Athletics & Development of Leadership
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This study will examine how athletics helps to develop leadership qualities. This issue is important because of the emphasis on sports in modern society, and, therefore, both young and older athletes learn many lessons about life and behavior from sports. It is also crucial to differentiate between the emphasis on winning that is so prevalent at every level of sports today, and the leadership which transcends victory or defeat. By "leadership," this study will refer to those qualities which drive an individual to excel himself or herself, but which also drives that individual to help and inspire others to reach their potential as well in a team-oriented, cooperative atmosphere. An excellent player will always want to excel, but an effective leader must practice and instill in others on the team the desire to excel as a team, not merely as a group of individuals. In addition, the study will necessarily focus on team sports, not individual sports, for the basis of leadership is the relationship between the leader and those he leads. The role of the coach is vital in instilling leadership in his players, just as the leader of the team instills a sense of teamwork in his fellow players. The same guidelines leading the coach also guide a player-leader: If you do your homework and communicate the rules well to your team, your players won't be caught unaware in games. In the eyes of your players, your credibility will also increase if they are confident of your knowledge of t
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and know the basics of the game. The coach must teach the basics, but he or she is must instill in the players confidence that they can do their best and that rewards will flow naturally from that effort. In such an atmosphere, leadership qualities will develop in the team itself and a leader will emerge.
Developing leadership, according to famed UCLA coach John Wooden, is the equivalent of building character. Character is the essence of not only a good person but a good player, and good players comprise a good team. These "character fundamentals" include industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, enthusiasm, self-control, alertness, initiative, intentness, conditioning, skill, team spirit, poise, confidence, competitiveness, ambition, adaptability, faith, patience, reliability, integrity, honesty, and sincerity (Chapin and Prugh 15). Even individuals who are talented and who have learned the fundamentals of the game will not be able to translate that knowledge or those skills into victory if they remain individuals and do not develop these qualities of leadership which will enable them to help the coach shape the players into a team working together toward shared goals.
Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi recognize
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Approximate Word count = 2265
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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