In these strange times we perhaps have a newfound appreciation of the many comforts, amenities, and simple pleasures that we normally have at our disposal. Since many of these things are presently subject to restrictions and various everyday pursuits are temporarily not available to us, we certainly now miss them and eagerly look forward to normal service being resumed. It turns out we have much to be grateful for. This got me thinking on gratitude, what role it plays in our everyday lives, and how this all relates to the journey of the athlete. A broader question is how we might appreciate the good stuff without needing to rely on extreme events to bring it to our attention.
Weekly Reflections: Adversity as Opportunity
The topic for this latest offering was inspired by a parent of a young athlete I have the privilege of working with. The parent in question greatly impressed me with how they chose to respond to a recent setback, which included declining my offer to intervene on her daughter’s behalf. We generally think of times of adversity and setbacks as at best something to be endured (under duress). Our natural inclination is to steer clear of difficulties, and our urge is to shield those we care about from potential upset. However, as the parent in question intuitively understood, going through these difficult experiences is in fact vital to our mission.
Weekly Reflections: Real Life Meaning
Last weekend a former athlete reached out to me. Seumas was one of the student athletes on the university sports scholarship programme I was responsible for (his sport was rugby union), and I trained Seumas for perhaps three years during my time in Edinburgh before we moved to New Zealand. Aside from seeking to wish me happy birthday, Seumas wanted to thank me for the knowledge and coaching input I gave him as an athlete, but more specifically for helping him through challenging times during an extended injury lay off. Seumas went on to say that the help and guidance during that time had strengthened him mentally, and as a result has had an enduring benefit in all aspects of his life since then. The idea that the coaching I provided to an athlete might have had a lasting impression on them is of course gratifying, but more striking was the assertion that there was a real impact on the life of the athlete. So that is the theme for this week’s post.
The parallels between coaching and parenting are striking and both of these elements naturally come together with youth sports. The concept of free-range kids popularised by author (and parent) Lenore Skenazy thus readily applies to how we coach young athletes (as well as sport parenting). In each case, free play and participating in unsupervised games are essential parts of how children and young athletes develop. Engaging in play is central to how we learn to navigate the world and engage with others. Voluntarily participating in games with others (without intervention from the grown ups) teaches kids how to conduct themselves and develops the capability to interact with peers in a competitive context and a cooperative manner. A less structured environment where the kids themselves decide the playing area and the rules of the game affords the opportunity to apply what they have learned, explore different tactics and engage in trial and error. As such, free play and unsupervised games are particularly rich in opportunities to acquire and adapt sport skills and develop game sense. Given the myriad benefits and the essential role that these opportunities play in developing adept athletes and capable humans, it seems baffling that they are systematically being eliminated with today’s youth. So here we will make the case for applying the free-range perspective to rethink youth sports participation and talent development in a way that fosters engagement and creates self-reliant athletes.