Activate by Embrace Kids

Organisation / Service

The Embrace Collective

Moving our body is so good for us, and yet so many young people avoid engaging, or drop out of sport, because of the judgement and criticism they feel around their bodies.

Activate by Embrace Kids helps remove body-image barriers in sport and physical activity to keep kids moving, for life.

This program supports coaches and sports leaders to create safe, welcoming, and inclusive sport and physical activity settings that improve player wellbeing, participation, and engagement by implementing small shifts that make a big 

difference to club culture. The simple, practical, evidence-informed guidance supports coaches, administrators and parents involved in community sport settings in terms of how to speak about bodies, food, and health, approaches to implementing flexible uniforms, representation of diversity, and action around appearance-based bullying and criticism to prevent young people from experiencing judgement, shame, and embarrassment about their bodies in sporting settings.

The program consists of:

·       The Activate Playbook- A PDF guide to building better body image in sport.

·       The Activate Masterclass- A short video for coaches, parents, and players, hosted by Libby Trickett

The Embrace Kids Australia initiative has received support from the Australian Government to make the Activate program (previously called Embrace Sport) freely available to a select number of sporting clubs in 2024.

National Strategy Standards & Actions

Prevention Standard 3: There is increased community capacity and expertise to prevent eating disorders through a 'do no harm' approach which acts to reduce risk and bolster protective factors.

Prevention Standard 4: Home and family, school, work, health, online, and sports, fitness and performance environments bolster protective factors and reduce risk factors.

Prevention Standard 5: Prevention programs are evidence-based and accessible, meeting the needs of people from different ages and backgrounds.

Prevention Standard 6: Weight stigma is challenged and reduced, working towards elimination