GENERATION Z: what today's teenagers want from life and from doorstep sport

Jane Ashworth OBE, CEO of StreetGames, blogs about the future wants of young people, both from sport and from life.

What do todays’ teenagers want from life and from sport? This will be the big issue debated at our 9th StreetGames National Conference. We will focus on Generation Z and how doorstep sport can help them achieve what they want from life. The conference takes place 17th-18th March at the University of Warwick and we are lucky enough to have BBC Sport’s Jacqui Oatley acting as compere for the two days.

We have a fantastic line up of high profile key-note speakers including Helen Grant MP, two-time Olympian Jade Johnson, broadcaster John Inverdale, as well as leading industry experts from Sport England, London School of Economics and Wales Rugby Union.

The conference will give over 200 delegates valuable insight from prominent leaders, policy makers and commissioners on how sport should be delivered at a grassroots level in disadvantaged communities. Each led by experts in their field, the two days of interactive and innovative workshops include insights from Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign; how increasing access to holidays is important for disadvantaged young people; the impact of sport on crime and how to protect young people’s mental wellbeing.

From speaking with participants across the country, we’ve learnt what these young people want from sport and what they hope to achieve in life. We’ve not just focused on sport. It’s important that we know about how young peoples’ lives can be improved as they grow and develop as members of healthier, safer, strong communities.

The themes of this year’s conference are more important than ever. Currently 1.6 million young people live in disadvantaged communities across the UK and recent research has highlighted that the lowest-income households are most likely to have the least active children, with the poorest households spending less than £2 a week on sport. StreetGames, with the help of our partners, makes sport more accessible for these young people and ultimately, ensures that they develop a sporting habit for life through Doorstep Sport Clubs. These clubs deliver sport in the StreetGames’ method, bringing it close to the home in disadvantaged communities at the ‘right time, for the right price, to the right place and in the right style’.

Another highlight of the annual conference is the StreetGames Awards Night and Gala Dinner. This will be hosted on the 17th March by our special guest, John Inverdale. The evening gives us the opportunity to celebrate and reward those from the StreetGames network that inspire and impact us all. It’s always great to see how the StreetGames network has helped young people achieve their goals.

If you want to hear the valuable insights from the conference first-hand, you can sign-up to the StreetGames National Conference online.

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