Teachable Moments of 2009
30/12/2009
Although the world of sport has provided us with a number of breathtaking, record-breaking moments throughout the last 12 months, the majority of back-page headlines have been about the negative side of sport. It seems that 2009 was a year for cheating.
One of our key messages at Positive Coaching Scotland is ‘Honour Our Game’, and, unfortunately, a number of world-class and professional athletes have recently failed to honour the game they are paid to play. Here are a few examples...
The 'Bloodgate' saga, which involved Harlequins’ full-back Tom Williams bursting a flake blood capsule in his mouth, allowing for a specialist substitution to be made in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup against Leinster. Although the act of cheating was of no gain to the club, and the key figures in the event have been handed lengthy bans from the sport, this act of cheating had, and continues to have, an immense impact on the previously untarnished sport of rugby union.
Indeed, possibly the most memorable moment was Thierry Henry’s handball which helped France progress to this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. His double handball against Ireland helped keep the ball in play and then lead to his country scoring a goal. Henry, the captain of his country, dishonoured the game of football, which has respected him as a world-class player for years.
Finally, there was rise of the on-going ‘diving’ debate. Kicked off by Arsenal striker Eduardo in his club’s European tie at Celtic Park in August last year, who dishonoured himself, his team-mates, the officials and his sport by ‘diving’ to gain a penalty. This lead to heightened officiating of the contact area in football and an increase in yellow cards being used to clamp down on these cheats in the game. Although it is undoubtedly something which has been going on for a considerable amount of time, the act of deceiving officials and ‘diving’ came to the fore in debates throughout world football in 2009.
But what can we learn from these acts of dishonesty? Indeed, what can we teach our children and young players? A lot, it seems. Firstly, we must differentiate between the world of professional sport where winning is everything and the players play in a ‘win-at-all-costs’ environment. On the other hand, youth sports are played in a completely different world in which the youngsters’ main objectives for playing include making friends, exercising and having fun.
At Positive Coaching Scotland, we describe the various incidents highlighted above ‘teachable moments.’ Instead of simply lambasting the actions of Henry or a Eduardo, it would be much more beneficial for you to show the incident to your child or players and ask them what they think was wrong with the actions portrayed.
We believe that sport, when practiced in correlation to the rules, has the ability to promote respect and teach crucial character-building life lessons. As parents and coaches we should be encouraging our children and players to get to the ROOTS of Honouring Our Game.
Rules – Refuse to bend the rules to win. Breaking the rules, even if you get away with it, dishonours our game.
Opponents – Respect your opponents by doing the best you can in the fairest possible way. Try your hardest to win because you want to be all you can be.
Officials – Respect the officials at all times. No-one has the right to shout at the officials.
Team-mates – Do not let your side down by your actions or lack of effort. Being part of a group should be fun. Learn to work together by encouraging and supporting each other on and off the pitch.
Self – Never let yourself down! Despite the conduct and actions of others, live up to what you believe.