Gotta Teach the Children
by | June 5, 2015, 6:11am 0
Spirit of the Game Conference
Presented by WFDF
“Finish this sentence: ‘The most difficult thing about teaching Spirit to young players is ____.’”
That’s how a panel of coaches from junior national teams in Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United States kicked off their segment of WFDF’s Spirit of the Game conference.
One coach says it’s teaching young players to step back and be objective about a situation even when they’re directly involved. Another says it’s about breaking down expectations from other sports, and another says it’s helping them understand that Spirit will be as important as ever as their level of play rises. One says it’s actually a lot easier to teach Spirit to kids than it is adults.
Building Spirit into your team’s identity, the coaches say, means pointing out that you’re really not much different from your opponent, electing players to pay special attention to Spirit, making sure members of your team treat each other the right way, and remembering that you’re the example your team looks toward.
What do you think works well when teaching Spirit to kids? Got any suggestions for keeping Spirit at the forefront as young players get older and more competitive?
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