Systemic Discrimination or Not

So yesterday I attended a NCCP course on a document called the Aboriginal Coaching Manual. The document was originally developed for aboriginals that coach aboriginal athletes, but it later broadened to include non-aboriginal coaches that coach aboriginal athletes (that's me!). Considering the large aboriginal population in Riverton I thought it would be a good course to take.

On the whole I enjoyed the course. I was the only non-aboriginal there, but my opinion was valued just as much as everyone else's. I learned some cool stuff about aboriginal culture, like the significance of the feather (which is prominent in aboriginal art and symbolism) in their teachings. Some pretty cool stuff.

I will admit, when we did the module on racism I was a little bit nervous. I considered pretty carefully when and what I would contribute to the conversation, and most of it was really good. I was a little worried it would degenerate into an "everybody against the aboriginals" discussion, but it really didn't. We talked about non-aboriginals being racist against aboriginals, yes, but we also talked about the reverse and even aboriginal-on-aboriginal racism, so I thought it was a good discussion.

Here is the one thing I opened my yap about that may have rubbed one or two people the wrong way.

We had just discussed systemic racism, loosely defined (since I don't feel like pulling the book out) as seeming neutral rules or procedures that lead to discrimination. And after that, we were talking about positive ways to deal with a situation in which a racial slur/action is used against an athlete. The final step was worded roughly as "Build up the self-esteem of the Aboriginal young person."

This was where I felt I had to voice an opinion. I argued that the statement should simply be "Build up the self-esteem of the young person", why do we need to specify Aboriginal? Is this not a mild form of systemic discrimination?

A woman in the group said to me "Because this is the Aboriginal coaching manual."

I responded to that with something like "Yes, but we can also be in situations where we coach a mix of aboriginal and non-aboriginal athletes. If we want to eliminate racism, shouldn't we remove that distinction from the process of dealing with it?"

She didn't really respond, but a guy sitting next to me said I raised a really good point. Part of the reason I spoke up was the latter part of the definition of systemic discrimination also said that sometimes it needs to be pointed out by an outside party because an organization might not even realize they are doing it.

So what do you think? Was I way off base or on the right track?

Extra Tidbit: I did have the thought during this module that competitions that only aboriginal athletes can enter might also be a form of systemic discrimination but I didn't want to push it!

World Cup Blues

I have to admit, I really wasn't interested in the recently completed World Cup. I absolutely love to play soccer, and I play a decently-sized part in the organization of soccer in the Interlake, but watching the pros do their thing didn't really interest me.

There are two reasons I was not interested in the tournament. The first is, well, Canada isn't in it. It is very rare for me to watch any type of sporting event that I have no emotional interest in. I don't usually watch a CFL game unless the Blue Bombers are one of the teams competing. I rarely watch NHL hockey unless the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing. And so on. So having no team to cheer for was kind of a downer.

Possibly the greater reason, however, is the proclivity of "diving" in professional soccer. It seems that anytime an opponent gets near, the other player hits the dirt writhing in agony. They are trying to draw a penalty against the opposing team, and it is completely lacking any kind of sportsmanship.

Athletes in other sports embellish injuries too, I have no doubt about that. But soccer has gotten beyond ridiculous; the sheer number of incidents per game is enough to really turn me off the professional game. As a coach I would never teach my players something like that and I don't want them to learn that behaviour either.

I really hope Fifa does something to crack down on this, because if they really want soccer to take root in North America, it has to be dealt with. There are already tools in place that could easily be used to combat this problem. For example, they could designate a video replay official who reviews any injury to determine whether the player was actually touched or not. It would not slow down the game because the game has already stalled because the player is rolling around the field in "agony". Pretty simple solution for a problem that even FIFA has admitted they have.

Hurry Hard, Comrade

So it was in the news yesterday that Jason Gunnlaugson, a Manitoba curler who managed to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Trials last year, is going to be curling for Russia for the next four years.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/curling/curling-for-the-kremlin-92393409.html

The initial knee-jerk reaction is Gunnlaugson is deserting his country to compete for Russia in the 2014 Olympics, that he's a deserter. And while I was surprised to hear of his decision to curl for Russia (since the Manitoba curling scene is starting to open up for the younger teams with Burtnyk retiring from competitive curling and Stoughton getting up there in age), I can't say I blame him.

Firstly, he will be a funded athlete, meaning that he will truly be a professional curler. He will be getting paid to do what he does best. This is a guy who play on-line poker to support himself while curling because of the flexible hours needed to dedicate yourself to the sport. No more hunting for sponsorships, he will be a paid curler.

Second, he will be living in Russia for 2 months out of the year, an adventure he is looking forward to. Getting to experience another culture on the host country's dime is something a lot of people would love to do. He'll still spend most of his time in Canada, especially since most of the World Curling Tour events are in Canada. The report said he'd curl about 2/3 of the times in Canada and 1/3 in Europe. So not only will he get to see Russia, but other parts of Europe as well.

