Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2016

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A SPORTING LIFE

Minna Atherton (11B, profile on page 20)

There is also a number of life skills that girls learn from playing sport. Some girls learn communication skills by overcoming their shyness and others learn to listen better by being less outspoken. Organisational skills develop and girls learn to work together on the playing field — they also begin to understand that being successful means many failed attempts. Girls learn to deal with adversity and to put a situation into perspective when a match is lost in the last minute. The persistence and discipline displayed in activities such as getting up in the cold early hours of the morning and staying behind at the end of training to work on a particular skill, are invaluable life skills that will transfer to the next stage of their life journey (Kniffin, Wansink & Shimizu, 2014; Holt, Tamminen, Tink & Black, 2003; IOC, 2014). Finally, there are the leadership and service opportunities that exist in the sporting environment and honing these attributes can make girls better prepared for university and their future careers. Recent research has highlighted the fact that ‘student-athletes — captains and non-captains alike — tend to be exposed to important pro-social values through experiences that provide them with generalisable and persistent skills and lessons for life and work outside of sports’ (Sitkin & Hackman, 2011). Another remarkable report released on the link between leadership skills and sports participation is by Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Terrance Fitzsimmons. His research showed a major contrast between the childhood experiences of male

AUTHOR Ms Sally Northcroft Director of Sport

THE WORLD RECENTLY ENJOYED THE PERFORMANCES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ATHLETES AT THE RIO OLYMPICS.

Glowing faces receiving medals, celebratory cheers, hugs and leaps in to the air are televised and publicised for the world to see. What we don’t see is the hard work, sacrifice and thousands of hours that have gone into perfecting the performance that gets the athletes to the level of an Olympian. These athletes are role models for the athletes at Girls Grammar. They represent what is possible. We know sport has the ability to positively influence academic results, and that the competition and challenge in training for sport can instill values and skills in our students that stay with them for a lifetime. Consider the impact of engaging in the structure and competition associated with playing a sport; the psycho-social benefits such as increased self-esteem, improvement in self-identity, an increased feeling of connectedness to their school and connection to social groups — this last benefit being a highly-desired outcome for adolescent girls (Rosewater, 2009).

GRAMMAR GAZETTE