Norman Brook of Brook Sport Consulting is pleased to have been asked by the Local Organising Committee of the International Triathlon Union’s Science and Triathlon 2021 World Conference 2021 to act as Conference Convenor responsible for the event logistics.
Dr Phathokuhle Zondi, CEO, Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) has been appointed Co-convenor responsible for the conference programme.
The conference takes place on the 15th and 16th February 2021 in Cape Town and will be held in conjunction with the ITU Cape Town World Cup Triathlon.
The International Triathlon Union has announced the appointment of Brook Sport Consulting to deliver their mentorship programme in 2020 and 2021. The announcement was made at the 2019 ITU Congress held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“The final selection of the company chosen to deliver the ITU mentorship programme was also announced on Thursday. Helmed by Norman Brook, who has worked with Olympic coaches and received an MBE for his services to social development through sport, Brook Sport Consulting will deliver a mentorship programme across all areas of the sport, from coaches to technical officials, including a specific focus on women in the sport.”
Norman Brook will be working with our associate consultant Penny Crisfield (Apollinaire Consulting) to develop and support the ITU mentorship programme which is to be rolled out on all continents and will seek to support the development of the generation of the sport’s leaders with a specific emphasis in achieving gender equality in the sport.
Brook Sports Consulting have been providing technical assistance to a number of high profile development agencies and sport bodies in recent months in respect of sport for development and peace programmes.
We were pleased to provide consulting services to UNESCO and the FIFA Foundation in respect of the life skills content of the FIFA Football for Schools App. With most life skills programmes in football focused on adolescents and young adults there is a lack of programmes designed to meet the life skills requirements of primary school aged children. This led to the development of a life skills package that focuses on the personal, social, health and safety skills of this younger age group. The package uses football activities to create discussions around a range of issues such as self-awareness, collaboration, citizenship, physical and mental health, and bullying. Coaches/school teachers facilitating conversations at the end of the training that allow children to reflect on what learned through the football activity that can apply in their wider lives.
You can read about the FIFA Football for Schools programme here which hopes to reach some 700m children around the world.
We were also pleased to be asked to provide technical assistance to the Commonwealth Secretariat in respect of their cricket based sport for development and peace programme “Peace at the Crease”.
Cricket is a sport with immense popularity and cultural significance in member countries of the Commonwealth. The Peace at the Crease initiative aims to demonstrate the impact and change that can be affected when sport-based policy and strategy is intentionally positioned to contribute positively to sustainable development, health and building peaceful and just societies.
Brook Sport Consulting have been helping the Commonwealth Secretariat to develop a quality assurance and delivery manual for the Peace at the Crease Initiative. Read more here.
We are passionate about the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in sport so were delighted to be asked by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to conduct a Baseline Survey on Safeguarding for sport and sport for development in Kenya.
This involved us in travelling to the UNHCR refugee camp in Kakuma and in consulting with a range of sport, sport for development, education and legal stakeholders in Nairobi.
There are approximately 191,500 refugees living in Turkana West close to the border with South Sudan alongside the host population of 320,000. Children are the largest population group with 111,749 aged 17 years and under, representing almost 58.3% percent of the entire refugee population living in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei camps. Women and girls constitute 46.9 percent of the refugee population.
In an effort to curb the violence and promote peaceful co-existence among refugees and host communities in Turkana West, the UNHCR and its partners decided to present a new model for sports that encapsulated multi-national and multi-ethnic teams that would foster a stronger bond among different refugee and host community members. The new model promotes behaviour change among girls, boys, young men and women and ‘Do No Harm’ through a number of key activities; Kakuma Premier League, Kakuma United FC, and the management of the Sports Field.
Kakuma United FC is the first football club in Kakuma to be registered by the Football Kenya Federation as part of the Division 2 Western Zone League. Kakuma United is uniquely composed of players from seven different nationalities, drawn from the Kakuma refugee camp, the nearby Kalobeyei settlement and Kenyans from the local host community.
Sixteen teams play in the Kakuma Premier League and 10 female football teams playing in the ‘Divas League’. Teams playing in the league are required to have a mix of players who are both refugees from different countries and from the host community.
