Adnaan Mohamed
Every athlete knows the sound of breath burning in their lungs and the thump of feet pounding the track. But the cheers from the sideline are the voices that carry young runners, footballers, and netballers through the hardest miles.
adidas’ You Got This campaign has always celebrated that hidden heartbeat of sport. Now, in the fourth leg of its six-part series, the brand pivots from the podium to the people standing just beyond the ropes: parents, guardians, coaches, and friends who turn up in the rain, shout encouragement, and stitch belief into the fabric of every young athlete’s journey.
This latest episode takes us back to school fields where kids test their speed, stumble, fall, and get back up again. Here, the stakes are rarely medals or contracts. Instead, they’re measured in something far more fragile: confidence. And that confidence, adidas argues, often lives or dies in the stands.
“Go for it.”
“Have fun.”
“I’ll be watching.”
They may sound like throwaway lines, but research says otherwise. These words act like fuel stations on the marathon of youth sport. They refill tanks drained by expectation, replace fear with freedom, and help kids rediscover the joy of play.
Because the pressure is real and rising. According to adidas’ studies, 91% of children feel some level of stress linked to sporting expectations. More than 60% have considered quitting entirely. And between ages 13 and 15, dropout rates spike sharply. This is not from injury, but from emotional exhaustion.
That’s the crossroads where support matters most.
“Support can heal what pressure unravels,” adidas notes.
A parent’s smile, a coach’s calm, a teammate’s nod becomes the difference between lacing up again or hanging up the boots.
South Africa, where this chapter is set, is no stranger to sport’s transformative power. From dusty township pitches to school fields edged with vuvuzelas, sport is stitched into the country’s social DNA.
It builds resilience as surely as it builds muscle, teaching discipline, teamwork, and the art of rising after every fall. But the pure joy of play, the carefree sprint down a touchline, can be eroded by the very people who love kids most. The scowls, the sideline tantrums, the scoreboard obsession. All this pile weight on young shoulders already carrying too much.
That’s why You Got This feel like it’s more than just a campaign.
Presence is what matters, not performance. When children know someone is in their corner, they’re far more likely to stay in the race, and to keep running long after school sports fade into memory.
The brand film at the centre of this episode leans into that truth. It’s not a glossy montage of golden goals or world records. Instead, it’s stitched from the quiet sacrifices supporters make: a parent pulling on a raincoat, a coach clapping after a mistake, a sibling waving from the stands.
These are the moments that echo longest in the minds of young athletes. The soundtrack of support that says, “You belong here.”
And for adidas, it’s part of a bigger picture. Sport has always been more than games. It’s a training ground for life. But if the track is littered with burnout, then society loses more than future champions; it loses generations of resilient, confident adults. Protecting play is about protecting possibility.
The message is clear: let children run their own race. Let them trip, stumble, rise again. Let the joy of movement outpace the weight of expectation.
The slogan You Got This is a promise and a reminder that belief doesn’t begin with a starting gun. It begins when a child looks to the sideline and sees someone clapping, smiling, and saying, “I’ll be watching.”
So, here’s to the true pacemakers of youth sport, the unsung heroes who keep showing up. They may never wear the medal, but without their cheers, half the race would never be run.
For more on adidas’ You Got This campaign, visit: adidas.co.za/yougotthis
