Rising to the challenge of getting people moving

Engaging people and communities who don’t normally partake in physical activity has been one of Galway Sports Partnership’s biggest challenges in the pandemic period between 2020 and 2021.

Be it sports or business, the success of any endeavour often comes down to building relationships. However, for most, including Galway Sports Partnership, that has been difficult with no face-to-face contact with people over the past year.

“It has been massively challenging, particularly in the areas where we target communities that don’t normally partake in sport,” says Programmes Manager, Jason Craughwell. “Some of them are disadvantaged, some of them are younger people with disabilities and others are older adults. We found we had a lot of issues to get them online to attend events.”

Craughwell notes that when GSP hold an event in an area, they would advertise and link in with various community leaders to identify and engage potential participants.

“It is easier to get them to a place,” he says.

“However, getting certain groups and people online who may, for one, not have an internet connection and, two, may not be comfortable using computers to do their activities, has been hugely challenging.”

Indeed, while some people indicated they were uncomfortable working out on screen in front of others, he says this should not have been a deterrent to logging on. He explains that, for many of these classes, there is no need for participants to turn on their camera.

“For some classes you do, where the instructor wants to check your form, but a lot of classes are really just about doing them at home. You don’t have to turn on your camera because there is no need for the instructor to see you.

“So, you can just partake. That has been a big fear for people and we’d like to put it out there that you don’t have to, in a lot of cases, have your face shown or your activity shown. You can be anonymous while you partake in the exercise.”

In addition to moving activities online, Galway Sports Partnership, in conjunction with Sport Ireland, has produced a number of activity booklets that they have made available and distributed across the city and county, including one produced for the National Be Active Day last June.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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