77% of 5-14yo Aussies don't get enough exercise every day. It's a problem that has widespread implications for public health, our sense of belonging, our personal health and much more. And it's happening despite millions of dollars worth of grassroots funding going into sports every year. Something is awry.

A large part of the problem is our attitude towards sports and movement. Sporting organisations reverse engineer their junior pathways. They ask, how can we win more Olympic medals in the next generation? Then they create junior programs that start to work towards the goal of creating professional athletes.

The problem with this question - this attitude - is that it slowly sheds participants as they grow up and are left out of the elite pathways. They're implicitly told that they are not good enough. Their growing minds make a fair conclusion for the situation - 'fine then, being active is not for me.' The base of participants gets smaller and smaller until only those who strive for an elite career are left. The rest go off to their desk jobs, and struggle to 'find time' for sport or exercise anymore.

But this question removes the greatest value of sports participation. Before the professional contracts or the sponsorship deals comes community. It's the sense of belonging, the friends that you forge under pressure of 'you-wouldn't-read-about-it' moments, harsh losses and celebrating in each other's progress, that keeps you coming back for more. The by-product of belonging is a healthy mind and body. Not the other way around.

A wide base of participation should be the goal. If you have a wide base, those who learn slower feel like they belong as much as those who are naturally gifted. Meanwhile, those who choose to become elite can still chase their goals. You do not have to identify and foster talent from a young age. Early specialisation as a concept has been debunked in the literature.

Perhaps as important, if not more, is that those who don't want to become elite (99% of us) will feel a sense of belonging and get to reap the massive health benefits that come with an active life.

That's why we're approaching the problem a little different. There's a solid foundation of research that has informed our decision to combine storytelling and movement. These Trading Cards and our Secret Ninja Series are part of a long term goal to help widen the base of participation. And lots more. But that's for another post.

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