Football: Inspiring Positive Change

“With everyone excited about the football (it’s coming home!) we thought we would shine a light on the Yalp Sutu and how the beautiful game can engage more of our communities.

Can football and interactive play get girls and women more active? 

We saw that the Women’s World Cup in 2019 has a direct impact on grassroots football, with a 204% increase in booking for women’s football 8 weeks after the world cup. However, if you are not “sporty” or interested in football, how and why would you engage in the sport? 

Laying the foundations

We have been working with Coventry University into looking at why people lead inactive lifestyles. Scarily this can be linked back directly to a lack of mastering Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) by the age of 10! FMS are important for everyone and practice makes perfect. Ideally, you should be able to master these skills by the age of 10 to be completely physically literate. Research has shown that UK children haven’t got some of the core physical skills developed as part of their remit. Without these, they feel far less confident in participating in activities and sports. Fundamental Movement Skills are a set of activities that underpin Physical Literacy. Physical Literacy is the motivation, confidence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life. 

Playground equipment is primarily intended to provide fun. At the same time, playing in the fresh air is also educational. A study confirmed that playing outside, especially with young children, causes brain development and contributes to motor, social, and cognitive development

However, there are a few advantages with interactive devices:

Enhance learning capabilities by moving, fun interactive games that remain challenging, various difficulty levels; for all grades, fun, exercise, and learning in one playset, inclusive for all ages and abilities!

The positive aspects of the Yalp Sutu:

Single or multiplayer mode, inclusion, high-intensity gameplay, competition against time, precision, tactics, fitness, reaction and creativity.

The interactive motivates people to get involved and to have fun. It’s accessible to all players at any ability, and its intuitive operation is easy to understand. The games have different levels and degrees of difficulty.

“When playing a game of football on the wall for just 5 minutes, your heart rate reserve (HRR) increases by 60% and you burn an average of 36 calories.” – The Hague University of Applied Science – 2017

Also, take a look at our Yalp Toro: 

Developing participation encouraging teenage girls to participate

It is an unfortunate fact that secondary school-age girls experience more barriers to football participation than boys. Many girls experience declining body confidence and negative attitudes towards sport. How can we make football and physical activity, more appealing to help girls build confidence.

When we are talking about the 11+ age group we must take into consideration technology. It is well known that technology – smartphone, tablets and games are a huge part of their lives and can have a serious impact on inactivity. However he unique offering of the Yalp interactives generates interest and gets children, teenagers and adults outside an engaged in activity. We have seen that teenagers often post their interactive experiences on social media creating a hype and a desire to get involed. There is also a Yalp+ App available to download which encourage users to find their nearest interacive, participate in challenges or events and provides explanation videos. 

So, why Yalp?

A challenge for every type of player, from beginners to professionals.

The Yalp Sutu and Toro are great solutions for delivering football in an innovative way. Creating a fun experience which encourages girls of all abilities to participate in football. The products are incredibly versatile, fun, easy to use and inclusive, making practice fun and engaging, whether that is during a PE lesson, in extra-curricular football sessions or at the local park. With a big library of skill games to choose from, the Yalp Sutu wall is one of the most dynamic outdoor play products in the world. It stimulates all players to actively work on boosting their skills whilst having fun and building confidence.

We have a fantastic case study called Withernsea Pod Squad, which shows the community impact the Yalp interactives can have.