Sport shapes kids for life
Encouraging Queenstown kids to swap their screens for sports, even for a short while, can be a game-changer for them throughout their lives.
Sports coach Emma Campbell, of Coaching Solutions, has spent a decade in Queenstown turning grassroots club coaching, holiday programmes, after-school sports clinics and private lessons, into a launchpad for youngsters.
The former White Fern works to get kids out onto the field of play for all different sports.
“For me, it’s about creating memories for the kids,” she says. “Giving them a good experience, where they’ve really enjoyed a session and taken something from it, because then you’re going to get them hooked.
“It can put them on a sports pathway, where they could be a Black Cap or a White Fern, or a world class umpire, or thrive in another sport, or just be a sport lover for life. We work with the clubs to align those pathways, but it’s just as important to teach them about sportsmanship, teamwork, and build a bit of resilience.”
As well as the coaching side, Coaching Solutions also offers sports administration. Campbell is club manager for Queenstown Cricket Club, organising senior cricket, juniors and Wednesday night social cricket. She also coordinates junior rugby at Arrowtown rugby clubs, with its 110 members, and previously for Wakatipu.
But it’s the coaching side of the business that provides the greatest joy.
“You get a lot of positive feedback and see them learn new skills. We work with well over 1000 kids per year,” she says.
“I’ve just finished a rugby school holiday programme today and the kids are absolutely shattered. We probably pushed them a bit far but they just go on and on. We talk to the parents afterwards and build that rapport with the kids and the parents, and hear they love it.
“And I had someone come up to me at the Events Centre the other day, must have been about 20 years old, and ask ‘Do you remember when you coached me?’. It was at school about 10 years ago. ‘Well, I’m now getting into sports coaching at Christchurch’, they said. That felt really cool.”
Campbell, from South Canterbury, started playing cricket aged 16, after star White Fern Haidee Tiffen visited her school and coached her on the art of leg spinning. That put Campbell on her own pathway into cricket and also sports coaching, studying it at college before landing a job as a development officer, which included golf and tennis coaching.
One of the most important aspects for her now is breaking down barriers to participation, whether it’s cost, scheduling clashes.
“I believe kids should be participating in everything they can be,” she says. “Even though I’m a cricketer myself and played a bit of rugby, for me it’s just as important that there’s the opportunity to play football, table tennis, athletics or whatever.
“There are a lot of barriers, especially with busy parents ferrying kids through the traffic in five different directions a week, so we aim to not overload them, to limit crossover in seasons.
“If the kids are willing to give it a go, they should have the opportunity, because they learn so much, so we’ll do what we can.”
And if it gets them off their devices for a few more hours a week, that’s also a win.
“In the modern world, we know devices are going to part of their lives. But if we can wear them out, send them home with new skills after a fun session, then that’s a great alternative.”
