur sports if they also were not having to pay the ridiculous insurance costs for publicly used space?
Noely Note: Addition to the above... Michael of Cooroy (see comments below), had a brilliant idea! How about we make sporting costs for kids Tax Deductible? Surely the amount claimed back on tax would be way less then how the tax system will be paying out in medical in the future?
Obviously you all might have more suggestions, but even implementing the above, it would mean that the average junior team sport would be back to the old days, where you payed for boots, maybe a few shin guards, or your own bat if you wanted it, and rocked up with your gold coin to contribute to umpiring. Fundraisers would be used again to update equipment, or help pay to send off kids to Rep carnivals or the like, not just to keep a club afloat, and of course we would be having generations of kids back on track, understanding the benefits of being fit and healthy. Not to mention just the plain commonsense of being outside having fun with your mates!
Governments seem to be happier to 'talk' about this, I know times are tough, but if you or your business can help a local junior club, please do! Sponsoring a team of 7 year olds might not be high profile, but the benefits your small sponsorship could have are worth more in the future. For parents, there are an awful lot of Sign-On's at the moment, so if you can try to stretch your family budget a bit more, please, try to encourage your kids to get out there & play a Saturday sport, every parent wants the best for the future of their kids, and playing sport at a young age and getting them into the habit of regular physical activity could be one of the best gifts you ever give your child.
I would hate to think of a world where we did not have the likes of a Pat Rafter. If something does not happen soon, not only will all tax payers be funding obesity clinics and people dying from preventable diseases that are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, but we will have no future Pat Rafters either (unless mummy & daddy are loaded). Give our kids a chance!
What are your ideas of fixing this situation? Let us know what you think?
Cheers,
Noely
The Editors Desk
PS. All
you people who normally email me agreeing, adding extra info, or
telling me I am a dill for my rant or of course feel like adding your
rant to mine, can now actually use the ''comments'' area below to let
everyone know what you think, so feel free :)
Permanent Link: A world with no Pat Rafter
Publish Date: 05 Feb 10
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Comments / Have your say
I used to work for Active After School Communities, conducting outdoor activities for primary children after school from 3pm til 5pm. It is free for kids to attend, the coaches are trained and paid by the Sports Commission. It's a great program and I encourage all parents to talk to their school about signing up.
The shocking TRUTH . . . working in this role I got to meet lots of children, mainly those who were also part of the scheduled afterschool care program. What I saw was children with massively neglected nutritional needs. A girl in grade one asked me for ' an apple or some pasta please' they had already been given their afternoon snack so I was instructed by the ASC staff to check her lunch box. It was the same size as the one I send my husband to work with and full of processed crap. I mean this kid had every thing from LCM's, to cheese stix and nutella, chip packets and pre packed cheese and bickies. The lunch bag was filled up on Monday for the week. When I asked her what she wanted from the box she replied, 'none of that, I just want some more pasta please or an apple.' This little girl knew what her body needed but her parents were too lazy to provide it. (I have many stories similar but this was the most shocking for me)
Nutrition is NUMBER ONE!!! Convenience and apathy are our communities biggest enemies. I am so sick of hearing 'I don't have time, I need more me time, blah blah blah. I have to watch MY shows . . . blah blah blah . . .seriously it takes maybe 15minutes to make a sandwich and pack some fruit and a frozen yogurt. C'mon parents get off your arse, make it the night before and put it in the fridge!
The age of convenience is killing us! and don't even get me started on the environmental impact . . . argh!
How do you think all those executives get to sit in the box seats at all the A-League and Socceroos matches? How do you think the Socceroos get paid so much per game and fly around in a fitted out Qantas jet? Please do not blame insurance. I know that insurance for kids soccer is less than $45 of a child's registration costs.
Kids sport needs a helping hand. Why aren't the fees TAX deductable?
This surely would help bring done the obesity rates, which would reduce health care costs to governments and make our private health insurance cheaper.
With your tax deduction idea, that is brilliant!! Wish I had thought of it LOL! Will definately add that one to the article.
That would oblige ALL taxpayers to subsidise the executives in the lush lifestyle described by Michael; it isn't going to make sport itself any cheaper per se.
There is also the virtual guarantee that a tax deduction would be swallowed up by a corresponding increase in fees, just like so-called gap-free Medical Insurance, meaning you'd pay the same but the fat guys would get a bonus from the Taxpayer.
The key to bringing insurance premiums down is to limit payouts and ascribe some of the risk (and hence some of the liability) to the parents.
So if they want their kids to play tough sports, they must shoulder some of the burden of fixing them if they get injured - that's part of the responsibility of parenthood isn't it?
They might also be less inclined to push them into risky sports activities if they had to cough up when things didn't work out too well.
I don't think that a Taxpayer who has no kids in school, or has kids who don't engage in risky sports, should pay for those who have both.
I know some will think this selfish, but even though I don't have kids or a job and things are seriously tight for me, I still have to pay GST just like everyone else.
Dealing with (a) is easy, as general medical opinion will tell you that the quickest way to control excess weight is to have a healthy diet and generally to EAT LESS.
Moderate Exercise is of known benefit to everyone, especially those trying to loose weight, but WALKING IS FREE so you don't have to find $300+ a year to do it.
In regard to (b), if parents want their kids to take part in sporting activities, then under the system that exists at the moment, they have to pay for it.
That doesn't mean though that parents should shell out without requiring the organisation concerned to provide them with sufficient financial breakdowns to allow an informed decision to be made on whether they are getting value for money for their kids, whether the money they pay is really being applied to their kids activities, or whether it is being used for other purposes.
Also, if there is to be a fair, competitive environment in sporting provision, then perhaps in any area of sporting speciality, parents should have a choice of at least two independent organisations with whom to register their child. It might then be that one organisation can run its affairs at lower cost than another, and so bring down the cost to parents and to the taxpayer.
Competition is what Sport is all about, so Sporting Organisations should surely be unanimous in their support for such measures.
I would prefer the future generation that will govern us all actually have a team spirit not a 'Me First and Only' attitude.
If the barrier of cost was lowered or removed it will make sport more accessible to families on all budgets. As Mark (comment 2) mentions, the insurance you pay for now doesn't really cut it, so why not change the law and help the community.
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