Today, adidas unveils the next chapter of its global brand campaign by highlighting the importance of positivity from coaches, parents, supporters and teammates in helping to make athletes believe You Got This.
Through its new global study, adidas uncovers the ‘Sideline Effect’, the impact of negative and positive behaviors from the sidelines, which found 4 in 5 amateur athletes regularly experience unhelpful behavior from coaches, parents, supporters and teammates2. In partnership with sports psychologists and figureheads, the brand highlights common behaviors that many view as helpful but can act as a source of pressure and push many young athletes to quit.
The research surveyed over 12,000 athletes across 24 countries and found the following actions were identified as having the most negative impact on young athletes’ desire to participate in sport3:
- Reminders of the score during a game – scoreboard shouting
- Giving athletes space when having a bad day – standing back
- Just concentrating on the result – focusing only on the outcome
- Excessive instruction during game play – videogame coaching
- Immediate post-match analysis – the post-game analyst
To counter this, adidas has created its ‘Sideline Essentials’, which have been developed with sports experts, validated by the findings from the research and endorsed by sporting icons including Anthony Edwards and more. The advice includes practical intel on how to switch to positive behaviors.
The ‘Sideline Essentials’ are delivered by coaching icon, Jürgen Klopp and reveal how coaches, parents, supporters and teammates on the sidelines can tackle the most common negative behaviors. They provide high-impact, positive action, which could mean the difference between millions of athletes heading out onto the field or quitting altogether.
Behavioral scientists project that if coaches, parents, supporters and teammates adopted just one of the positive behaviors from adidas’ ‘Sideline Essentials’, it could help encourage up to 20 million more athletes to play sport more regularly.
To see the advice play out pitch-side, adidas is working with its icons to show up for grassroot athletes on sidelines across the globe, with some of the world’s best athletes set to appear on local courts, tracks and pitches in the coming weeks.
Speaking on the campaign, Florian Alt, Vice President, Global Brand Communications at adidas, said: “This latest chapter of the brand campaign aims to help motivate everyone to be a positive influence on every pitch, track and court. We set out to create a campaign to highlight how the everyday actions of those in and surrounding the game can be the difference between a young athlete showing up on the starting line or dropping out. As part of this ambition, we wanted to not only inspire coaches, parents, supporters and teammates but to also give them the tools to help athletes believe ‘You Got This’.”
As part of the brand’s wider long-standing commitment to keep next-gen athletes on every playing field of sport, it will distribute its ‘Sideline Essentials’ to longstanding partners and programmes. Recipients will include the Breaking Barriers program across Europe, the adidas Football Collective and With Women We Run, all of which are designed to support grassroots athletes and help make sport equal around the world. For further information around these initiatives please visit adidas.
