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In today’s issue…
Sports should be FUN
🗣️ QUOTE
“I enjoyed getting to actually play volleyball and that we were focused more on experience rather than just doing drills.”
Every week at the end of our NIKE Sports Camps, we get feedback from parents and players.
Here’s the gist of one of the main pieces of feedback we keep getting from parents and players:
They sent their child to another camp last year and their child reported it was boring, or they played on a team during the previous school year and it wasn’t fun
The athletes tell us they had a blast at our camp because they actually got to play the game instead of “just doing drills”
Children play sports because they’re fun!
Sports camps, team practices, training sessions, etc. should be fun!
So, what do children think is boring in a sport context?
Standing in long lines
Doing isolated drills focused on technique
Listening to long lectures
Doing activities that are not competitive or lack an opposition/challenge
What do children think is fun in a sport context?
Playing the game they love
Competing with and against their friends
Improving at specific skills or principles or play
Learning new tactics, skills, and strategies and being given a chance to try them
Being challenged and seeing their own growth
Some people people probably observe our camps and think, “They just roll the balls out and let them play.”
That’s far from the truth, we’re incredibly intentional about our practice design and use of constraints to foster learning.
But even if it was the truth, I think it’d still be more fun for the athletes (and I’d argue better for their development) than if we had them standing in long lines doing boring drills that likely won’t transfer.
Here’s to sports being fun for children.
🧠 COACHING APPLICATION
A thought on applying this…
Evaluate how you can make what you do in practices or at camps more fun!
Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.
To your growth,
Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics | A NIKE Sports Camp Provider
P.S. If you’re interested in hosting a NIKE Sports Camp next summer, reply “NIKE” to this email, and we’ll get on a call!
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