WaiBOP Football have teamed up with Sport Waikato and the Waikato Sport Collective to deliver Positive Vibes Only in 2024.
The campaign is aimed at supporting tamariki (children) and rangatahi (teenagers) with positive support and encouragement from the sideline, and highlighting how adults can help make football a more enjoyable experience for everyone.
We encourage clubs to follow our Social Media channels and to share these messages on their own social media.
Clubs wanting more information, including images that can be shared, please contact Veronica at veronica.l@waibop.co.nz or fill in the form below so we can get in touch and get a Positive Vibes Only Pack out to you.
We would love all of our clubs to come on this journey with us.
We've put together a #positivevibesonly Club Pack so you can share the vibes within your club.
Just get in touch on the form below, and let us know that you want to share the vibes in your club, and we'll send you a pack.
An open letter to those on the sidelines: ‘Let’s help our kids enjoy their football’ (Friends of Football)
Monkey see, monkey do? Exploring parent-athlete behaviours from youth athletes' perspective (2024 Australian Pilot Study)
‘Watch the ball!’: here’s why some sideline remarks are probably less helpful to your kids than you think (Theconversaion.com Australian Website)
The campaign was introduced successfully last year at the Weir Rose Bowl Tournament, held in Cambridge in October 2023, where pink-clad ambassadors handed out stickers and other giveaways. Signage around the event reinforced the campaign, which was received positively and embraced by many teams over the weekend.
Responses from a post-tournament survey conducted by WaiBOP included:
“Positive vibes have helped us carry on when we lose and keep our heads up.”
“People’s behaviour on the sideline has been positive.”
“It was good to see all the reminders and it was a theme we pushed with our team, not only to reinforce fair play, but to keep them positive and motivated when the going got tough.”
WaiBOP Football CEO, Karyn Walters, Says “After the success of Positive Vibes Only at our Weir Rose Bowl tournament, we are excited to bring this campaign to more of our football community in 2024. One of our objectives is to bring attention to the role every parent plays in shaping the football experiences of their child and those around them every time they are in a football environment. We want the sports field to be a safe and positive place for our tamariki and rangatahi"