High profile street athletics

“We are trying to bring athletics directly to young people and motivate them to be physically active and do sport in their leisure time,” says David Deister who leads the programme for the German Athletics Federation (DLV).

“But the camp is also a media event designed to get as many mentions as possible through TV, radio, print or the internet, and in this way we hope to spark interest in the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, which will take place in Berlin.”

In 2007, the camp toured four cities attracting nearly 5,000 participants. The tour expanded to six cities in 2008.

The one-day camp includes ten different activities specially designed to get participants to try running, jumping and throwing in various fun formats. The activities are named to attract the attention of young people and to promote enthusiasm for athletics – for example ‘Speed Biathlon’, ‘Feel the Champion’s Pace’ and ‘SMS Bouncing’.

“Media coverage provides one measure for our success,” says Deister “but we are also making observations of the positive atmosphere and emotion at the events.”

In addition to the DLV, financial resources come from a number of sponsors including German TV’s popular programme “Wetten, dass…?”, Audi, health insurance company DAK, and the Organising Committee for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Nike is involved in line with its desire to support innovative youth sports projects, and well-known German athletes sponsored by Nike attend the camps.

Further support comes from municipal and education authorities and logistics partners, which provide such items as stages, sound systems etc. The administrative team comprises a project manager, an assistant and seven temporary staff members.

According to Deister, a very important part of the project is the participant feedback, which another way to evaluate the success of the initiative and is also used to gather information on the target groups’ attitudes to sport. “Participants are invited to grade the event, and to say whether or not it would influence their future motivation to practice sports.”

He says that in 2009 his ambition is to expand the number of host cities and to have a camp at the World Championships in Berlin. “I would like to see a kind of Public Doing as a complement to the Public Viewing.”