With local sport only now coming out of a two year Covid enforced lay off, the launch of Special Olympics Australia’s Physical Literacy suite of online courses could not be more perfectly timed.
But, let’s back track for a moment. Physical Literacy you say? Tell me more.
In simple terms, physical literacy is a holistic approach to developing lifelong physically active participants through, as identified by Sport Australia, four domains – Physical, Psychological, Social and Cognitive. This model recognises the wider benefits of being physical active and aims to provide the tools to support participants in their pursuit of being physically active.
The concept of physical literacy was first raised in the early 90’s and has grown in prominence in recent years, with Sport Australia releasing the Physical Literacy Framework and Position Statement in 2019. The holistic nature of physical literacy is a contemporary and powerful antidote to the current inactivity crisis we see globally, which was a driving force behind the development of these world first online learning products.
The three courses contain around 6 hours of learning content with the goal of reaching a global audience and adding a new dynamic to the toolkit of coaches, teachers, parents and volunteers. Critically, the end goal is to develop more aware participants who have established the knowledge and behaviours to be physically active for life.
“Physical literacy may be one of the most important models we can get into the hands of coaches, teachers, parents and participants at this moment in time. We confront a global inactivity crisis, spurred on by advancements in technology and greater options than we had even ten years ago in terms of ways to spend our time.”
Playbk Sports, Co-founder Damian Hecker
“Physical Literacy clearly outlines the wider benefits we can derive from physical activity, alongside the traditional physical benefits. If we can help anyone who oversees any type of physical activity – from coaches and teachers, to parents playing with their kids at home – to share the concept of physical literacy with their participants, we just might start to arrest this alarming trend of inactivity.” Hecker went on to say.
The first course in this series, Physical Literacy for People with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism, provides a deep dive into the concept and frameworks of physical literacy as well as what physical literacy looks like in action and how it can be coached.
The second and third courses focus on the education (Developing Physical Literacy in the School Environment) and community sport (Fostering Physical Literacy in Community Sport) sectors. These courses will empower educators and volunteers to design strategies that can be implemented within their unique environments and develop physical literacy outcomes for everyone – students, participants, school communities and coaches and volunteers.
As with all courses on Inclusive Sport Academy , Special Olympics Australia’s online learning portal, the focus is on supporting participants with intellectual disabilities and autism and learners will be immersed in these environments as they hear from coaches, teachers and participants. The content will be valuable for people who also work in mainstream settings also who will be able to apply learning principles to their own environments.
As schools look towards introducing new fitness programs into their curriculum to offset exercise rates that plummeted by over 70% during lockdown, and community sport struggles with dropout rates and enticing participants and volunteers back after lockdowns, physical literacy could not be more important in our society.
Playbk Sports is honoured to have played our part bringing this critical model to life in partnership with Special Olympics Australia and encourage all of our followers to head to www.inclusivesportacademy.com.au to learn more about these courses.
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About Special Olympics Australia
Special Olympics Australia is part of a global inclusion movement using sport, health, education and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities. Our volunteers create accessible sports training, coaching and competition opportunities which are offered week-in and week-out in local communities throughout Australia.
About Playbk Sports
The best way for sport to commercialise online learning.
Playbk Sports makes delivering online learning simple and effective with dynamic technology, immersive custom and white-label courses, and – of course – Unrivalled Fan Engagement.
Playbk works with your team by harnessing your logo, players, coaches and administrators and uses the power of those ‘brands’ to create learning opportunities that clubs can commercialise.
As SportsTech trailblazers, Playbk fuses online learning and fan engagement – at scale.
Playbk’s full-stack digital approach provides strategy, portal design and development, marketing and technology solutions that seamlessly work within and uplift existing business functions.
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