Emne: BPP3100: Bacheloroppgave | Semester: Vår 2023 | Form: Bacheloroppgave, solo
Sports for the diverse youth
My bachelor’s thesis was born out of a desire to give all children and youth the same opportunities I had as a kid. The selected theme was therefore “Outsiderness in children’s and youth sports”. The developed mission statement became:
“How can we make sure that cooperation between parents, children/youth and club creates an arena where socioeconomic differences are equalized”
A long insights fase uncovered deeply rooted challenges in children’s and youth sports in Norway. These include key finds like: The high costs of activities, differences in opportunities based on socioeconomic factors, recruiting and cultural barriers. Norway is considered a rich country and Oslo’s socioeconomic differences are ever growing. It became imperative to find solutions to lower the differences of opportunities based on socioeconomic factors, as well as multicultural barriers.
This fase consisted largely of desktop research, actor mapping and interviews with experts, as well as co-creation workshops with young people in the target audience. The process was vital to uncover the actual reason outsiderness is an issue, as well as the target audience’s thoughts and feelings about it.
The solution
With a solid foundation of data, analyzed and visualized, the creative ideation process began. Together with a group consisting of interviewees and workshop attendants we got together on Zoom and Miro to create ideas together. This step led to a massive database of solutions rooted in actual user needs, which eventually created the final solution presented below.
The process
The project has been executed in regards to the Double Diamond framework. First an extensive process of Discover (insights) and Define (analysis and reframing). Then Develop (create and ideate) and Deliver (test and iterate, deliver).
What I would change for my next is spend more time finding good ways of recruiting. The target group is a difficult group to reach, because of the ages (8-18), their situations (often stigmatized) and their parents (because of stigma or cultural differences). This would lead to even better insights and more testing.
This project was a time- and thought consuming. Over the course of the spring of 2023 I was completely captivated by discovering and creating a solution for what is a growing problem in Norway. I spent almost all of my youth years in sports, football and ice hockey, and know the importance this has had in forming me as an individual. It was an absolute reward knowing I’ve fully explored the theme and a feasible solution that could help youth out of outsiderness in sports.