By Casey Neill
Residents in Greater Dandenong play less organised sport than any other municipality in Victoria, new figures show.
Victoria University Associate Professor Rochelle Eime examined 2015 registration data for the state’s most popular sports – football, basketball, bowls, cricket, golf, gymnastics, hockey, netball, soccer, sailing and tennis.
She found that only 7.08 per cent of residents in Greater Dandenong played organised sport, compared to state leader Buloke with 45.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, the latest VicHealth Indicators Survey found almost one third of Greater Dandenong residents (32.7 per cent) engaged in no physical activity during the week.
The Victorian average was 18.9 per cent.
The telephone survey of 300 people in the city also found that Greater Dandenong had an overall health and wellbeing score of 74.9 out of 100, just under the Victorian average of 77.3.
Greater Dandenong Council’s community services director Mark Doubleday said a Sport and Active Recreation Participation Survey in 2015 identified that the most popular sporting activities in Greater Dandenong differed from the state’s favourites.
“Walking, swimming and cycling participation in Greater Dandenong all ranked higher than the state’s most popular sport of basketball,” he said.
“The survey also identified that affordability and access to sporting clubs were some of the key obstacles to sports participation in the City of Greater Dandenong.”
Mr Doubleday said the municipality was Victoria’s most culturally diverse.
“We recognise that sport can often be a great mediator in bringing people from all different cultural backgrounds together,” he said.
“Council is actively working to increase participation levels in sports by working closely with sports clubs and sports bodies, as well as organising a range of free health and wellbeing activities for residents including the recent Spring into Summer program.”
The free, six-week program involved classes in yoga, boot camp, tai chi, Pilates and walking.
Mr Doubleday said the council had established a successful partnership with Cricket Victoria, which provides a 75 per cent discount for new players in junior teams.
“The council has also assisted a number of clubs with marketing and promotional activities through in-kind support and community grants,” he said.
