Reply to TrueSport discussion post

 As a parent of a young athlete the constant concern of whether or not your child is enjoying the sport they are playing and are you doing everything you can to support them in a positive manner is never ending. It is my opinion that if tools like those offered by TrueSport are used effectively you can ease the aforementioned worries and get back to focusing on the enjoyment and development youth get out of being involved in sports. According to this weeks required reading, there are three primary models for which youth sports organizations fall under. First, is the skills and excellence model which focus on progressing athletes to high levels of competition. Second, is physical literacy and lifelong participation which is built around improving health and wellness. Lastly, is the personal growth and development model which exist in and among children growing up in poor urban communities where participation in sport is lacking (Coakley, 2020). These three trains of thought are no doubt foundational correct and strong models to build off of. However, I feel each model could benefit from the use of organizations such as TrueSport.

                TrueSport offers a variety of tools aimed at the broad demographics involved in the development of and participation in youth sports. It focuses on the effective training of coaches, educators and parents to better prepare them to assist young athletes in three main areas. Those areas are sportsmanship, character & life skills, and clean & healthy performance. The TrueSport website offers a wide range of training techniques from videos to pdf documents to Q&A helpful tips. The one resource I found and think could be extremely valuable was the learn and teach link. The learn and teach link can be accessed from the perspective of a coach, parent, or educator, but is focused on the same three content areas previously mentioned (sportsmanship, character & life skills, and clean & healthy performance). Diving even deeper into the links within the parent perspective, I found a training in the form of a pdf called respect and accountability. This document defined respect and accountability and how it should be delivered as well as provided an ambassadors story (professional athlete/role model) with thought provoking questions attached to it for reflection on the concepts covered within the training (Learning & teaching programs for sports education 2021).

                The respect and accountability training could be used as tool to help establish parents expectations for the coach/parent relationship. This relationship is one in my experience that can get rocky at times and become a bad example for young athletes. Establishing expectations early on through this training could ensure an environment of professionalism and mutual trust is created between parent and coach. In doing so, a productive example of how to treat each other is created for the children. As Philippians 3:17 says, Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us (King James Bible 2010).

References 

Coakley, J. (2020). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (13th ed.). McGraw Hill LLC.

Infrontadmin. (2021, July 27). Learning & teaching programs for sports education. TrueSport. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://truesport.org/

Oxford University Press. (2010). King James Bible.

V/r,

Daryll Clark 

Organized youth sports are worth every penny, time and effort in the long run.  Playing a sport can teach you different things like sportsmanship, healthy performance, and character building.  I saw how sports can teach you these things.  There are a lot of people that want to use sports as a way of life.  TrueSport has a way of teaching us these things.  Its very important that the kids learn the values of character building such as friendship, loyalty, honesty, and trust.  A relationship of two people or more wouldnt last 5 minutes without trust.  Its very important that you never give up on other people because that would show a lot of loyalty and building character.

A good example of building character is how life can have its downs and how they can overcome it.  It may not be easy, but with their family and friends, they can do it.  TrueSport helps people that are struggling.  There are a lot of people that uses the company to give back to other people that have dealt with similar struggles.  Coach Kessel tells us that failure is a part of learning and that is very true.  What is important that they should discover themselves and learn all of the skills of their own sport.

There are five topics of character building that would make the sports worthwhile.  The first topic is goal setting.  As an athlete, its important that they have goals, whether it is short-term or long-term.  Short-term goals could last up to a year or two.  Long-term goals could last up to five to ten years at least.  Team goals would benefit everyone on the team by making goals like winning the state championship in high school soccer, or making it to regionals in youth league basketball.

The second topic is decision making.  Its important to make wise decisions that would benefit everyone in the long run.  There are decisions that will not be easy, but everyone should follow their heart in making those decisions.  It does reflect on their values and ethics that they hold dear in their life.  The third topic is shortcuts.  Its very important that we avoid shortcuts as much as we can.  We all face temptations, but its not right to do them.  It would betray their ethics and their hard work.

The fourth topic is perseverance.  Its important that we never give up on what is really important in life.  When there is a setback, dont give up.  You will find a way to fix the situation and move on.  There are obstacles that would get in the way, but they will never let that stop them from achieving their goals.  The fifth and final topic is performance anxiety.  Its important to keep a cool head, no matter what the circumstances are.  People would worry so much that it could affect their performance.  Its not good for the mental health of an athlete.  But if they really keep themselves calm, it would benefit their performance in the long run.

References:

n.d. (2021, July 27). Learning & teaching programs for sports education. TrueSport. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://truesport.org/

n.d. (2021, June 15). About. TrueSport. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://truesport.org/about/