Last week I had the opportunity to volunteer at the New Brunswick Indian Summer Games (A name change is being considered). I spent a morning at the UNB Lady Beaverbrook pool as a timer. It reminded me of why I decided to study and work in sport many years ago, and why I have persisted until now.
I watched the sense of accomplishment on the faces of these young swimmers, many of whom were competing for the first time. I watched the camaraderie being developed between teammates as they cheered each other on and celebrated each others efforts. And, I was just happy to see physical exertion of these kids and hoping that they would come to relish the post exercise feeling of positive fatigue.
This event came on the heels of the North American Indigenous Games and was at the same time as the Canada Games were taking place in Winnipeg. I followed the stories from both Games along with thousands of others on Twitter, Facebook, TSN and the CBC. There were so many positive stories of athletes overcoming the odds to make a team, personal bests being achieved and good sportsmanship that it has contributed to a very positive summer of sport. These games have been a shining example of the good of sport and in addition to the memories of the fun and the competition, I wonder what other benefits these Games bring our athletes.
Often in attempting to answer this question, we focus on the experience at Games itself, but we need to look at the whole process. For all athletes this starts many years before the event, although most Canada Games team programs formally start about two years out. They involve numerous camps, hundreds of ours of disciplined individual training, thousands of kilometres of travel to competitions, lots of tests, trials and tribulations. The rewards include the health benefits of all the physical activity, the social benefits of belonging to a team, learning teamwork and leadership skills, acquiring life lessons and a whole host of others. Once at the Games, athletes develop friendships from across the nation strengthening our social fabric.
Despite all the positives that sport can bring, I have worked with and presented to many groups who view sport as a four letter word. It is a viewpoint fuelled by stories in the media of drug cheats, sporting acts of violence, role models gone bad and the greed of some professional athletes. However, it would be a mistake to gloss over this perception and consider it simply a fault of the media. Too often, we are not doing a good enough job with minor sports. A system that relies almost entirely on volunteers (to keep costs affordable) often shoots itself in the foot by disappointing its clients - parents and youth.
I try to keep my eyes and ears open and see the very good and the not so good of youth sports. We have some great associations who are very well organized, the communication is good. Parents show up to venues and are greeted and shown where to go, coaches are prepared, well trained and supported. The facilities and equipment are appropriate, the atmosphere overwhelmingly positive and the environment is safe. Everyone participates, everyone learns, everyone competes and everyone has fun. This is how youth sport should be, but it often misses the mark. Cases of disorganization, poor coaching, an emphasis on winning rather than competing and bad sportsmanship are still too common and we need to work together to overcome them.
Over the years, problems in sport have led a good number of people to view sport in a negative light. We need to collectively do a better job of providing quality sport experiences to change this perception so that more kids can benefit in more ways from participating in sport. In the meantime, parents should do their homework before signing their kids up for a program. Are the coaches trained? Does the club follow the Sport for Life Model and it's national bodies endorsed programs? What is the competition system and the rules around it? What are the expectations of the parents?
If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well.
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