Sport for the Love and Practicailty of it

A couple of weeks ago I found myself at the Canadian Powerlifting Championships in Jonquiere, Quebec.  I should state the obvious, which is that I was not competing, I was there with my wife, who was.  In fact, during the morning weigh-in, a lady was handing out competitor wrist bands and asking who needed one and she walked right by me.  I thought I'd done enough over the past 4 months of the cycling 'off-season' to at least warrant a dismissive "you're not competing are you".

Anyhow, being here reminds me of all the good things that sport has to offer.  This competition has motivated hundreds of master's athletes across the country to work out hard every day of the week, eat healthy and focus on clear goals.  It has also led to some other family members eating a lot healthier than they may have otherwise tended to do.

I wonder how many of these athletes had positive experiences in quality sport programs when they were growing up.  I would hazard a guess that most of them did and the habits of working out have stayed with them throughout their life. 

As I was waiting around during the morning session while people were gradually getting warmed up you could see the camaraderie between the athletes.  They were happy to see old friends and see the progress that each had made.  There was no attitudes on display, no mind games being played and nobody talking smack.  I guess in a sport like powerlifting, you let your performance speak for you.  No point trash talking and then failing on a 50kg squat.  It was just a 'happy to be alive and doing what I love' vibe going around, and who doesn't want that?

It was interesting to see how most women clearly had a weight category that they had trained to compete in and were boundly determined to stay under that weight, while others had decided long ago that they would just go in the open class.  Either way, respect is due when you see how much these ladies are lifting.  Any women in there 50s and 60s who can squat 100+ kgs deserve recognition.

The really nice thing about powerlifting is that it's one of the most practical sports, right up there with running.  The transfer of my skills from soccer to real life are modest.  I have managed to cushion the fall of the odd plate and saved it from breaking, but as a powerlifter you can pick up heavy stuff. Who needs a car jack if your partner can dead lift 200kgs?  Bring all the groceries from the car upstairs in one trip.  The dog isn't pulling you across the street when he sees a squirrel, not with those thighs that can squat 100kgs.  Yes, the many benefits of sport and practical.  You've got to love it.

Fran deadlifts 142KGs for a new master 2 national record.

Kudos to UNB Men's Hockey - Development Should Never End.

The University of New Brunswick Men's hockey team won another national championship this past Sunday.  To beat the likes of Queens, Acadia and Saskatchewan, you can imagine that they had to play remarkably well.  This was arguably the best team that UNB has ever assembled - at least in the 30 years that I've been watching.  However, what impressed me most is the player development that has taken place.

At this level there must be a temptation to simply recruit the best available players and plug them into a system.  Now I don't have 'people' on the inside or know any players, but  the constant improvement of the players in all facets of the game is plain to see.  Each year players get better and it is a real testimony to the program.  There must be a great deal of emphasis on individual player development as well as the team as a whole.

That said, isn't getting better what drives and motivates all true athletes.  We love a challenge and are committed to improve which motivates us to work hard.  We aren't measuring performance in steps taken, more likely litres sweat.  This is one of the big wins of sport.  It also points to one of the big holes in the Canadian Sport System.  All of our coaching programs are focused on youth or the development of high performance athletes.  Once you enter the 'weekend warrior' group, no more proper coaching.  Now you have to rely on the internet, hearsay, the old timer who always shows up or put your trust in what the top performer has to say.

Rant: Are we obsessed with winning and losing?

Way back in the day I read a quote from a leading sport sociologist Garry Whannel (1983) "For every one winner, there's at least one loser".  It's a very profound statement, and had I belonged to a book club in those days, I'm sure it could have been the topic of much discussion.

Now I'm a pretty competitive guy and it took me a while to learn that losing is ok.  No, it actually is ok.  If I lose, it's probably OK.  It's not that I didn't prepare properly or give the old 110% we like to think is necessary. It's not that the referee had it in for me or the coach must go.  Somebody has to lose.

For those who participate in individual sports, let's face facts, you almost always lose.  500 people in a triathlon race, one winner.  If you are in a racquet or combat sport, on average, you lose half the time.  In team sports, a little less if ties are allowed.  Without at least one loser, there are no winners (Harris 2017).

Look at the sports pages of any media site or even the web pages of local club sites and we report on the heroes of the day (winners) at the expense of the real content.  Who scored, who placed, who finished first, but very little about the competition itself, the performances, the lessons learned, etc.

OK, I'm all for trying to win and giving it all you have within the rules and with proper ethics and all that, but we need to lose this idea that it's all about winning and start to focus on performance (and the other great things about sport).  How many personal bests?  Who were the strong performers (stats aside)?  How strong was the opposition?

I sure as heck didn't win this one.

 

Rightsizing Sport

I just found an excellent story on the development of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Mathews.  I'd always wondered how a kid growing up in Arizona not only made it to the NHL, but is thriving in it.  Why everyone in hockey is talking about Auston Matthews . The article is a bit dated and every once in a while I regret cancelling my daily subscription to the Globe and Mail. however, not usually on recycling day.

With the New Brunswick Hockey Association endorsing cross-ice hockey there are those for it and those who think it's just not real hockey.  As well,  there is so much focus on playing games and going to tournaments that I sometimes wonder if the sport is for the kids or the parents.  While this relates to hockey, you could insert many of our major team sports in here.

The Auston Mathews story describes how nearly all of his early hockey experience was gained playing 3 on 3 on a small ice surface.  This is said to be largely responsible for his incredible puck handling ability.  Working in tight quarters he had to think quick and keep the puck close.

Auston also spent an inordinate amount of time with a skating coach, but it seems very little time in the early years with a hockey coach.  In fact, for two years, Auston didn't play competitive hockey, he just played locally and practiced.  How does this match up with the predominant thinking of Canada's typical hockey parent?  Travel and play, travel and pay, spring hockey, summer hockey, hockey camps......

So I ask, does a player need this level of organization to be the next 'Great One?'  Given the Mathews story, the answer would seem to be a resounding NO, at least at the younger ages.  Would parents and kids be better off if we returned the days of the past where kids spent hours and hours just playing small sided games and playing around on the ice?  Unfortunately, many kids these days don't take the opportunity to get out and experience free play so maybe this will not work.  However, at the very least, I would suggest that parents would be much better off spending a fraction of the money they do on travelling to tournaments and channeling some of it into ice time and encouraging free play.

It's so easy to get caught up in playing games or going to competitions.  I recall travelling to 9 speed skating competitions in one season, 6 of them weekend affairs outside of Fredericton.  It likely cost around $3,000 just for travel.  Those competitive experiences were valuable, but how much competition is enough competition.  Competition is a test and following the test you need time to improve before being tested again.  You can't do that if you are going from game to game or meet to meet.  It is so easy to fall into line with the norm.

The Sport for Life model  www.canadiansportforlife.ca promotes competition for development and asks sports to take a serious look at their competition schedules.  We need to ask questions about what level of competition is appropriate and when.  How can we limit travel and costs?   At what age should sports have provincial championships and when should it be a jamboree?  What are the implications for having provincials for very young athletes?

If we could reduce the cost and commitment for parents, more kids could afford to play and there would be more local competition and fewer travel demands at the younger ages.  The more kids playing, the more kids there are bin the competitive stream later.  As Kiwi rugby coach says in the video featured on the Sport for Life page"it takes a lot of milk to make cream".