Back in Nairobi we met with sports and sport for development and peace organisations. Sport for development and peace organisations are ahead of the curve when it comes to having safeguarding policies and implement safeguarding measures. Sport has yet to properly embrace safeguarding but it is clear that the infrastructure required to implement robust policies and measures exists and there is no reason that Kenya cannot expedite the implementation of safeguarding in sport.
Frankline Olukohe (GIZ S4DA), George Nange (MYSA), Norman Brook (Brook Sport Consulting) and Andrew Oloo (GIZ S4DA) meet in Mathare, Nairobi to discuss safeguarding in sport.
In her opening address at this year’s South
African AIDS Conference Professor Refilwe Nancy
Phaswana-Mafuya – who chairs the conference – said the event was happening at a
“paradoxical time” as response to the epidemic was slowly weakening. She stated
“Political will seems to be declining. A sense of urgency seems to have gotten
lost. This conference is happening at a time when there are looming perceptions
that the HIV epidemic is almost over, while we all know we have unacceptably
high levels of HIV/Aids in South Africa and new infections are also high.”
Professor Phaswana-Mafuya comments align with a recent unease I have been feeling about the role of sport’s programmes who seem to have taken their foot of the accelerator when it comes to HIV Prevention education.
In the United Nations 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, Member States recognised sport as an important enabler
of sustainable development, highlighting its growing contribution to the realisation
of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect. Sustainable
Development Goal 3 speaks to healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at
all ages and includes the target of ending the epidemic of AIDS by 2030.
My feeling is that as treatment for
people living with HIV/AIDS has improved there has been a falling investment in
preventing the spread of the virus.
The 90-90-90 campaign perhaps rightly
as taken centre stage whereas education programmes aimed at HIV prevention have
move to the side of the stage. The
90-90-90 campaign is an ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS
epidemic. By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status;
90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive
sustained antiretroviral therapy; and 90% of all people receiving
antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
This test and treat strategy has seen AIDS
related deaths fall from 250,000 per annum in 2006 to 100,000 per annum in 2016
and national life expectancy, rising from 61.2 years in 2010 to 67.7 years in
2015.
New infections have been falling year on year in South
Africa since 2000 but remain far too high.
Over 30 percent of all new HIV infections globally have been estimated
to occur among adolescents. According to the Human Sciences
Research Council, over 250,000 new HIV infections occur in South Africa
annually. In the 15 to 24 years age group, it is estimated that there were
88,000 new cases of infection, three times higher in adolescent girls
and young women than in adolescent boys and young men in the age group. Multiple
biological and societal factors play a role in the transmission of the virus and
young people, especially adolescent girls and young women are at high risk of
contracting the virus.
Adolescent girls and boys, young women and men need can
through sports programmes develop resilience and emotional intelligence as well
as develop correct knowledge about HIV/AIDS and HIV prevention. HIV prevention was once at the centre of sport for
development programmes in South Africa, but times have changed and many programmes
that had a focus on HIV prevention have disappeared including the Kicking OUT
Aids Network, GIZ Youth Development through Sport, and Coaching for Hope.
One of the programmes that remains is Grassroots Soccer who were one of the few sports-based health education programmes that attended this year’s South African AIDS Conference. You can read about their contribution and reflections to the conference here.
Perhaps now is the time for sport to refocus and see what we can to contribute to the elimination of AIDS epidemic by 2030. Here in South Africa where we still have 88,000 adolescents and young adults contracting the virus each year work needs to continue on HIV prevention and sport should be continuing to contribute to this effort.
Norman Brook is the author of a number of sport for development and peace resources including the GIZ Youth Development through Football HIV Prevention Manual and the GIZ Football4Life Manual that addresses Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights.
Opinion Piece by Norman Brook MBE, International Sports Consultant & Campaigner for Safeguarding in Sport in Africa.
Schools and sports clubs are required in law in South Africa to check both staff and volunteers working with children or adults with a mental disability against the sexual offenders register and staff and volunteers are required in law to inform their employer if they appear on the register.
Schools are required in law to check if any person they employ or who has access to children which would include volunteer sports coaches against Part B of the Child Protection register.
Dr Prince Martins Abhulimhen (Jose Foundation) & Dr Debbie Alexander (SASCOC) at the Safeguarding in Sport Conference in Johannesburg
Dr Prince Martins Abhulimhen (Jose Foundation) & Mr Marc Hardwick (Guardian) at the Safeguarding in Sport Conference in Johannesburg
When we consider the following three cases, we might want to ask are schools and sports clubs undertaking their legal duty to vet volunteer sports coaches and are the requirements in law enough to safeguard children against abuse or do schools and sports clubs need to do much more.