Third, he wants to get international experience; do you know how hard that is to do in Canada? Canada has such a strong field of curlers it is almost impossible to get to the international level. Look at Kevin Koe this year; he's never been able to curl for his country because Kevin Martin and Randy Ferby live in the same province as him. With Martin curling at the Olympics, Koe was able to attend his first Brier, win that, and then go on to become world champion! A guy who never made it to the Canadian play-downs beat the rest of the world! If that doesn't show the depth of Canadian curling, nothing will.

By playing for Russia, Gunnlaugson automatically becomes top dog and will be able to get that international experience. He will also be helping to grow the sport in Russia, which is a good thing.

It shows though that maybe Curl Canada has to look at the way things are done in Canada; a promising young curler defects to another country because he has the chance to become a professional athlete, not one who also has to hold down a day job. This certainly isn't the first time something like this has happened, but I think it is a first for curling. Hopefully it doesn't become a trend, but if I was Gunnlaugson, I can say I certainly would have been tempted by the opportunity.

Winter Games - Comraderie

One of the fun things about the Winter Games is the people you get to hang out with. When you are a Coach or Manager, pretty much your whole time at the Games is spent with your team (unless you have Mission Staff like me who don't mind taking a shift supervising; I watched the kids with the Manager while the Coaches went to watch a Ringette game). The Coaches and Managers are the ones responsible for the kids 24/7, so when the kids go to bed, the Coaches and Managers go to bed.

Mission Staff, on the other hand, go out to party.

Every night there is an Adult Lounge set up, where Mission Staff, volunteers, and the general public are able to get together and unwind. There is a bar and a live band, and most importantly smokies are served too. Not every region sees their Mission Staff go to the nightly party, but Interlake is usually a, well, strong presence at the event.

I only went 2 of the nights I was there, mostly because I didn't want to be left out (the 2nd night I thought I'd be a sport and be the DD for everyone else). I don't drink, so usually this kind of atmosphere has no appeal to me. However, the music was really good, and the people I was hanging out with are all good people.

Interlake really had a great Mission Staff team; I knew about half of them prior to the Games, but we all gelled into a group very quickly. Nobody got stupidly drunk or anything, let me make that perfectly clear. Everyone that drank was responsible, nobody became unruly, and we had a pretty good time.

I do get a chuckle out of the fact I was driving around with and hanging out with an old University budy...of my Dad's! Fred, our Curling team Mission Staff, used to be really good friends with my Dad in University, but it was me cruising down to the bar with him!

Manitoba Winter Games

I'm back from the Manitoba Winter Games, and was it ever a great experience. I don't know if I can get everything I want to touch on in one post, but let's see how we fare.

The Games are a huge undertaking; until attending I didn't realize how big. There were approximately 1400 athletes participating in the Games, though all were not present at once; the Games are divided into two phases, so there were about 7-800 athletes present at a time. Over 1000 volunteers gave of their time and energy to run the games, and they did a fantastic job.

I was part of the Team Interlake contingent as Mission Staff for the badminton team. Basically, I handled all of the non-sport logistics stuff so the coaches and managers could focus on the sport stuff. It's actually extremely similar to being support staff at BCBC.

We had a team of 16 badminton players, and man, did we ever have a great group of kids. Well behaved, level headed, and for the most part really there to compete. Other than one kid I never had any worries about what the badminton players were up to.

Team Interlake finished fourth in the overall medal standings (Eastman beat us out by 1!), but second in gold medals. I think that's a great result for our region, considering all the advantages the Winnipeg teams have.

I don't want this post to get too long, so I'll probably do a couple of posts over the week detailing different aspects of my Games experience.

Winter Games

I'm off to the Manitoba Winter Games for the rest of the week, so don't expect any more blogging until next week!

Olympic Flag Bearer

Sarah and I were talking the other night about who should be the flag bearer for Canada at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. Unlike last time where Cindy Klassen was an easy pick, it's not so clear-cut this year. Here are who I think the candidates are:

Alex Bilodeau - Won the first Gold for Canada at home. While it's a great achievement, I don't think he should be the flag bearer. Why? He won the first Gold because his event was one of the first ones scheduled. It easily could have been one of our other Gold medal winners, but they were scheduled to compete later in the games.

Kevin Martin - If Martin wins the Gold medal game in men's curling, his team will have gone undefeated through the entire Olympics. That's about 12-13 games in a row he will have won against the best in the world. That's just as, or more, dominant than Cindy Klassen was 4 years ago, but he'll only have one medal to show for it, not 5.

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - I think these two have a real shot at hoisting the flag, for being the first North Americans to win Gold in their sport. To me that's more of an accomplishment than Bilodeau winning the first Gold of the games for Canada.

And finally, who I think deserves to be the flag bearer...

