Former Team Great Britain women’s hockey player, Gillian Wyatt, has two main reasons to stay active: a love for the outdoors and her four children. “I want to be able to play, run and keep up with the boys and teach them to stay active through fun activities. I also want them to enjoy being outside the way I do,” said Wyatt.
In Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, Wyatt grew up in an active family that often went on walks or other active adventures together. She remembers, “We were always outdoors growing up, playing soccer or climbing trees.” As a teenager Wyatt became heavily involved in school sports and at age 12 she started ice hockey which she continues to play today at age 32. She played for Team Great Britain for seven years from 1998 to 2005 when her family moved to Odessa, Saskatchewan.
Wyatt, her husband, Glenn Meier, and four boys ages, 9, 5, 3, and 1 have their very own mini ice hockey rink in their back yard. In the winter the Meier family will often play on the rink together and even though the two younger boys aren’t quite ready to hit the ice on skates, they still run around in winter boots with a hockey stick when the rest of the family is playing. The Meier family also likes to go on bike rides, play soccer or ball at the local park and go swimming, among many other types of physically active play.
Despite her family’s active lifestyle Wyatt still finds it challenging to be active as an individual. “Time is a huge factor for me. Finding a consistent day every week to commit to an activity is so hard especially because we don’t have family close by who can look after the boys,” explained Wyatt. This battle for time makes it hard for Wyatt to get to her weekly hockey games too.
Wyatt recognizes that children and youth also struggle to find time to be physically active as their attention is constantly being drawn to sedentary activities. She says parents and caregivers need to be creative if they want physical activity to be more appealing than the many inactive alternatives vying for young people’s attention. “Keep it fun! Doing things with your children that involves moving and being active is fun. Once you start and you see the smiles and hear the giggles, you will only want to more.”