We might also wish to enquire how the Department of Basic Education, Department of Sport and Recreation and South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee are coordinating efforts to safeguard children practicing sport from harassment, abuse and exploitation. Each organisation carries responsibility for the environments where children are engaged in sport, through physical education and school sport, through mass participation initiatives and through club and high-performance sport. The question is are these organisations coordinating the safeguarding of children or are there gaps that are allowing perpetrators to commit crimes against children practicing sport.
There are no guarantees that vetting will catch all potential predators, but it should catch those with previous convictions or who have been deemed unsuitable to work with children, and vetting should act as a deterrent to perpetrators aware that the school or sports organisation is on its guard against potential non-accidental harm.
It is part of our legal and moral duty of care to safeguard children from harm. On the legal side we must conduct police clearance checks to ensure that those we employ as paid staff or unpaid volunteers who will have access to sport are not deemed unsuitable to work with children. We should also be covering ourselves as schools and sports organisations in terms of the sexual offences legislation by sending a list of names and ID numbers of our staff and volunteers to the Registrar of Sexual Offences for clearance.
In addition, we should be asking for at least two written references from people of good standing vouching that the staff member or volunteer is of good character and that the referees have no concerns regarding them have in regular contact with children.
Next, we should ensure that they are registered with their National Sports Federation and are qualified as a coach. We should not be engaging unqualified coaches. If someone is volunteering to assist in coaching sport, they should always be supervised and be committed to undertaking coach training with their chosen sport’s coach education programme.
When interviewing for staff or volunteer positions we should include questions that explore the candidates background of working with children. Here are some examples:
Explore a timeline of previous roles in sport and any other roles that involved them working directly with children, young people, persons with a mental disability;
Assess their attitude and commitment to safeguarding children;
Assess their previous experience of working with children both inside and outside of sport;
Provide the applicant a scenario of a safeguarding nature such as child not being collected after a gymnastics session and ask what they do in that circumstance;
Ask the applicant if they have ever been refused work that involved contact with children, young people, persons with a mental and/or physical disability; or anything that the school or club should know that could affect their suitability to work with children, young people, persons with a mental and/or physical
Let’s look at three cases that have recently been covered in the media.
The first involves Collan Rex, a former Parktown Boys’ High School water polo coach who was sentenced last year to 23 years in prison on 144 counts of sexual assault and 14 of assault. His prosecution and sentencing have been extensively covered in the South African media along with concerns about the culture at the school that enabled this abuse to take place.
Here are some questions that need be considered not just by the school that employed him but also by the various role players who should work together to put in systems to safeguard children taking part in sport.
Was Collan Rex properly vetted before being given the role of water polo coach at the school? Was a police clearance certificate provided? Was he checked against the Child Protection Register Part B and was he checked against the Sexual Offenders Register? Did he undergo a formal interview for the position which explored his history of coaching and working with children? Was he a qualified water polo coach registered with Swimming South Africa?
In respect of the second case we cannot name the alleged perpetrator who has appeared twice in court as he is yet to plead to charges being brought against him by the state. He was however immediately dismissed by a disciplinary committee at Bryanston High School which found him guilty of misconduct. Following his dismissal, a 17-year-old pupil and her mother opened a sexual offences case against the 33-year old netball and rugby coach.
Again, we should be asking similar questions in this case around vetting at the school and be considering the lessons to be learned by role players who should work together to put in systems to safeguard children taking part in sport.
The third case is somewhat different but highlights the risks of convicted perpetrators moving jurisdictions to coach. There is a need for governments, national sports federations and international sports organisations to consider this challenge.
Graham Hawkins, then aged 57, was jailed in the UK for 30 months in July 2012 after pleading guilty to eight charges of indecent assault against a child. This was a historical child sexual abuse case going back some 30 plus years. Hawkins was 29 at the time of the offences and his victim was aged 15.
In addition to receiving a 30-month sentence, Hawkins was placed on the Sexual Offenders Register in the UK and was subject to notification for a 10-year period that ends in 2022. He was disbarred from working with children in the UK due to the nature of the offence.
