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Joint Positive Coaching Alliance Workshop with the Model School for the Deaf
9/6/2010
(Monday April 12)
20 Hyde student rugby players gathered with 35 of their counterparts from the Model School for the Deaf for a workshop conducted by the Positive Coaching Alliance(PCA).
The PCA is an organization based out of Stanford, CA focused on "transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth". This mission is accomplished through face to face workshops that train youth, parents and high school coaches to teach life lessons through sport and transform themselves, their teams sporting culture.
The instructor for the evening was Rodney Saunders, an energetic and passionate leader who immediately got the kids interacting despite the language barrier between the Hyde and Model kids. The "icebreaker" for the event was to pair up with someone you didn't know and come up with your own personal handshake. The kids had a fun time and regardless of the language, their smiles said it all.
The rest of the workshop focused on defining a competitor, what it takes to compete, and tools for making oneself and each other better. Participants learned about the importance of "flushing" mistakes(not dwelling or being consumed by them) and Emotional Tanks and the importance of 5 positive comments to every 1 negative. An additional learning point was communication as all the students improvised when needed and texted, wrote, used body language and gestures to communicate when the interpreters were busy helping others.
Following the workshop, Coach Bayer spoke with his players about what they took away and responses ranged from "I need to support my teamates more when they make mistakes not tear into them" "Our coaches are pretty good about supporting us" to "I like the negative comments cause it only motivates me to do better."
Overall, it was a very succesfull event. We were able to improve our approach to athletics and coaching but also continued to build relationships with folks outside of our traditional communities. Model School is friendly rival and it was nice to interact in a non competitive environment and learn a little more about each other.
