It does not specify whether this participation includes school-related activities.Comparatively, an estimated 38 per cent (over 1.8 million) Australian children aged 0-14 participate in organised sport-related activity at least once a week outside of school hours, according to 2025 government data.Worn told SBS News that children can benefit from staying in sport for longer and by sampling a variety of activities:"Early specialisation seldom leads to adult success, because you can't really predict adult success prior to maturation, because there are changes in height, weight, strength in bone mass."Matti Clements is the director of the Australian Institute of Sport and visited Norway last year, where she witnessed this model first-hand."I really loved what they had, a culture of engaging in sport for all the benefits of sport, as an integral part of their community," Clements told SBS News "It kind of shows that you can protect children from excessive pressure and still produce really elite athletes," Maher told SBS News.However, she believes it would be difficult for Australia to implement Norway's youth sports model in its entirety