I was following an interesting conversation the other day about age-appropriate training for young athletes. While much of the talk centered on discussing how to get athletes to the “Next Level,” one participant raised a key question that I only very seldom hear discussed. “Why do trainers and clubs only talk about the ‘Next Level,’” this person asked, “when more than 80% of kids leave their sport by the time they reach the 14U level? What are we offering the kids who may only play for one or two seasons for whom this is the totality of their lifetime experience with sport?”
This question struck a chord with me. As a child, I loved sports, and was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to play (or try to play) American football, baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, fencing, rugby and even cricket. As an adult, in my desire to stay physically active and healthy, I took up ice hockey and played softball for my company team. While certainly a diverse selection of sports, there are two things that linked all of them in my experience: they were all fun, and I was not particularly good at any of them.
Many years later, as the father of a child who is actually pretty good at sports, I continue to see coaches and programs placing extremely heavy emphasis on moving young athletes to the “Next Level,” while largely ignoring the needs of kids who probably won’t reach the next level, and giving minimal attention to the essential lessons that all kids can be learning through participation in sports right now.
So, what lessons am I talking about? What did I learn from my own sports participation at my meager level that I share in common with my own child who is participating in sports at a significantly higher level? And just as important, how can facilities and programs provide opportunities for as many people as possible to learn these valuable lessons?
· Teamwork: As a business owner and entrepreneur, I have always appreciated the lessons in constructive teamwork that I learned through low-level amateur sports. As an only child, my daughter learns structured high-level cooperation with her peers through participation in team sports that she doesn’t get at home.
· Hard work: Winning doesn’t just happen. Skills don’t just appear. Playing team sports taught me – and is teaching my daughter – that hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but success is impossible without it.
· Self-sacrifice: Sport, like life, isn’t always fun. It can be challenging, exhausting, frustrating, and frequently painful. But when we succeed at what we sacrificed for – in life as in sports – the pain disappears, and the exhaustion and frustration is forgotten.
· Confidence: Teamwork, hard work and sacrifice are all keys to success, but confidence is the key that unlocks the door to ability. I have seen over and over again in sports and in life when people with remarkable skill are sidelined because they lack the confidence to demonstrate that skill. Sports provide an ideal low-risk environment in which people can test their skills and build their confidence.
· Fun: Make no mistake, playing sports is hard work. But we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun. In fact, the point at which the focus on winning takes precedence over the focus on fun and skill development correlates pretty closely to the point at which most people quit participating in sports. When most of us realize that it’s okay that we’re not going to be the next professional superstar – when we become adults with families and careers – many of us return to the sports we loved as kids or had always wanted to try.
Even if somebody only plays an organized team sport for a single season as a child, they should at least take away these lessons from the experience. Sports programs and sports facilities should always ask themselves if teaching these lessons is a part of their programs. Most of us never become professional athletes – in fact, statistically, almost none of us do. But our lives are enriched by participating in sports in ways that extend far beyond mere physical activity. If we are always looking to the “Next Level,” we often forget how important the first step is.