Future generations of Australian sport stars may be fewer on the ground, with a steady decline in backyard sporting activities among children, research shows.
Environmental organisation Planet Ark has found that a mixture of smaller backyards, less time and more technology has led to less active children. As a result, ''experts are concerned about the implications for inspiring Australia's next sportsmen and women''.
Australian sport commentator Brad McEwan says backyard sporting activities are important for inspiring the stars of tomorrow.
''Our elite athletes grace the likes of the MCG and SCG, but they started in the backyard,'' he said.
''I've seen 100s made under the clothesline, goals kicked between the apple and pear trees, and once saw a hole in one - albeit a 20-metre hole in one - from the verandah to the veggie patch. Backyards are where sporting dreams begin.''
The report says 37 per cent of respondents ''played casual sports or games in a backyard or park in the month prior to the survey''.