Our students will work with students at elementary schools and coach them during their PE class, allowing them to see how management would work and how important coaching ethics might be. PE class will be with kids ranging from age 6-11.
Day 1
On Monday, the Coaching and Leadership project week group started the day visiting Ashland Elementary School. Here, they worked with physical education coach, Pat McDonough, and learned the basics of running an effecting elementary school gym class. Students interacted with the young children, played the games with them, and emphasized the life lessons being taught that day.
Day 2
On Tuesday, the Coaching and Leadership project week group visited St. Joseph's College in Standish, ME. Here, the students got a guided tour of the athletic facilities, met with the STJ strength and conditioning coach, and completed an hour-long question and answer panel with three of STJ's strongest coaches - Mike McDevitt (Woman's Basketball), Janelle Harris (Woman's Soccer), and Matt Gilbert (Men's Lacrosse). This panel covered topics including NCAA recruitment, program culture, and program logistics, and the student-athlete experience.
William Bennett "One major takeaway I had from was when the coaches explained how the injured players can interact and still be participating during the season while injured. I enjoyed this speech as an injured player myself, and compared how they were talking about how they deal with injuries. It was cool how the coaches explained what the kids can do while injured."
Patrick Fitzpatrick "A takeaway from today is that I have always considered success as winning and anything different was losing and I viewed as a failure, however after hearing the different coaches' viewpoints, I now have an understanding that sometimes the development and improvement you can get from competing can be success in itself".
Jackson Hamilton "My biggest takeaway from visiting St. Joe’s from an athletic standpoint, is that success comes from growth and is less determined on how a season finishes".
Sofia Swormstedt "The biggest thing I took away form our visit to St Joes was how confidence is one of the biggest issues athletes struggles with even in college. I struggle with my confidence, playing my sport, and didn’t realize people that play in college also struggle with it a lot".
Day 3
On Wednesday morning, we gathered as a group to discuss our observations from the elementary school classes and debrief on what we learned from our conversations with the PSU and STJ staff. Our discussion focused on three key topics: identifying the elements of a positive program culture, considering how we could improve our approach the next time we work with elementary students by implementing what we’ve learned about strong leadership and coaching, and brainstorming small improvements we could make at NHS to enhance the experience for student-athletes.
In the afternoon, we put our reflections into action by working with kindergarten and 2nd-grade classes at Holderness Central Elementary School. This hands-on experience allowed us to apply what we had discussed, further developing our coaching skills and strengthening our understanding of effective leadership in youth programs.
Day 4
Today we spent the morning at Ashland Elementary School working with 5th, 6th, and 7th grade classes. Students focused primarily on inclusion and building meaningful connections with the kids with the goal of getting them to have more fun and get outside of their confort zone.
In the afternoon, the students were broken up into groups of 2 or 3 and were assigned to build their own team culture. Using the book You Win in the Locker Room First students completed a self-guided discussion about all of the elements that make a strong program culture. Students will be presenting these to the rest of the group tomorrow.
Day 5
This morning we went back to Ashland Elementary School and worked with their 5th graders. It was their most challenging class, but our students rose to the challenge and brought positive, enthusiastic energy. Afterwards, Mack spoke to the students about his experience with the Marine Corps and shared valuable life lessons. He ended gifting each of us a pamphlet on leadership that was given to him when he entered the Marines.
In the afternoon, we visited Plymouth State University and completed a student-led panel where 5 PSU students shared advice and their experience playing sports in college.
Credits:
Created with images by Koonsiri - "Soccer ball on green artificial turf with blurry of maker cones and player training." • kudosstudio - "Back of male football coach wearing white COACH shirt at an outdoor sport field coaching his team during a game" • airdone - "Leadership, Business Words Quotes Concept"