Despite being banned from working with children in the UK, Hawkins has been coaching in South Africa where he has been working with some of the 220 youngsters, aged between 5 and 13 years, who attend the Khosa Mini Hockey club, based in the Krugersdorp area of Johannesburg.
According to the Club Chairman, who considers Hawkins to be a good friend, he has also been coaching other clubs and at a school all of whom were aware of his background.
This again raises questions about vetting and why schools and sports clubs would employ someone who is disbarred from working with children in another country. The excuse is that the offence happened a long time ago and that Hawkins was a young man at the time. This is true and these are facts that were most likely considered in mitigation prior to his sentencing in the UK. The fact remains that he had to serve a jail sentence for this crime, his name was placed on the Sexual Offenders Register for ten years and he is automatically disbarred (subject to representation) from working with children in the UK.
There is a question about the judgement of the schools and sports clubs who it is claimed knew of his offences and disbarment in employing him as a coach. It also suggests a system failure at a national level that someone disbarred in another jurisdiction from working with children faces no restrictions in doing so in South Africa.
There is also the question of Hawkins’ own judgement in thinking it is okay for him to coach children in South Africa whilst being banned from doing so in the UK and the judgement of others who have defended this situation.
This takes me back to my questions for the schools and sports clubs:
Was Graham Hawkins properly vetted before being given the role of hockey coach at the schools and clubs he is alleged to have worked at? Was a police clearance certificate provided and given that he had come from overseas had international police clearance certificates been requested? Did he undergo a formal interview for the position which explored his history of coaching and working with children? Was he a qualified hockey coach registered with South African Hockey? Did South African Hockey check his credentials with the Hockey Federations in England and Gibraltar?
What these three cases suggest is that there is a need to ask questions about the vetting procedures for employing paid or volunteer coaches in schools and sports clubs who will have regular contact with children or adults with mental disabilities. There is a need for the Departments of Basic Education and Sport and Recreation to come together with SASCOC to strengthen measures to ensure children can participate in sport free from harassment, abuse and exploitation. There are existing gaps in the system that are placing children, young people and adults with a mental disability at risk that need to be resolved.
Brook Sport Consulting recently delivered a seminal conference in South Africa on Safeguarding in Sport for the Jose Foundation in partnership with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.
The Jose Foundation was founded by Prince Dr Martins Abhulimhen in 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria and was incorporated in the UK in 2017. They shape and implement a needs-based and result-oriented philanthropic strategy that aims to build the capacities and strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable groups, children and women in Africa. The Jose Foundation support innovative, impactful and lasting initiatives in low-income countries that promote women’s economic and social development, that provide access to basic services, that engage with communities to encourage the responsible management of natural resources and that deliver humanitarian assistance to children and their families when natural disasters strike.
Dr Prince Martins Abhulimhen, President of the Jose Foundation, has welcomed pledges made by a number of sports bodies to action policies and measures to safeguard children and adults from harassment and abuse following the Jose Foundation Safeguarding in Sport Conference held in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa on the 25th and 26th May 2019.
Dr Prince Martins Abhulimhen stated: “The Jose Foundation believes we need to act to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from all forms of non-accidental harm in Africa, including sexual harassment and abuse, whatever setting it is taking place including sport. All who participate in sport should be able to do so in a safe environment that is free from harm. We welcome the commitment of sports organisations attending the conference in answering positively the call to action to safeguard participants in sport in Africa.”
The Jose Foundation Safeguarding in Sport Conference was aimed at board members, senior managers and staff of National and Regional Sports Organisations who are in a position to champion the adoption of safeguarding policies and measures in sorts organisations and to help change culture in sport that creates environments that enable non-accidental harm to take place.
The conference was sponsored by the Jose Foundation, Hogan Lovells and Guardian Child Protection Services. Organised in partnership with SASCOC, under the patronage of UNESCO and with support from UNICEF, the IOC, IPC, The Commonwealth, Commonwealth Games Federation, Safe Sport International, UK Sport, Norwegian Olympic Committee and LimeCulture.
The conference was attended by speakers and delegates from Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom and Zambia. Olympic Committees, Government Departments, National Sports Organisations and Sport for Development organisations were represented at the conference.
