During the peak of COVID lockdowns, Australians sought to use their one hour of outside time to grab a coffee, get into nature and enjoy some physical activity. Consequently, there has been a significant shift in physically distanced or home-based sports.
Recreational walking, bushwalking, tennis, Pilates, mountain biking, and canoeing/kayaking all experiencing growth. Then there is the emergence of exergaming, a top 20 activity for Aussies aged 15+ according to Ausplay Data released in July 2021.
What is exergaming you ask? Exercise accessed through gaming consoles or online interactive platforms – think Wii Fit, EA Sports Plus, and Just Dance for example.
So what about the more traditional sports – what impact has COVID had on these?
Sole participation type sports like going to the gym, surfing, weightlifting, and skating have experienced significant growth, games which can be played outside like basketball, soccer, cricket and of course our sport Volleyball have also seen increased participation from 2109-2021.
In WA, this news does not surprise us. In 2021, we reported that there has been continued growth in overall membership and participants (both Clubs and Individuals), Total participation (including members) increased by over 20,000 individuals taking total participation to 181, 493.
We also experienced significant growth in the Discover Volleyball activities including Kids and Junior Volley Centres, Providers, and Members. Total Discover Volleyball participation increased by over 13,400 individuals
The ongoing development and roll-out of the volleyball Multicultural programs resulted in participation increases of 4,273.
Volleyball school clinics in Primary and Secondary Schools, in the metropolitan and regional areas, grew by 617 sessions and involved 5,705 students.
Other evidence of growth can also be seen in team entries into both the WA Volleyball League and WA Junior Volleyball League. Entries increased by seventy-five teams in 2021.
This growth reflects our collective efforts to increase the access to and opportunity for everyone to play our wonderful game and we should never forget to celebrate our wins on and off the court.
You can read the full Ausplay Data report here.