5 Sports venues
Sports venues form the basis for many exercise opportunities
for children. When developing a sports infrastructure the municipalities
should ensure that it is multifunctional in design
and suitable for use by children’s groups. Efforts should be
made for children to make greater use of the existing
resources.
An essential aspect of a physical activity friendly municipality is an
attractive sports infrastructure in the neighbourhood. This ranges
from smaller sports halls and facilities through larger halls for ball
sports to outdoor amenities for various uses.
When planning sports complexes municipalities should take the
following into consideration:
1. Facilities in the neighbourhood
For children it is particularly important that the facilities can be
easily reached. For programmes for children and families smaller
halls are ideal, since these are often adequate enough for such
purposes.
2. Consideration of multi-functionality
The facilities should be designed for a multi-functional use. In
particular for the promotion of children’s physical activity general
skills are more to the fore than specialisation.
The actual periods of use for municipal sport facilities is generally
lower than the demand. Alongside the criteria to be taken into consideration
for the construction of sports facilities, which requires
medium or long-term planning, the management of sports facilities
is a platform where short-term measures can be realised:
1. Use of all resources
To get to know all resources available the municipalities should
draw up an atlas of sports venues with a special indication of
facilities that can be used by children. Such a sports venue atlas
can reveal new possibilities for children’s sport which to date
have not been taken into consideration.
2. Priority for children
The afternoon or early evening are often the only time available
for children up to the age of 10 outside school hours. With regulations
for use the local authorities can arrange that these
times are exclusively reserved for children’s activities.
