Whats next
Throughout my career in athletics whether it be as an athlete or an instructor, it has alway been clear to me that finding ways to spread the love for sports and all the positive impacts they can have to others. While I never knew exactly what my career path would be, this theme remained constant over the course of time. While my first mission for the future is to continue my playing career and play overseas for at least one season, following the conclusion on my playing career I hope to use this love for sport to impact young people in a positive way. In order to do this I will finish my masters degree here at Michigan State University and plan to teach and coach young kids in a physical education program using the skills that I have learned from the MAED program. While I am not yet sure exactly what age I want to work with, I know for sure I would like to work with younger kids that are still open to learning and have passion for many different sports. Over the Next five years I would like to accomplish three things. These goals include, wanting to create a curriculum that is open to all types of individuals, developing leadership and relationship skills among athletes, advocate for my kids.
The first goal I mentioned of creating a curriculum that is open to all individuals is something that I feel very strongly about. I remember growing up and seeing young kids feel extremely defeated during PE class becasue they were not as fast or strong as their peers. While there are always going to be students that are extremely athletic and gifted, it is important to me to create an environment where every kid feels welcome and that they are doing a good job. In order to create this kind of environment I hope to design a curriculum that encompasses many different sports and skill sets so that even if an individual is not good at one thing, there is a good chance they will be in another area. This is something that I would like to accomplish early in my teaching development so that I can help to create a positive outlook for these kids when it comes to sport and competition.
The next goal that I hope to incorporate over the next five years is to develop both leadership and relationship skills among my athletes or students. In my opinion, these skills are not emphasized enough at a young age which inhibits these kids from developing them early on. In order to bring leadership skills into my program, I plan to assign a different team captain every day that we play competition sports. I believe that having a different kid find their voice and be able to speak up when they otherwise might not, is a great way to bring in some leadership capabilities. I will also constantly emphasize to these young people that a leader is not necessarily the loudest speaker, but rather the person that does the right thing and is able to lead through example. Developing healthy relationship skills is another element I hope to incorporate. In todays time we often see sore losers and bad sports in the athletic climate. In my gym this kind of behavior will not be rewarded, instead those that are kind and team players will receive praise.
My final goal for the future is to make sure that I am constantly advocating for my kids. Regardless of athletic ability or skill level, it is important to me that each individual knows that I will always support them through the good and the bad. While I might not be able to control what is going on outside the gym for each child, I am able to create an environment in which they feel safe to fail as well as simply being themselves without and fear of judgement. Regardless of the situation or individual this goal is extremely important to establish trust between my students and myself.
My experience in sport has helped me to develop these goals that I hope to implement over the next five years. It is my hope that I can create a place where my athletes are free to love and be passionate about sports with any skill level while still having a really good time.