“The study shows that every second child in our state does sport at least twice a week. Ten percent of children and young people are even physically active five times a week or even more,” says Sports Provincial Councilor Jochen Danninger, who is concerned that, in contrast, every fifth child in Lower Austria does sport at most once a month: “That’s an alarm signal ! It is therefore important that the federal government rolls out the ‘daily exercise unit’ as quickly as possible across the whole of Austria and that we, as the state of Lower Austria, continue to support our successful cooperation projects of clubs and schools using top athletes from Lower Austria, from football and athletics.”
Such a project is currently being started with judo and Olympic silver medalist Michaela Polleres. Schools and local top athletes as role models are important drivers for young people to move around the country, the state councilor continued.
“As a former competitive athlete and father of two boys, I know how important it is to give children uncomplicated and playful access to sport from an early age. The school is just as important as the support of the parents. As a father, it has always been important to me to set a good example in order to lay an essential foundation stone so that the children develop fun and practice the sport out of conviction,” emphasizes Toni Pfeffer.
Parents satisfied with sports facilities and their accessibility
Parents are particularly satisfied with the sports facilities in their home sports landscape and their accessibility. Almost fifty percent of the parents are (very) satisfied, only around five percent are not at all. “Last year, the state of Lower Austria funded 299 sports infrastructure projects with 2.5 million euros, triggering investments of around 17 million. The satisfaction of the parents is proof that we set the right funding priorities and that the investments are in the interests of the population. In addition, we know from our study “55 Years of Lower Austrian Sport Funding” that every euro that we invest in sport returns 4.5 times to the economy and society,” Danninger sums up and announces that the funding volume for sports infrastructure projects in the new year will be to be maintained to the same extent. One focus continues to be on trend sports facilities, as these are in particularly high demand among the young target group.
Awareness of the sports offers expandable
The study also shows how important local sports clubs are. 81 percent of parents consider this to be important and currently pay around 25 euros per child per month for it.
“However, the respondents would also like additional sports offers, for example in the area of children’s gymnastics or gymnastics, as well as a central information point for sports offers in our state. About a fifth find it difficult to get information about sports courses for children,” says study author Dr. Reinhard Raml.
Jochen Danninger assures: “As the state of Lower Austria, we want to devote ourselves to this topic and provide parents with more information about the sports offers in Lower Austria.” He also refers to the regional sports days, which will be held for the first time in 2023. “Half of the respondents know one to three sports clubs in their region. With the regional sports days, we want to offer all the clubs in a region a stage so that they can present what they have to offer and get the children excited about sport.”
Federal energy cost equalization is “big boom”
Danninger describes the new energy cost compensation for sports clubs as a “big boom that we’ve been working towards for so long.” This ensures that the clubs can maintain a comprehensive range of services. “I also stand by the fact that sports clubs receive more generous federal support than companies during the energy crisis. This is more than justified due to the activity and commitment of thousands of volunteers.
For 2022, sports clubs will be reimbursed around 40 percent of the additional energy costs by the federal government, and in 2023 it will be even 70 percent. According to the Ministry of Sports, sports clubs can expect the first payments from April.
