Hamish Kerr, who won gold in the men’s high jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is backing Sport Canterbury’s Keep It Positive campaign.
It promotes safe and supportive sideline behaviour across a wide range of sports.
The campaign is coming to Selwyn and Christchurch after the initiative was launched in South and Mid Canterbury last year.
Poor sideline behaviour in the city has been under the spotlight before.
Mother Alicia Shaw called out fellow parents for mocking comments and laughing at primary school pupils at her son’s cross-country race in May 2024.
The organisations currently involved in the campaign are Badminton Canterbury, Athletics Canterbury, Canterbury Cricket, Mainland Netball, Canterbury Softball, Tennis Canterbury, Mainland Football, Canterbury Volleyball, Canterbury Hockey, Canterbury Rugby League, Canterbury Basketball and Squash Canterbury.
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is not participating in the campaign as it has its own processes for encouraging good spectator sportsmanship.
Kerr said good sideline behaviour is all about creating a positive environment for athletes.
“Being on the pitch is a stressful enough job as it is, and so to have the support of people on the sideline, and making sure that feels encouraging and enjoyable, is the most important thing,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there will always be one team winning and one team losing. But, at the end of the day, so long as the kids are getting out there and just having fun, that’s the most important thing.”
The Keep It Positive campaign will be promoted through signs displayed at sports events participating in the initiative.
A large online presence will also help reinforce the campaign message. It will help sports organisations create policies and guidelines, which protect young people while fostering a positive sporting culture.
Mainland Football chief executive Martin Field-Dodgson supports the campaign. He said serious instances of poor behaviour from spectators are not frequent but do occur.
“There’s more than 90% of people who are doing the right thing every week but there’s always instances of unacceptable behaviour. I probably get a couple serious complaints or discipline needed for sideline behaviour every year but that’s only what gets officially reported.”
The initiative is also about encouraging more positive support, rather than just discouraging poor behaviour, said Field-Dodgson.
“Most families have got kids where one’s playing this or another sport, and another kid’s playing this or that. Irrespective of wherever people go, we want them to have wicked experiences. So if a range of sports are involved, that increases the chances of getting that message out there.”
Sport Canterbury was unable to provide data about poor sideline behaviour.
Said Sport Canterbury’s sport development lead Serena Somlyai: “There is no one event or incident locally that has led to us launching the initiative, we are just pro-actively putting out the messaging, rather than waiting for a crisis to have to respond to.”