The conference opened with macro-sport organisations, the IOC, IPC, Commonwealth Games Federation, The Commonwealth and Safe Sport International setting out their positions on the safeguarding of children and adults from harassment and abuse in sport. This was followed by insight from a panel of speakers on how International Sports Federations are moving to make safeguarding a priority for their events and member Federations.
Over the course of the conference legal experts addressed sport’s legal duty of care in law to protect participants from harassment and abuse, the vetting and reporting of cases of harassment and abuse in sport and the need for sports organisations to have in place independent case management and disciplinary procedures. Speakers also reviewed the position of Safeguarding in South Africa and heard examples of efforts to implement safeguarding in other African countries and international sporting events held in Africa.
Recognising that sport can help protect vulnerable children and adult and provide them with safe spaces they can go to, the conference heard from speakers who use sport as a means of supporting and developing young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The conference heard powerful testimony from a survivor of child sexual abuse at the hands of her sports coach, Bob Hewitt, a tennis coach who sentenced in 2015 to six years in prison for the rape of two young women and sexual assaulting another who he coached in the 1980s and 1990s and from a parent of children who were victims of child sexual abuse by their sports coach, Collan Rex, a former Parktown Boys’ High School water polo coach who was sentenced in 2018 to 23 years in prison on 144 counts of sexual assault and 14 of assault. Their stories were difficult to tell and to listen to, but important in allowing the delegates to understand how predators use their position in sport to access, groom and harm children. No delegate could have listened to their moving stories and not have grasped the need to change cultures in sport and implement safeguarding policies and measures.
Norman Brook, Conference Organiser stated: “We are indebted to the speakers who attended the conference to share their harrowing experience of sexual harassment and abuse that they suffered at the hands of predatory sports coaches. Their testimony highlighted how the sporting environment and culture was used to enable this harm and that sport must act to change culture and put in place measures to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from harm. Sport should provide children and vulnerable adults with a space where they safe and free from any harassment or abuse.”
On the second day of the conference, speakers shared their experience of implementing safeguarding
in sport in the Caribbean and Europe highlighting practical issues and potential pitfalls for sports organisations. Delegates then broke out into small groups to identify key take away points from the conference and future actions. The conference delegates also affirmed the Johannesburg Declaration on Safeguarding against Harassment and Abuse in Physical Education, Sport and Recreation.
MOST IMPORTANT TAKE-AWAY POINTS FROM THE CONFERENCE
As identified by conference delegates the most important take away points from the conference were:
Urgency of getting legislation and policy on safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport addressed from top down.
Move from policy to action in implementing safeguarding at all levels and all stakeholders.
There is a lack of communication on this subject. Awareness campaign in SA about safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport is necessary and everybody’s responsibility.
Safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport is not just for coaches and athletes. It is about all stakeholders and role-players.
We have the responsibility and accountability to implement and embed safeguarding in everything we do. “Let us be the change we want to see”.
Safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport should be a module in all sport, recreation and physical education capacity building programmes. Develop accredited and non-accredited training programmes that are age appropriate.
We must be proactive and not reactive. We cannot wait for an incident and then only face the problem. Set up systems to deal with the problem and train everybody involved at all levels.
Engage other National/Provincial Departments for resources they may have on the subject.
Disseminate safeguarding information to school sport organisations that should have safeguarding leaders that are trained and audited.
SRSA and SASCOC should make safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport a requirement for funding assistance requested.
We need champions and models. Safeguarding is everyone’s business.
Promote a culture of child-centredness and athlete-centredness. Safeguarding must become part of the culture of sport in South Africa and Africa.
All conference delegates to continually implement the action points discussed at the conference. We are committed to eradicate the problem from sport, recreation and physical education.
SASCOC must ensure that USSA and Department of higher Education buy-in to the process and system of safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport.
We must establish and work with partnerships as no one organisation can achieve our goals of safeguarding alone.
Share the information and best practices from other international partners such as the Commonwealth Games Association, IOC, UK Sport, and visiting countries such as the Caribbean.
Include the topic of safeguarding in all meetings/training sessions with parents of participants.
Encourage exchange programme on safeguarding matters with our international partners.
There must be a commitment to safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport from the leadership of National sport bodies down to Provincial and Local bodies.
