Four years have passed since the launch of SportKompas, an orientation tool that helps children aged 8 to 10 with choosing the right sport. So, we thought it’s time for an update. What is the current status of this tool? How many children have received a SportKompas report, and what are the future plans for the project?
A quick SportKompas recap
In April 2018, Bruno D’Hulster, Kristof De Mey, Bart Chanet and Jo Stubbe created a non-profit called SportaMundi vzw with the objective to develop and support the new SportKompas product.
A few months later, in August, Minister of Sports Flanders Philippe Muyters announced that SportKompas would become available to every 9-year-old child from every elementary school in Flanders. The Flemish government subsequently invested EUR 700.000 from 2018 to 2021 in the development and support of the product.
Over the next few months, SportKompas was developed and packaged in a scalable product and launched in March 2019.
Ghent University developed the initial knowhow throughout the past decade. Here you can read a more in-depth article on the background of SportKompas.
Where does SportKompas stand now?
Since the launch in 2019, more than 400 schools in 95 cities have participated, and more than 30.000 children have received a personal SportKompas report. Over 400.000 test results are available to monitor the movement skills of children in Flanders. Outside of Flanders, the National Youth Sports Institute in Singapore also uses the SportKompas I LIKE module for research and sports orientation.
The I LIKE component is supplementary to the I DO movement exercises. A child may have a certain level of talent for a certain sport, but that does not necessarily mean that the child also enjoys that sport. With the I LIKE application, children can find out for themselves which sport(s) they really like.
You can easily consult statistics and other data regarding the Flemish based context yourself. Sport Vlaanderen created a public dashboard to communicate about the SportKompas tests.
Another significant fact: SportKompas is now part of the coalition agreement of the Flemish Government, supported by current Minister of Sports and Education Ben Weyts.
SportaMundi received 495.000 EUR (2021-2024) to support the SportKompas digital platform, add new popular sports, develop the sports planets website and to manage and analyze data from the test results.
The orientation tool now contains a total of 57 sports, and has launched a new public website Sportplaneten in September 2022. With Sportplaneten children can find out more about the sports they like and discover the sports clubs in their neighborhood.
Imagine a SportKompas Exergame!
SportaMundi is currently coordinating an Erasmus+ project to initiate SportKompas and train organizations in Finland, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece and Italy. The project kicked off in September 2022 and runs for 2 years.
During the Erasmus+ project, a SportKompas Exergame is being developed in which children can try out different skills for sports. The ultimate objective is to make a societal impact on sports participation, health prevention, wellbeing, and integration on a multi-national level.
In conclusion, we’re proud to see that the initial research results have been translated into actual SportKompas products and services making an impact. In addition, the Erasmus+ project offers some exciting prospects for the future. We’re already very curious how the Exergame will turn out ourselves!
Want to learn more or get in touch with the SportKompas team? Check it out here.
