SoccerNet boosts community development and social cohesion
The vital role that sport plays in fostering community development and cohesion has long been recognised. Sport England, the arms-length government body that supports local sports clubs across England, emphasises just how much ‘sport can help build stronger communities by bringing people together, often from different backgrounds, to make them feel better about where they live, improve community links and cohesion and build social capital’ (1). The United Nations declare that ‘sports programmes are also a cost-effective way to contribute significantly to health, education, development and peace and a powerful medium through which to mobilize societies’ (2). The UK’s Sport and Recreation Alliance is at the forefront of promoting sport as a driver of community development and booster of social cohesion: ‘Sport and recreation positively contribute to many of the factors which build social cohesion, such as better physical and mental health, high educational attainment, reducing crime and antisocial behaviour, creating better employment opportunities and earning potential, and ensuring a fit and healthy workforce’ (3).
The big challenge, of course, is to devise and implement strategies on a local level in such a way that members of the local community feel invited to participate. This is ever more challenging in times of falling participation rates in local sports organisations. A recent report by the BBC finds a decline in participation rates after the spike that the London Olympics had created. Helen Marney, from the Yorkshire Sport Foundation, explains that, ‘Like other parts of the country, we did see more people wanting to do sport after 2012, but we have to remember it takes more than an Olympics games on TV to get people active’ (4).
SoccerNet is a tool to do just that. It significantly reduces barriers to entry. SoccerNet, easy to navigate, provides all the information that families need to sign up their kids to a local grassroots football organisation. Of course, it also invites adults to get together to start a football club in their area. As part of a larger app ecosystem on people’s smartphones, SoccerNet considerably simplifies finding out which kinds of opportunities are available on a local level. It makes it easy to join and follow up on local activities. The incentive to join is reinforced further by making it easy to check if friends and neighbours are involved already. SoocerNet invites to check what friends and schoolmates have achieved and inspires to do the same. SoccerNet gets the kids off the sofa!
References
(2) United Nations (2003) Sport for Development and Peace: Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Geneva: United Nations.
(3) https://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/pages/gol-social-cohesion
(4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36540017
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