Is sport failing our youth?
Sport itself is like an athlete with limitless potential, but in many ways sport is lacking the direction and foundation to sustain greatness. One key foundational block is education. Teachers spend nearly a quarter of their young adult life prepping to be certified and teach in the classroom. We entrust administrators and teachers to prosper the minds of our youth. Teachers are guided by years of practical knowledge, certifications tests, continuing education, student teaching and lesson plans. A focused and sensible path of preparation. Sport on the other hand, where children probably spend more time with their coach then a specific teacher, embraces a polar opposite standard. In sport we talk an excellent game of life skill development, but tell me… no show me how! I often observe ill tempered parents, uneducated coaches, tunnel visioned student-athletes and I question; how can sport do more?
Thus I answer my own question with an affirmative yes, sport is absolutely failing our children. Why? Because sport can do more. Much more.
This may seem very critical coming from an individual who has benefited tremendously from the fruits of organized sport. But, sport is much bigger than any one individual. I currently view sport bottled up in an ‘abstract world of intangibles’. Invaluable concepts such as, character, greatness, success, honor, sportsmanship etc. exist as broad and generalized concepts, but how do we go about achieving these glorious feats, how do we make them tangible, something real, something that changes sport and changes lives!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
VERYY VERY VERY TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is the issue bigger than just sport? I think we have to take a look at lifestyle and how many parents have tried to replace “play” with sport. It seems to me that the time when we would get on our bikes and go meet friends, play games and learn the skills of self organizing and solving our problems on our own are gone. There is no level of certification that can teach those skills in an hour a week for the 12 week session. We’re depending too much on adults in the organized activities that have replace play. That said, we do need good coaching leadership! But the leadership skills need to be directed towards the parents! Communicate to the parents and get their buy-in so the kids can participate in a environment that fosters development and fun, and may not have a qualification for a traveling team attached to it.
This is absolutely bigger than sport, but sport is the current focus. We are in an age where are children are misguided because of high profile celebrities and motivated by the word “pro” that seems to promise fame, money, success. In theory that is great, but in reality sport is lacking the education, the substance, to make leadership and life skill development a priority. I agree it begins in the home, but not all homes are functional. So where can we, the educators, specialists, and people who care, pick up the slack? I suggest motivating our student-athletes and helping them understand the importance of planning, decision making, communication and more. By providing coaches with roadmaps of leadership and life skill instruction and to your point Don, help parents reach out to their children and better understand what they are going through as young athletes in a different time period than when we were kids. Great comments. Thanks!