An example of competitive activities in my local area would be at flint football club, taking part in football will benefit a participant because it will improve the strength of the participant’s heart this will reduce the chance of the participant having heart attacks and will also reduce their chance of getting heart disease. When your heart gets stronger it becomes more efficient meaning that it can pump more blood each beat which means that it can distribute blood and oxygen easier. Football can also be beneficial for participants' mental health because your friends can give you extra motivation and competition which means that the participant is more likely to continue with the activity. A negative impact of football is that it doesn't suit all of the participating groups ,for example, a competitive football match wouldn't suit someone who was at risk of social isolation because it may cause them stress and anxiety because they don't want to let the team down and may be worried about being around that many people. Although football does suit many participating groups such as people with a disability because it can easily be adapted to suit different people with different conditions, such as wheelchair football and powerchair football there is also football for visually impaired people.
Social
A social reason for providing football would be that it will help reduce the risk of obesity because playing football burns through fat stores, this is necessary because a quarter of children between the age of 2 and 10 are obese and if people are obese in their childhood they are likely to be obese throughout their life, being obese is usually linked with many circumstances such as strain on vital organs. This will benefit young people because a reduced risk of obesity will promote healthier habits later in life.
My suggestion for more participation
To increase participation in football I would increase the amount of female and disabled role models within the sport . I would do this by increasing the amount of games and tournaments that are broadcasted on freeview channels. This is needed because in the sport there are 13 male participants for every female participant, by increasing the amount of coverage there will be an increase in the amount of role models , which will then increase participation because it will inspire more young women to participate. This also applies to disabled people because more coverage will also increase participation. I suggested that it is covered on free view channels because if the coverage is on a service that requires a paid subscription less people are likely to participate because they won't be able to afford the subscription and they won't see the cost as a reasonable commitment if they aren't yet into the sport.
Cricket
Another example of competitive activity in my area is cricket at Northop cricket club this will benefit the participant because being part of a team can give the person a sense of belonging which can help lower stress levels and will reduce the participants chance of getting depression or anxiety and also lowering stress levels can help lower blood pressure, also being part of a team can boost your confidence in everyday situations, taking part in cricket can also benefit the participant physically by allowing the participant to experience weight loss which will reduce the risk of obesity which will then directly impact the participant’s risk of their vital organs being strained, a negative impact of taking part in this competitive activity is that people over 50 may be very limited in the amount of which they can participate because of how physically demanding the game can be.
Financial
A financial reason for providing cricket would be that it will help reduce the cost of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles on the NHS. It is predicted that by 2050 the annual cost of obesity for the government will be 50 billion pounds. Cricket will reduce this cost because it promotes weight loss due to participation. Reducing the cost on the government through cricket will benefit every group who participates in it because the money that the government saves can be invested in things like better facilities and equipment and other grants.
My suggestion for increased participation
To increase participation in cricket in my local area I would bring it back into school and I would advertise all stars cricket in schools as well. I have suggested this because since 2016 the number of participants who are over 16 has dropped by almost 70 thousand. It shows that there aren't many young people carrying on cricket past 16 so to get the participation levels up there needs to be more young people taking part in it , which will increase the amount of participants who carry on after 16. To do this i bel;ieve that there should be more cricket coaches going into schools representing all star cricket and encouraging kids to take part at the local club which offers all stars.
It is necessary to have a wide range of competitive activities because it allows a wider range of people to participate then if they did not have access to the activity in their area, this means that people who are over fifty can participate for example if there is a golf club in their local area there are likely to play because it is a non-contact sport which reduces the risk of the getting injured and it also isn't too strenuous on the body as you aren't running around, golf is also suited to people with risk of social isolation because you can do it with as many people you like and it isn't extremely competitive, another example of a group of participants that could take part in golf would be people with learning difficulties as it can be calming which will help them relax and calm them down.
Walking
In my local area there are many physical recreational activities that a participant could take part in for example there are many walking routes in my local are going around the countryside, this benefit a participant because it will give them the chance of meeting new people which will benefit the social and communication skills another benefit that can come from walking is that it can help improve the participant’s strength which will help improve their posture and help improve their balance, a negative impact of having a large number of walking paths is that if an incident may happen it could be difficult for any emergency services to get to the scene of the incident, this could impact some groups of participants involvement in the activity ,for example, people over fifty are less likely to go out on a walk if they are worried about having an incident which is more likely as they can be more susceptible to broken bones.
Environmental
An environmental reason for providing walking roots in my local area would be that it doesn't require any planning permission and also as long as the participants stay on the routes they are supposed to there is limited damage to the environment. Another environmental reason would be that there wouldn't be a cost of facilities or any facilities needed. The only cost would be to maintain the paths which can be done in ways to minimise the impact on the environment. Having the paths maintained will help ensure participant’s like people over 50 are more likely to participate because they won't need to worry about the paths being slippery and dangerous.
My suggestion to improve participation
To improve participation in walking in my local area I would suggest that an app would be created. This app would detail local climbing trails and routes. To make this app more fun I would suggest there to be a leaderboard for people to compare their progress with other people in their local area. This would also make it competitive.
Swimming
Another physical recreational activity in my area is the local swimming pool in flint leisure centre one of the health benefits of this activity is that it can help improve a participants strength without straining their body because swimming is a low impact sport because of the weight the water takes while you are in it, a benefit on a participants mental health because it will allow them to meet new people and make new friends which will help the participant continue with their activity it can also boost their confidence and help them feel like part of society .a negative impact of going to the swimming pool is that people from different ethnic backgrounds may not be able to participate because the may not be able to show as much skin and they also may not be able to take off their religious clothing in public.
