port, and in particular physical education, has had a profound effect on my personal development. I have also witnessed, first hand, how sport contributes towards positive outcomes for young people.
It is well documented how sport provides a direction away from anti-social behaviour and contributes towards healthy lifestyles. In the education environment, sport has been a place where learners can develop and excel through their talent and generate opportunities. This may lead to representing county teams and for others the chance to step into community sport at grassroots level. Without that opportunity at school, individuals may have not had the confidence to push themselves and explore further avenues.
In this article I will focus on football. I know that football is a great way to learn the value of teamwork and how it is necessary in order to achieve an objective, such as winning or scoring a goal. What about the individual within the team? How has football impacted upon them in terms of their personal development?
“Sport has the power to align our passion, energy and enthusiasm around a collective cause. And that is precisely when hope can be nurtured and trust can be regained. It is in our collective interest to harness the tremendous power of sport to help build a better and more sustainable future for all."
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed
As a current coach of an U12s development side, I work with players of varying abilities but they all understand the role they have to play and how each of them can contribute in their own unique way. Whether this is defending and being a creator or attacking to score goals, they have realised that one cannot be successful without the other, and this has led to the development of friendships and confidence beyond the football environment.
It is this aspect that interests me most and I like to see how each of them are beginning to realise the value of another's skill set especially when aiming to achieve success with a collective outcome. Each player has different attributes that, for example, on their own may mean that the outcome isn't successful, such as not being able to score a goal. But, they can tackle and win the ball back for their team and move the ball to a player who can have composure to place the ball past the opposition goalkeeper.
The players are also brave enough to discuss these aspects and when prompted with challenges such as 'How should we line up today?’, they can discuss and rationalise their own and each other's strengths, value and importance to the team. Without sport, would these young people be able to hold such conversations with each other? Would they develop relationships that mean they are comfortable in receiving information that either challenges their abilities or reinforces the prospect of them being an important component of the team to achieve the outcome of winning?
Coaching has been a fantastic opportunity to witness the personal development of these young people. I have seen how sport contributes towards them shaping themselves as strong, confident and determined characters who work together as a team to overcome setbacks and achieve success.
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