City Strikers Walking Football

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Sport for seniors has historically never been a priority for many sporting organisations and neither have many sports seen the need to modify themselves and their activity to accommodate the needs of older people and people with more limited fitness and mobility. This is despite espousing the virtues of sport in improving health and well-being and strengthening communities. In many ways the need for seniors to be happy and active sees them as a larger target group for government, health promotion and sporting organisations. Considerable research has particularly demonstrated that loneliness and isolation is one of the largest risk factors for older people. Acknowledging this key issue and in response to a movement of walking football across Britain, Melbourne City through its community arm City in the Community has this year focused on getting people like seniors who are inactive to become more active through modified football activity from walking football to a gentle football oriented exercise activity. It acknowledged the isolation experienced by senior migrants and made them a key target group.