MOST IMPORTANT ACTION POINTS
As identified by conference delegates the most important action points from the conference were:
SASCOC to develop a framework policy document, and a toolkit including requirements for affiliated member constitutions to be amended to include safeguarding.
SASCOC to develop and provide a safeguarding training programme to National Federations.
Establish an independent body to manage cases of harassment and abuse in sport.
Establish a central register of offenders for sport that can be used by any organisation to do their due diligence and reference and clearance checks before recruiting.
SASCOC and each National Federation to appoint a Safeguarding Officer.
All National Federations and SASCOC must establish a safe-space or system for reporting of incidents of abuse and harassment in sport. There must be an avenue for the prevention and early intervention of incidents of harassment and abuse.
SASCOC should arrange a follow up conference where it is compulsory for ALL National Federations to attend.
SASCOC should set tangible deadlines and a programme for implementation of policy and programme on safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport.
SASCOC should conduct a thorough audit on safeguarding against harassment and abuse in sport in all relevant sectors at all levels covering a wide range of indicators.
SASCOC to lobby for a change in legislation to ensure sport coaches/instructors are treated the same as educators in respect of sexual relationships with those in their care.
SASCOC to strengthen synergies between different entities/role players e.g. Law enforcement agencies such as SAPS, Justice Department, and Department of Basic Education, SRSA to follow up on actions.
All sport bodies doing recruitment must immediately do vetting and clearance checks of potential employees/volunteers against the Child Protection Register and the Sexual Offences Register.
One of the lessons I took away from reading Brent Rushall’s[1] sports psychology book[2] “Psyching in Sport: The Psychological Preparation for Serious Competition in Sport” was the proposition that athletes need to enter competition with a positive task-oriented approach if they hoped to be successful.
Players who set realistic and challenging goals are more likely to believe they can achieve these in competition. A positive attitude is essential but not enough on its own. Players need a plan for their competitions if they are to produce their best performance.
This idea of a positive task-oriented approach resonates with the trending Growth Mindset movement that is beinge advocated for young people to be successful in sport and in life.
Growth Mindset[3] is a concept developed by Carol Dweck to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence. When students believe they can get smarter and understand that effort makes them stronger, they put in extra time and effort which leads to higher levels of achievement. This concept equally applies to sport as it does to academic achievement. Young people with a Growth Mindset believe they can develop their abilities and view challenges, effort, feedback and practice as important in developing their abilities.
Values – what is thought to be important.
Beliefs – what is thought to be true.
Attitude – a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically reflected in a person’s behaviour. A person’s usual attitude is his or her mindset.
Mindset – words, thoughts and actions influenced by values and beliefs.
As coaches working in “sport for sports sake” or “sport for development” contexts, we should be interested in developing young people for sport and through sport for life. This should include helping young people develop values and beliefs that lead to positive attitudes and a mindset that enables them to achieve their sporting and life goals.
Here are eight actions that sports coaches can take to encourage a growth mindset:
Turn coaching sessions into positive learning experiences for players aimed at encouraging a growth mindset.
Teach players about fixed versus growth mindsets and how we all have the potential for growth.
When players state they cannot do something, ask them to re-phrase, by saying I cannot do it, YET.
Provide players with praise and constructive feedback that focuses on process not performance outcomes.
Encourage players to try new challenges and take risks.
Teach players to view mistakes as part of the learning process.
Expose players to positive role models.
Use closing discussions at the end of coaching sessions to reinforce growth mindsets by using reflective questions.
[1] I had the opportunity of spending a year with Brent Rushall at Lakehead University, 1981-1982, to study the Theory of Sports Coaching and Sports Psychology.
[2] Rushall, B. S. (1979). Psyching in sports. London: Pelham Books
[3] Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Whether coaching sport for its own sake, or in order to achieve development outcomes, coaches should be preparing young people for sport and through sport for life. Developing not just the player but also the person.
Intentional design is at the heart of all coaching programmes aimed at developing performance and life skills outcomes. On the one side developing the physical, cognitive, technical and tactical skills required in the sport and on the other the values and behaviours we would like to see them display in both sporting and other contexts in life.
Life skills can be developed through sport and an insight into Emotional Intelligence can help inform coaches as to the personal and social skills young people might need to be successful on and off the sports field.
Dr Martyn Newman [1] has identified 10 skills that comprise emotional intelligence. I have organised these skills under myself – personal skills, myself and others – skills involved in relating to others, and myself and the wider world – skills related to operating in an increasingly global and connected world.
