Sport’s Role in Our Society | Thomas Nabbs | TEDxRuakura

Sport is an undervalued part of our education. For many, it is sport that teaches us how to work with others, how to combine as a team to achieve a shared objective and how to persevere when things don’t go our way. But this role of sport is under threat from a most unlikely source. Thomas Nabbs, founder of the non-profit The Waterboy, which helps underprivileged children to participate in sport, explains why the “selling out” of some codes is beginning to have a far greater impact on our society than you may have considered. TEDxRuakura is held in Hamilton, New Zealand. 2018 is our fourth year. Please check out the other talks from TEDxRuakura. Visit http://TEDxRuakura.com to find out about upcoming events. Sports has been an intense passion for Thomas for as long as he can remember. It was something that used to define him, and now it shapes him. Thomas is passionate about sport, passionate about business, passionate about developing culture and developing people. The impact sports had on his childhood has inspired him to “create stronger individuals and communities by enabling the opportunity for personal development through access to sport and other activities”. He did this by creating The Waterboy, an organisation that gives kiwi youth the opportunity to be exposed to sports. Through The Waterboy, Thomas works with children who want to participate in sport but don’t have the opportunity, and don’t have the option to watch sports at a professional level. He explained that many young kiwis don’t have the opportunity to gain inspiration from professional players, because they don’t have the means to watch them play. https://tedxruakura.com/thomas-nabbs/ This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx