Source : ABC NEWS
It was during the pandemic that Lily Grimley decided to join a social netball team to stay active.
What started as a fun, weekly get-together with her friends, ended with an unexpected encounter.
“A few of the girls [on my team] didn’t know the rules … and some of the members on the other team were quite competitive and got a bit annoyed about us not knowing the rules,” Ms Grimley said.
“She actually tried to grab at my throat and really start a fight, she was pushing and shoving and yelling at us and became really aggressive.
“Her behaviour was really unacceptable … it took everybody by surprise and really ended up ruining the game and, to be honest, the rest of the season.”
Lily Grimley says she experienced abusive behaviour during a social netball game and never returned to that competition. (ABC News: Dean Caton)
Once the season had concluded, Ms Grimley never returned to that competition, and has since gone on to play in and drop out of others.
She said it was the competitive nature of the leagues that drove her to leave.
“The other competitions that I joined were also fun, but again, became too competitive for me,” Ms Grimley said.
“I was really just after a more social aspect of the sport to enjoy after work with friends and just have a laugh.
“If you want to be competitive, then you can join a competitive competition — but it’s really important for players who don’t necessarily know the rules to play for fun.”
Winning not necessarily motivation to play
Social sport becoming too competitive is one of the main barriers to participation for adults. (ABC News: Abby Solway)
While Ms Grimley’s experience was an extreme encounter, competitive and sometimes abusive behaviour isn’t uncommon in social sport competitions.
One of the main barriers to participation for adults — particularly women — is sport becoming too competitive.
It’s one reason roughly 37 per cent of adults aged 18 to 64 are insufficiently active, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Sports Science Professor Rochelle Eime of Federation University said there were various reasons people participate in sport.
Sport Science Professor Rochelle Eime says the main reason people play sport is for fun and enjoyment. (Supplied: Rochelle Eime)
“We do see some people that take sport more seriously than others, and particularly sometimes it’s the men and in mixed gendered sports that think winning is so important,” Professor Eime said.
“Sport is about trying to get more points than the opposition, but the main motivation of why adults play sport, particularly women, is not necessarily winning.
“The number one reason why people play sport is for fun and enjoyment, and what’s fun for you might be different than what’s fun for me.
“So as soon as it’s not fun, people want to drop out.”
Positive environment and peer interaction
Canberra social sport organisation Urban Rec created a strictly social league with its own specific set of rules. (ABC News: Abby Solway)
The main supportive factors of sports participation include positive environment and peer interaction.
Satisfaction and continued participation are also linked to a positive, healthy, and inclusive culture within the sporting environment.
Canberra social sport organisation Urban Rec recognised the need for a strictly social league, so created one with its own specific set of rules.
League manager David Perez Zamora said the main aim is to prevent the league from becoming too competitive.
Urban Rec league manager David Perez Zamora says the strictly social league’s rules help make the gameplay less competitive. (ABC News: Abby Solway)
“We do this thing called ‘fun points’ where you get to rate how fun the opposition is, and it really does change the way that the game is being played,” Mr Perez Zamora said.
“Everyone wants to win our fun points prize at the end of the season … we also have a fun ‘player of the match’ award, which we give at the end of each game which also stamps out the intensity.
“We also use this thing called ‘acknowledge coach call’, so we’ll acknowledge when someone’s doing something wrong … and then try to coach them out of it … and then finally, we’ll call it if it is something serious.”
Urban Rec’s dedicated social league has helped it double in size over three years. (ABC News: Abby Solway)
Mr Perez Zamora said the social nature of the competition has led to its expansion in recent years.
“I’ve been with Urban Rec for three years, and I think in that time, we’ve doubled in size,” he said.
“When I first started we had about 200 teams in the season, and we’re just shy of 400 at the moment.”
Lily Grimley says if competitive behaviour isn’t addressed it pushes out social players. (ABC News: Dean Caton)
For Ms Grimley, addressing the competitive behaviour — like in the Urban Rec competitions — would’ve helped her and others stay engaged.
“I don’t really think that the competition I was in did enough to address the issue, there were really no consequences for the other member,” she said.
“Social sport is something where people want to come and feel safe and feel happy and feel like they’re part of a team and a community.
“If issues like this aren’t addressed, it becomes a big problem and really pushes people out of social sport.”
