State sports program sets lofty goals for under-active kids

Council has welcome a new project from the state which will improve physical activities in the region

ACTIVE KIDS: the program aims to ensure 60% of kids are getting enough physical activity. Picture: Contributed

The Queensland Government is sprinting forward with a ten-year, billion-dollar strategy to encourage people to get active.

The new Activate! Queensland strategy was presented to the Somerset Regional Council at their meeting earlier this month.

Many of the council's recent recreation projects already align with the goals of the program, and the councillors welcomed the additional funding support that the program could bring.

Current statistics indicate only 41 per cent of children, and 60 per cent of adults in the state are undertaking the recommended amount of physical activity each day.

The program aims to raise those figures to 60 per cent of children, and 75 per cent of adults by 2029.

"We're being quite bold with some of our targets for this program,” Jay Wehlow, Service Area Manager for Sport and Recreation in the South West Region said.

"It's all about getting people moving.”

He said he also understood not everyone was interested in, or capable of playing, traditional sports.

"Some kids mostly go to sport because their parents make them go, not because it's their preferred activity,” he said.

One of the goals of the program is to encourage other kinds of physical activity and recreation.

The program will offer up to $1 million of grant money for individual projects, with a focus on fostering partnerships, and inclusive projects that will benefit multiple community groups and clubs.'

They are aiming to establish continual, ongoing investments, rather than periodic funding rounds.

Cooperation between different branches of government is to be another major focus of the program, particularly in the education sector to encourage students to get active.

Councillor Bob Whalley welcomed the aid the funding would bring, especially to the eighteen schools in Somerset.

"A lot of our schools have to travel out of the region to access facilities,” he said.

"This will help provide more local opportunities for them.”