In this article, Mike Peacock discusses the importance of developing the person and shares some video from a recent Sport Canterbury event.
What is a champion? In sport, it seems obvious. The winner right? Well, is it really? Does a winning 10-year-old make a winning 20-year old. And just because you are a champion on the field, will that set you up to be a champion in life?
On the evening of Tuesday 17th September, Sport Canterbury facilitated a panel of speakers to talk about just that – “How to Raise a Champion”.
In the audience were parents, teachers, school sport coordinators, sport administrators, volunteers and coaches. The speakers, who were able to draw on their own experiences and expertise as athletes, coaches and sport administrators, talked at length about:
- The environments, that we as adults can create to aid our youth to become champions on the field and off
- The pitfalls, that we as adults fall into around youth sport which can in turn negatively impact youth’s experiences in sport
Check out the video clips below for key takeaways from the evening.
Jonelle Quane – Former Surf Lifesaving NZ National Coach and Selector on “What does success look like?”
Andrew Ellis – Canterbury Cricketer & Balance is Better Ambassador on “The benefits for not specialising too soon”
John Quinn – Performance Wellbeing Coach on “Who owns sport? The participant or the administrator?”
Sharon Kearney – Former Silver Ferns Physiotherapist and Manager of NZ Netball Smart on “Myth busting athlete development”
Anna Simsic – Athlete Life Advisor at High Performance Sport NZ, former Olympian and CWG Gold Medallist on “Childhood success does lead to adult success”
So, next time you’re coaching a session or driving your kids on the way home from a game, it’s worth considering how you’re helping them to be champions in the long run – on the field, and off the field.
Image Source: Photosport