MYSELF
Self-Awareness – your capacity to understand you own emotions and stay in touch with your feelings. Self-Confidence – your ability to accept and respect yourself and essentially like the person you are. Self-Control – the capacity to control your emotions well and restrain your actions until you have time to think rationally. Self-Reliance – the power to be independent in planning and making important decisions and the ability to take responsibility for yourself. Self-Actualization – the source of your emotional energy and enables you to maintain an enthusiastic commitment to long-term goals.
MYSELF & OTHERS
Assertiveness – the ability to communicate your feelings, thoughts, and beliefs openly in a straightforward way. Empathy – the capacity to be aware of, understand and appreciate the feelings and thoughts of others. Relationship Skills – the knack for establishing and maintaining mutually satisfying relationships characterized by positive expectations.
MYSELF & THE WIDER WORLD
Adaptability – your ability to react well to change and adjust your emotions, thoughts, and behaviours to changing situations and conditions. Optimism – your capacity to look on the brighter side of life and sense opportunities even in the face of adversity. Optimism determines your level of resilience and your ability to focus on the possibilities of what can be achieved.
Sports coaches should consider how they might help young people develop and use these skills on the sports field and how they might help them learn how to use these skills off the field. Developing emotional intelligence through sport will help prepare young people to be successful in life in general.
[1] Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders, Dr Martyn Newman, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England, 2009.
Brook Sports Consulting delivered another successful facilitator training course for prospective tutors of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Commissaires training programme. Norman Brook & Wayne Pomerio delivered the three day training course at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland in September.
The fourth course that we have delivered for the UCI attracted participants from Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Participants were able to deliver their practical sessions in either French or English, the two official languages of the UCI.
Catherine Gastou, President of the Commission of UCI Commissaires, welcomed the delegates to Aigle and observed much of the course. Catherine is a graduate of the first facilitators training course that we delivered for the UCI back in 2016. The course was also supported by Andrius Buividas and Benjamin Sapin from the UCI.
I was taken out for dinner to a local restaurant that does Asian Fusion food to celebrate my birthday last week. Whilst I had a glass of wine, the others in our party opted for a cocktail called a Passionate Buddha which was decorated with a Fortune Cookie.
The message in one of the cookies read “Every adult needs a child to teach, it’s the way adults learn”.
This reminded me of the work of British Educationalist Professor Phil Race who in 1993 presented a radically different model of learning. Similar to Kolb’s model of learning which is commonly quoted, Race’s model is based on the notion of experiential learning or learning by doing.
Whilst Kolb’s model is based on the idea of a consequential learning cycle, Race’s model is set out as an integrated, interacting whole or as Race describes “rather like intersecting systems of ripples on a pond”.
Figure 1: Phil Race’s 1993 Ripples Model of Learning
Race’s model is an experiential learning model where people learn by doing but, for learning to take place the learner needs to be motivated to learn, they must want to or need to learn. Feedback gained from the results of the doing and from the observations of others enables the learner to reflect on what they experienced and to make sense of it.
Want/Need – motivation or desire to learn.
Doing – learning through an experience, practicing, experimenting.
Feedback – intrinsic or self-feedback – what did the learner experience, what were the results; extrinsic or feedback from others – what did they observe?
Making sense – effective learning requires time for reflection – how did that go, what worked and what didn’t, what can I do different next time?
In 2016, Professor Race updated the Ripples Model of Learning by adding two further elements – verbalising and assessing. This is where the fortune in my cookie comes in as Race suggests that by putting what you have learned into words (verbalising) through teaching, coaching or explaining to others enhances or deepens your own learning. This deepening of our own learning continues as we check to see how those we have taught, coached or explained to, have learned.
“Every adult needs a child to teach, it’s the way adults learn”.
So through teaching others we learn ourselves.
Figure 2: Race’s 2016 Ripples Model of Learning
The Learning Pyramid which was published by the NTL Institute suggests that my fortune cookie and Professor Race are correct in citing teaching others as being the most effective means of learning. Whilst the Learning Pyramid has been criticised as lacking empirical evidence, it appears to support the idea that participatory teaching methods are the most effective at promoting learning.
BROOK SPORT CONSULTING 
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