It is necessary to have a wide range of physical recreational activities because it allows a wider range of people to participate then if they did not have access to the activity in their area, this means that people who are at risk of offending are more likely to participate in things like martial arts because it can give them a sense of routine and discipline which means they are less likely to offended if can to control their emotions and doing martial arts can help release any built up aggression or anger from their lives.
A social reason for providing swimming facilities in my local area would be that it can be accessed by all groups, for example, for people with medical conditions such as arthritis they are able to take part in recreational swimming because it is a low impact sport due to the weightlessness of the water, another example of a group of participants that would access the swimming facilities would be people with a disability because swimming can help the person build up their strength without putting pressure on their bodies and the weightlessness of the water can relieve the pain on their body.
Climbing
In my local area, there is access to many outdoor activities, an example of one of these activities would be rock climbing in Deeside,taking part in climbing can benefit a participant because it will improve their flexibility which will help strengthen their joints which help them achieve full range of movement of their joints, this will particularly benefit participants who have medical conditions such as arthritis because it can help reduce joint pain and having good flexibility can help combat fatigue in someone who has arthritis. Another health benefit of rock climbing is that it can tone and strengthen muscles, in fact, it works all major muscle groups. A review published in the Journal of Human Kinetics in 2011 reported that elite rock climbers often have lower body mass indexes, lower body fat percentages, and increased handgrip strengths, which means that someone who climbs is at less risk of being obese which puts strain on vital organs and adds the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Another benefit of participating in climbing would be that through the toning of muscles it can help raise the participant’s confidence which will reduce the chance of the participant having depression and anxiety, an increase in confidence can reduce stress levels which can help lower blood pressure, another mental health benefit of climbing is that it can give you a sense of accomplishment and progression which can make you feel happy. Climbing can be beneficial for people who are at risk of social isolation because you don't need too many people but there can still be people there to support you and it can allow them to build their confidence around people.
An environmental reason for providing climbing in my local area would be that it doesn't have a detrimental impact of the environment because you don't need planning permission to build any facilities you can just use the natural landscape for bouldering, and for top ropes climbing most of the walls that you can use are man made walls , so that alleviates the damage on any natural walls because most walls with routes are from abandoned Quarries. Especially with the recent circumstances, having the ability to go outdoors and exercise with limited amounts of people will benefit participants who are at risk of social isolation because they can do it without having to see too many people which could be seen as daunting.
My suggestion to increase participation
To increase participation in climbing I would suggest that climbing centers advertise lessons specialised for people with disabilities. I Have suggested this because people who have disabilities may believe that they can't climb or that they might be judged or laughed at, so these people would benefit from being surrounded by people in similar situations to themselves because they would all be at the same status in the group. Through all the research I have made there has been no mention of disabled people participating in climbing. This suggests to me that their numbers are so low that they aren't even considered.
Mountain biking
Another example of outdoor activity in my area would be mountain biking in loggerheads, taking part in mountain biking can benefit a participant because it can help boost your immune system which can reduce the risk of illness, this means that it would be beneficial for someone who has a medical condition because it could help prevent them getting an illness that could seriously impact their health another benefit of mountain biking for someone with a medical condition would be that it has a low impact on joints so for people who have motor problems it could be a good way of exercising within the strain. Because mountain biking is a dynamic sport where the rider is constantly adjusting their position due to terrain, pitch and elevation it can help improve balance and coordination which would benefit someone with a medical condition such as diabetes and inner ear conditions. Another benefit for someone who participates in mountain biking is that it can lower stress levels. This is because vigorous exercise releases endorphins which is the body's way of feeling good and getting more energy. Reducing stress levels can lower blood pressure and can reduce the risk of anxiety and depression. Happiness psychology has shown that social interactions and healthy relationships are the key to having a happier life, as mountain biking is a social sport usually done in groups or clubs it provides social interactions this means that it could be beneficial for participants who are at risk of social isolation because it will allow them to socialise to the limits of which they are comfortable with.another mental health benefit of mountain biking is that it can be used for meditation it is said that getting on your bike and letting your body take control can help calm your mind, this can benefit a person's mental health because meditation can delay the onset of mental health disorders.
An environmental reason for providing mountain biking in my local area is that similarly to walking as long as the rider stays on their paths they cause limited damage to the environment because it keeps the land a green space because nothing requiring planning permission is being used on the land. Another environmental reason is that it promotes riding bikes in general , which will help lower carbon emissions because less people will use motorised vehicles which release the carbon which will consequently lower levels of carbon emissions.This will benefit young people because they don't need to wait for a licence and they can get there independently which can help boost their confidence levels.
My suggestion for increase participation
To increase participation in mountain biking i would suggest that an initiative or charity was formed to help children in economically deprived areas afford mountain bikes , also through this initiative you could also provide children with transport to local areas where they can participate in mountain biking. On average a cheap brand new mountain bike can cost 130 pounds , this is very excessive for people in poorer areas.
It is necessary to have a wide range of outdoor activities because it allows a wider range of people to participate then if they did not have access to the activity in their area, this means that people who are of different ethnic background are more likely to participate in things like hiking because it means that they don't have to remove any religious clothing. Another participating group that are more likely to participate would be people with a disability like autism because you don't need any specialist equipment and you also can do it with some people or no people.