Changing the Game Project

Imagine a 7 year old at a piano recital who is playing a song they have taken weeks or months to learn.  They make a mistake in their performance and their parent shouts from the back row “Ugh! You can do better than that! Come on!”  The collective gasp in the room would be quite apparent. 

This is the type of atmosphere that many young athletes face when they step on to the playing field and make a mistake.  Where at a piano recital we respect the mistake and allow the child to continue to play their song. In sports often times adults increase the pressure by getting upset and speaking out vocally.  They might also start talking to their child in the car ride home or get aggressive that their child isn’t doing something right that they expect them to.   

We have all made mistakes in our past and it is through these mistakes that we learn very important lessons.  It is these lesson that lead to the possibility of getting better and conquering even bigger lessons in life.  The way mistakes are responded to leads to the player making mistakes or learning the lesson in order to not repeat it going forward.  

There is no doubt that competitive sports have gotten a lot more intense over the last few years.  Parents have high expectations for their children or their children set big goals that they would like to achieve. Changing the Game Project is an organization dedicated to giving power back to kids and helping adults to realize that although well meaning the pressure and expectations are taking more away from the game than they are adding.  Changing the Game Project is helping adults involved in sports and working with youth to see it through the eyes of the kids.  They are helping by giving tools to guide us in being better advocates for these young players.  

Did you know that 70% of kids stop playing sports by the time they are 13 years old.  Some people might argue that this is because these kids weren’t that good, didn’t really like sports that much or were just trying it out.  This could be the case when it comes to some kids.  However, some attrition could also be due to the pressure they deal with when it comes to living up to expectations that are set too high from their parents.  These young athletes might end up burning out or dropping out even if they were a good player simply because it was too much for them to take in.  

There was a study done in 2014 for George Washington University, researcher Amanda Visik interviewed many young athletes and asked them why they played sports 9 out of 10 said they played because it was fun.  The children who were involved in this study were asked to list what they defined as fun. There was a list of 81 things here were the Top 6 responses:

1. Trying your best 

1. When coach treats players with respect 

1. Getting playing time 

1. Playing together as a team 

1. Getting along with your teammates 

1. Exercising and being active 

Here were some notable things that were at the end of the list:

48. Winning

63. Playing in Tournaments

66. Practicing with specialty trainers and coaches 

67. Earning medals and trophies 

This is very telling about what the focus should be on to help build a more positive environment for young kids in sport.  As time goes on there is no doubt that sports should become more challenging in order to build athletes that are ready for tougher competitive stages.  However, this increase should be done over a longer period of time and shouldn't start when kids are just learning skills.  The trouble comes when young athletes are put into a pressure cooker before they are capable of handling it.  Sure we want to make kids that are resilient and can handle tough situations but it doesn't have to happen instantly.  Kids should be allowed to develop, learn and in some cases struggle a bit in order to find their way.  Very few athletes fit the mould of being able to perform in pressurized environments from a very young age. Some of that needs to be taught and developed over many years of an athlete's life.  If you want to learn more about John O'Sullivan's and Changing the Game Project please visit www.changingthegameproject.com.