Secondary Sport

Head of Secondary Sport

Failure IS an Option!

It is natural for a young student athlete to fear “failing” in sport. After all, it usually takes place in a public arena with spectators full of parents or peers and results are often publicised for many to see. Combine this with public practices and training sessions and sport is an activity where your effort, and your outcomes from that effort, are visible for all to see.

However, how do we define “failure” in sport? And what does it mean to us?

Many think failure is losing? Achieving a lower placing than the previous competition or game. These measurements of success or failure do not take into account the growth and development of a young athlete and are based on external factors such as other competitors.

To me failure in sport is not fulfilling your potential and must be viewed as part of the development process of a young person. A great quote by author Daniel Pink reflects this sentiment,

“The greater risk is to fear failure more than mediocrity for yourself. To give up through fear of failure on being the best you can possibly be in your chosen pursuits.“

Know what your best is, know how to improve your best and continue to learn how to improve your best is a true description of determination, grit and ultimately success.

This learning process is observable in the way that athletes approach their training and practice. There is a willing attitude and drive to perfect their abilities. If results, games and times are not as they had hoped, a learning process immediately begins. This may be implicit (self-talk) or explicit (communicated to a coach or teammate).

The steps of the process usually involve the following which are broken into four As:

The ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: That isn’t my best outcome?
The ANALYSIS: Why did this happen?
The ACTION: What is the solution to this problem?
The AWARENESS: When? And where will this action take place? And what will it look and feel like?

Students must be able to find a solution to their problems and know how to improve the outcome. If they cannot work the answer out they start questioning the coach for it…relentlessly. They have a drive to invest effort in order to improve again and again. These are great qualities to have in life and can be developed through sport.

As a young school-based athlete, this is the place where you learn and develop these skills. Perceived “failures” are important parts of our path and where we want that path to take us. In a way, success is not built on previous success, it is built on failure.

Sport is not a level playing field. Sometimes you may be the best you can be and still lose the competition, however the lessons learnt through self-exploration in the process are more valuable than any medal, trophy, team selection or award.

Important

There will be no sport on Thursday 24 September, the last day of Term 3. Further details regarding student departures on this day can be seen in the Head of Secondary School section.

Basketball

Teams will be announced on Monday 21 September on Redlands Pulse and the Sports Noticeboard in the Liggins Quad . There will be no Basketball training in Week 10 other than the 1st V Boys and Girls on Tuesday afternoon.

Tennis

Summer Tennis trials and training continue this week. As we move into the summer months, please ensure students bring a hat and their own water bottle to each training session as bubblers are currently unavailable. Sunscreen is available at most venues which students are encouraged to use.

There is no Tennis on Saturday 19 September.

During the upcoming school holidays there are a number of opportunities for students to play Tennis. Our coaching provider Grand Slam Tennis are offering a Tennis Camp on Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October. Students currently in Groups 1 and 2 should register for the High-Performance Camp and students currently in Groups 3 and 4 should register for the Development Camp. It is a great opportunity to participate in extended training sessions focusing on fitness, technical skills, tactical awareness and footwork through high intensity drills and match and point play.

Our Summer Tennis competition organisation, NSTA, are hosting a UTR event on Saturday 4 October for Tennis players who fall into the U14 age group only. Interested students are encouraged to register for the NSTA UTR event . Please note, this is not a school event but will be great opportunity to play competitive tennis against other tennis players of similar ability.

Just a reminder, all illness and injuries are to be communicated via email to Eliza Peirce. Please do not attend trainings if unwell.

Touch Football

Please note Touch Football teams will be announced on Monday 21 September. There will only be training on Tuesday 22 September for the players named in the 1st VI and Junior A teams.

Mr Tom Kindred
Head of Secondary School Sport
sports@redlands.nsw.edu.au

All Sports contacts can be found on Redlands Pulse.