Sport, games and physical activity

Sport, games and physical activity are basic elements of a holistic development of children and young people and an irreplaceable part of growing up healthily. 

Our vision is to give all young people access to professional exercise programmes in the area of not-for-profit, organised sport. The programmes on offer should be suitable for children and young people and have a participatory design. They are principally geared towards the interests and needs of children and young people and promote growing up healthily and a holistic development. They also bring physical activity into all the settings in the lives of children and young people. 

This vision shapes our actions in the area of sport, games and physical activity. As an advocate for young people in sport, dsj’s task is to bring this vision to life and to create the right framework for the fulfilment of this vision. This can only succeed in the context of a close collaboration between dsj as the umbrella association and its member organisations, dialogue with the academic community and the involvement of children and young people themselves. On this basis, dsj would like to turn this vision into a shared orientation that will guide its own actions and those of its member organisations.
 
German Sports Youth's basic understanding of sport, games and physical activity

Sport, games and physical activity …

• are basic needs of ALL children and young people, form the basis for human action and must therefore be incorporated into all the settings of their lives (daily routine, recreational sport, nursery, school).
• are a form and expression of joie de vivre that cannot be earmarked for a specific purpose and can be pursued simply for pleasure, without a specific goal.
• are the unique selling proposition and the core element of dsj’s work.
• are, as the key medium of children’s and youth work in sport, at the centre of dsj’s activities as a non-statutory child and youth welfare agency and of the associated socio-political (extracurricular) education of children and young people.
• can contribute towards the holistic (personal, motor, cognitive, social, mental) development of a person – especially in a sports club.
• can contribute towards a child growing up healthy, the development of engagement, the teaching of values, intercultural dialogue and international exchange.
• are key and independent forms and means of education and learning.

German Sports Youth (dsj) and its member organisations are using the conceptual framework of the field of action “sport, games and physical activity” as a basis for their work.