The news in recent days is full of stories about professional athletes using their platform and audience to bring attention to certain situations going on in present day society. It has taken on a significant wide reaching place in news coverage and discussions. Sports has always been involved in pushing for social change and unifying people of different beliefs, backgrounds, nationalities etc.
Sports has also been very involved in community outreach and supporting charities and organizations. Many professional athletes have foundations or organizations whose aim is to raise funds for causes they believe in. This is also the situation with many professional teams and leagues. On a personal note, I am a huge supporter of the Right to Play and have supported them in various fashions in past years. Today's blog topic is motivated for our game from this past Friday. For the 12th straight year, we held a game in memory of Erica Cadieux, a former Stinger soccer player who was killed when hit by a car while walking her daughters along the Lakeshore. The game initially started as former teammates and friends of hers asked the athletics department if we could hold a game in her name and collect donations and gifts for the Montreal Children's Hospital. The event started out as a way for family and friends to come together to celebrate Erica's life anchored around something she was very proud about, being a student-athlete. We certainly didn't plan to make it an annual event but it has remained and become a staple of our season. The friends who initially suggested the game have moved away but the game continues. Each fall the family returns to the field to remember Erica and collect donations in her name. This year was the first that her daughters who moved away to Ontario with their father were unable to attend. Few of the players on the team today were even born when Erica Cadieux wore the maroon and gold but each year, they take pride in raising money to purchase gifts for the children and our team leaders reach out to captain from other Stingers teams to collect donations. It truly is a team effort in the real sense of the word. This year's event had an added caché to it as we held an alumni reception. Thirty or so former players returned to Concordia to reconnect with teammates and interact with current members of the team. It was a great evening with close to $1200 raised in donations and gifts. It is a small gesture in athletes going beyond play on the field and actively participating in community support but it shows how sports can reach out and play their part. The benefits of youth sports are numerous. Kids and young adults learn the value of hard work, the importance of improvement, how to win and lose graciously, and how athletic pursuits can also be fun. A couple hours every week participating in a sport can lead to skills that translate into every aspect of a person’s life in adulthood.One amazing benefit that is often overlooked is that youth sports generally turn kids into better citizens, more willing to volunteer to their communities. Study after study has shown this correlation, not just for high school or university student-athletes, but for younger children as well. Rather than wait for this spirit of volunteerism to emerge later in life, team sports can provide community outreach opportunities for their teams and players. The skills players can learn from these efforts are extraordinary. Plenty of outreach opportunities outside leagues are available for teams and players. Many of the other Stingers teams participate in activities planned to provide support for great causes, anything for our annual shoot for the cure activities, pitching in at shelters, reaching out to high school and elementary schools and so much more. ports promote teamwork, but adding a community outreach opportunity takes that teamwork to another level. Many rosters are filled with players who do not interact with each other outside of practices and games; sure, you might have a few kids who are friends on the same team, but rarely is a team a whole group of friends outside the sport. Volunteer events give these teams a chance to work together and interact without worrying about drills and final scores. Friendships are strengthened—perhaps into relationships that last beyond the season and beyond their years playing sports. As already stated, a great benefit of youth sports are the life skills that are imparted upon players. Volunteering also imparts life skills as well—that working toward the well-being of others is worthwhile, that community is important, that sacrificing time and energy for seemingly nothing return is a valuable experience, and so on. Connecting both creates wisdom that is normally not seen in kids, who learn the value of hard work not only for themselves, but also for their teammates, their league, and their community. Moreover, community outreach can lead to fantastic memories as wonderful as, hopefully, the actual sport will. So anytime you see athletes and more importantly ( shameless plug) student-athletes being involved in community outreach and fundraising activities to support different organizations, take the time to support them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
Categories
All
|