Week 2 was the second and final week of our introduction to the new season, two weeks which focus heavily on the concept of play.
Play is as youth friendly as you can get. It’s dictate by the athlete, and encourages empowerment of the athlete as they are the decision makers within games, and nurtures confidence and self-motivation, as a desired outcome is not the focus, but process of learning through experimenting in game situations, and with freedom of creativity in problem solving.
Playing any sport should be fun, it’s not an occupation, but a hobby and a passion, and therefore a focus needs to be on the players having fun and importantly maintaining a motivation to keep playing, and staying physically active beyond their youth.
As part of our Parent Engagement, we are sharing with everyone a presentation on the importance of play, and the theory and research beyond the benefits of play, and the negative impact of treating a youth athlete as a ‘mini-professional’, or creating an ‘adult focused’ environment.
Going beyond the first two weeks of the season, our curriculum design continues to incorporate a high volume of play, and is structured around the individual player and their personal development.