Today's blog post was written by Mark Egan. Mark is a sophomore at Notre Dame majoring in Science Business. Mark is a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching course taught by Play Like a Champion Founder and Director Professor Clark Power and Program Director Kristin Sheehan. Mark is currently a coach intern at a local high school in South Bend, IN.
People sometimes make the argument that sports do not develop
character, they reveal it. Some say that
leadership cannot be taught and that it is something you are either born with
or not. I believe that these ideas could
not be any more false. Everything that
my life, experience, and classes have taught me proves the opposite. In fact, I believe that sports are necessary
for kids to develop character and leadership skills. This semester, I am interning as an assistant coach for a
local high school football team, and the following example of a technique used
by the coaches of this team is perfect for making this point.
The coaches on this football team have been doing a special
thing with their off-season strength and conditioning program. The guys are broken up into 4 teams, and are
constantly competing against each other’s teams, receiving and losing points
for every single thing they do. However, despite this competition and the drive to improve for next season, the team also spends a hunk of practice discussing sportsmanship. A
typical practice begins with a 20 minute talk on leadership, teamwork, sportsmanship, work ethic, and many other important values. Only after the discussion do the guys warm up and hit the weight room for the competitive stations of practice. After the weight room, the coaches set the teams against each other for physical
and agility challenges, and then post-practice stretching.Throughout practice, the coaches are supportive of the players while they work hard and have a good time, and this approach is mirrored by the rest of the team.
During the talks before practice, the guys are constantly
reminded what it means to be a good leader.
They are told that they all can be good leaders on the team and are
taught that leadership is the process of influencing others to maximize their
efforts in achieving a common goal.
During the workouts, they are quickly forced to put what they have just
learned into practice as they realize the importance of working together to score points in the intra-squad competition. The
good thing about the way this point system works is that no one
person gets the credit or glory if he surpasses his teammates. Therefore, it is
important for every player on each team to motivate his teammates to perform at
their maximum capacity. As a result,
there is a heavy emphasis on keeping each teammate accountable for their performance and
pushing each other at all times. This
type of a dynamic promotes team chemistry, leadership skills, and loyalty. Without consciously saying anything,
this coaching technique in my opinion, builds a better team, as well as better people.
