Consequences of Missing Out on Physical Literacy
A child who misses out on developing physical literacy is at a great disadvantage. On the playground and in the park,children really like to play with other children who have the same level of skill as they do, and who can “keep the game going”, and, if you can’t keep the game going, you won’t generally be asked to join in.
Missing out on Fundamental Movement Skills also means that the child is unlikely to choose to take part in a formal sport activity that requires proficiency in that skill, and this restricts their choice of life-long health-promoting activities. It also restricts their opportunities for sporting excellence.
Being unable to perform even a single fundamental movement skill can seriously restrict later opportunities for recreational or competitive activity, as can be seen from the few examples shown below.
Not being physically literate has consequences for the child, but it also has consequences for schools, recreation programs and organized sports.
Schools: When students arrive at secondary school without having developed physical literacy in the earlier grades, physical education teachers spend much time trying to teach movement and sport skills that should already have been learned. This remedial work is difficult, and if the students have not had success in physical education in the earlier grades they have frequently developed negative attitudes towards the subject that makes them unwilling to fully participate.
Recreation Programs: Lack of physical literacy means that children and youth are less likely to take part in recreation programs for fitness, health and enjoyment. This reduces the potential enrollment in recreation programs with the associated reduction in revenue. Reduced participation and reduced revenues make programs vulnerable, and with many municipalities keeping close watch on expenditures may lead to the closure of programs and even facilities. If children without physical literacy enroll in recreation and sport programs, it becomes difficult for instructors to equally provide instruction to those with good movement skills and those needing remedial assistance.
Sport Organizations: Lack of physical literacy leads to fewer potential athletes, and while this is ultimately a loss for the child, it also means that local, provincial and national teams have fewer athletes to choose from resulting in less able performances. Ultimately this is reflected in poorer national performances for Canada on the international stage. It also means that coaches of athletes in the Train to Train, Train to Compete, and even the Train to Win stages of Long-term Athlete Development must spend time working on fundamental movement and fundamental sport skills that their athletes should have mastered much earlier in their lives.
For examples of excellent activities for parents and caregivers to use in developing movement skills during the Active Start stage visit the HOP website.
Figure 6. Consequences of Missing a Fundamental Skill
