10 minutos.
Blog Roble
What does
winning
mean in school sports?
Afterschool sports will always be spaces for creativity, growth, challenge and happiness for the student body.
By Aldo Urbano
We have a wide variety of activities such as soccer, taekwondo, basquetball, voleibol, padel tennis, track and field and many more. Is winning the goal behind training and competition? What are some of the expectations that the family has in these instances? And what role does the trainer have in the teaching process? These and other questions will be addressed in this blog.
1.-Sports are fundamental!
Activating your body through physical exercise is fundamental to your children’s development. There is no replacement for this activation and it’s benefits, like motor functions and discipline, are lifelong gifts. Many of what team trainers bring to practice will mark the students’ lives, habits and relationships. Many attributes are sharpened through training and practice like teamwork, resilience, solidarity, creativity, leadership, stress management and mental flexibility. All of this shapes the way students resolve conflict and sharpen the skills that will serve them in their professional pursuits.
2.-School sports are for everyone.
School sports have evolved, where before it was a place for the best and strongest, now it has become a place where everyone’s skills are welcome. Now we know that everyone is different, with different backgrounds and skills. Athletic integration has become a shared goal between the school and families and fostering healthy habits has become a social priority. We may ask ourselves why our children no longer want to participate in school sports and there are many factors to this subject. First off, the unnecessary pressure that we place on them to succeed can hinder their interest in practicing and getting better.
“they aren’t miniature professional athletes” states Juan Pidal, one of the best school trainers in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqq8gbxxdCo). Students are actually socializing through sport as a means to achieve different goals. Never express doubt about whether a student can participate or not. If they are interested and committed then through practice they will achieve their goals, which is the true victory for all.
3.- The trainer as a coach.
School training has evolved as well, whereas before it was enough to have practiced the sport in order to teach it, now there are undergraduate programs designed to teach the art of coaching. The coach must approach his job as a formative leader in the lives of his students. One time a student asked me what his coach had studied to get to his position. Upon receiving my answer, which was that he studied high school and a four year degree his eyes lit up. He exclaimed, “maybe i’ll be a coach one day too”.
Many of the words of encouragement that a coach gives his students after a loss can echo in the students lives for many years. These words of affirmation often let the students know how close they are to reaching their objectives and that they are not alone on their journey.
4.- Winning
In order to understand that winning is just a single component of sports, we must integrate families, school, students and trainers. Then we can understand the parallels between physical activity and life itself. Both have ups and downs, good and bad decisions and it all forms part of the long journey that we are on. What matters most is how we weave through it all and how we as a family handle adversity. How we can be a support system to all students who are beginning to practice without placing the importance on the first place trophy. In the end our students will win in more ways than one:
- 1) They will know how capable they are, being that they had no idea of their reach whe they began practicing.
- 2) Their friendship bonds will grow stronger as they realize that they are not the only ones who struggle but never give up.
- 3) They will learn that practice and perseverance will shape them for the better.
- 4) Upon looking back they will recount the hours of practice, joy and play.
- 5) When they are older they will remember the time spent among friends and family, at matches and games, where their close ones always had their back and cheered them on.
- 6)They will know that their school was a safe place to practice and get to know their limits and skills.
Lastly, whenever the team wins it is cause for celebration due to the amount of teamwork. However, whenever we go out there and give it our best, we win as well no matter the scoreboard. Winning means wanting to be a part of something, a team, a group of friends and to know that through practice growth is possible. Winning means achieving new skills and knowledge.
https://sites.google.com/elroble.edu.mx/after-schoolroble/p%C3%A1gina-principal
Lic Aldo Urbano Juárez
Director After School Activities
Colegio El Roble
Árbitro Internacional de Básquetbol 2005-2021
