I’ve written in other blogs around the importance of learning from video games and the ‘TikTok-ification’ of social media to improve participant engagement in community sport. It can be a tricky concept to visualise so a common question arises - how does it look from a practical standpoint?

This is a taste of the content covered in my workshops for deliverers, where we help deliverers practically implement the ‘4Cs’ for gamifying sports programming for children. They’re the same 4Cs I look to embed into the programs and curriculums I build for organisations: Characters, Challenges, Controls, and Cheers.

Characters 🦸

Overlaying fictional or real-life characters into the experience leverages children's imagination and increases engagement. Every story has a hero and some have villains... so should our activities! This hero-based methodology is something I've been applying into sport-for-development contexts to praise the young person who recycles, or washes their hands using soap. Some other examples include:

• Leveraging heroes: “Sam Kerr uses this game as her warm-up with Chelsea FC, so today you’re going to imagine being Sam Kerr”

• Teach using analogies “You need to swoop in like Spiderman to help your teammate out”

Challenges 🧩

Kids love to rise to a challenge or 'mission' - it promotes their motivation to tackle new problems, and can even be used to steer positive group dynamics. Framing progressions as 'levels' allows deliverers to add layers to the same game, maintaining motivation and removing the need for hundreds of unique activities. Challenges don’t need to be “versus” others, (zero-sum game) they can be around mastering new skills, or working cooperatively towards a personal best.

NOTE: Elimination games should always be avoided at the youth levels - there are plenty of other ways to maintain competition whilst maximising participation and involvement.

Controls 🎮

How many of us read the complete tutorial/manual before playing a game? Experience tells me not many, yet this is often what we subject children to when delivering sport, and it's counter-intuitive to fostering creativity and enjoyment. The best curriculum sets the scene for deliverers to achieve a Quick Start, and then use the Pause button sparingly. This promotes autonomy and fosters leadership behaviours.

Cheers 👏

The adage “What gets measured gets done” is as important in youth development as it is in the boardroom. It's important facilitators have the perceptual and communication skills to 'catch them [participants] being good', detecting regular moments for encouragement and peer recognition. This recognition can be verbal (a praising word), non-verbal (a high-five), or in the form of badges or awards (a certificate for achieving a certain amount of home-based practice, or a perpetual megaphone for the best on-field communicator each week).