Joannie Rochette - She won a Bronze medal under the absolutely worst condition you can imagine. Her mother died in Vancouver of a heart attack just a day or two before Rochette was set to compete. Rather than bow out, which nobody would have blamed her for (Skate Canada was ready to support her decision to drop if she chose to do so), she skated her heart out in tribute to her mother. Canada would have been proud of her even if she finished last, but winning a medal under such adversity is an amazing accomplishment.

So there you have it, my thoughts on the flag bearer. If Joannie wasn't up to handling the flag bearer job (which would be completely understandable), then I think it should be Kevin Martin. Probably a long shot, since I can't think of any time in recent memory that a curler got to carry the flag (Sandra Schmirler may have, I'm not sure on that one), but if Joannie isn't able to, I'd like to see the Old Bear get the job.

The Problem with Own The Podium

Canadian officials have finally acknowledged that the Own The Podium program, a 100+ million dollar initiative to try and win the overall medal count at the Olympics, has failed. I'm not really surprised, and the reason why is simple.

Other countries have been throwing as much or more money at the medal count a lot longer than Canada.

I've heard reports that the funding Canadian athletes have enjoyed for this Olympics will be cut. This is a typical political knee-jerk reaction to the failure of a quick fix solution. To make Olympic champions, you have to start at the ground up, not by simply throwing money at your current crop of elite athletes. And starting from the ground up takes time, as those young athletes need time to grow into tomorrow's champions.

I'm not disparaging the efforts of our current crop of Olympians; they've trained hard and done their country proud. But I'm really sad to see the cuts coming to sports funding, as it is just going to set back what Own the Podium started, making that 100+ million dollars spent a waste.

Curling Too Rowdy

There is an interesting situation that has developed with the curling competition at the Olympics. The crowds have steadily been getting louder and more boisterous as the tournament has gone on.

In most sports, this wouldn't be a problem; it would actually be encouraged. However, curling normally isn't one of them. The etiquette of curling would have the crowd quiet down when one of the players is throwing their rock. Also, since communication is so important, the cheering is making it hard for the teams to communicate while sweeping.

I'm of two minds on this topic. On the one hand, the curling purist in me says the crowds need to quiet down. During the Canada vs Great Britain game last night, the crowd broke out into a loud rendition of O Canada. Normally awesome, but Canada's second actually had to wait for the singing to subside before he could deliver his rock. It wasn't a problem because Canada had a lot of time left on the clock, but if they hadn't managed their time so well, it would have put them in a real bind (each team gets a certain amount of time to make all of their shots; Great Britain had about a minute and a half left at the end of the game). If a team runs out of time on their clock, they lose the game.

But on the other hand, isn't it great to see so many people excited about curling? While curling remains popular in Canada, a lot of clubs are seeing a reduction in participation, not an increase. Why? The old guys are moving on and there aren't as many young people getting into the sport. The crowds at the Olympics are really pumped about the game, so if that excitement leads to new curlers as a result, that would be great.

Maybe at this level the players need to be given headsets to communicate with each other and then the crowds can make as much noise as they want. It would be a real shame to lose the absolutely electric atmosphere that has overtaken the curling venue, but we also don't want that atmosphere to cost anyone a game.

9 Years Old & 707 Penalty Minutes

Two nine year old hockey teams in Russia got into a bench-clearing brawl, and as a result 707 penalty minutes were assessed. Before you blame the NHL, remember, Russia has its own hockey league, the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) that has had it's share of brawls and fights as well.

Manitoba Winter Games

There are some definite perks to working in the Recreation field. Recently I was asked to be a part of the Mission Staff for Team Interlake at the Manitoba Winter Games, being held in March in Portage la Prairie. Basically, as Mission Staff, I am support staff for the coach(es), allowing them to deal solely with the coaching aspect. So if a kid hurts them self and we need to get the medical people over to have a look, I deal with that so the coach can concentrate on the games. I'd say it's like being the team manager except there is a team manager too!

I'm looking forward to going to the Games. I'd like to go sometime as a coach (I had signed up to be an assistant coach for the volleyball team but, long story short, I ended up choosing not to do so), but having that experience as Mission Staff will be great. My board has agreed (unofficially, it'll be official in February) to my suggestion that I go to the Games, but I would not claim overtime after my 8 hour day is up (because I'm sure I'll be 'on' more than 8 hours a day). If I could afford to take the time off I'd happily go as a volunteer, but getting my regular pay cheque while attending is pretty nice.

The Games is job related, and as one of my board members put it, it's a great professional development opportunity for me that will cost no money aside from my time. I get to see how such a large event is run, and will actively be troubleshooting some of the problems/situations that arise during such an event. I'm also glad that I'm going to be a part of the badminton team; I was asked before if I'd consider being Mission Staff for cross country skiing, but I would rather work with a sport I'm actually familiar with.

I'm looking forward to a fun few days at the Games, though I will miss the wife while I'm away. I also learned my plan to sleep at my parents won't work; I'll be on an air mattress in a school classroom (or something like that).

Still, being a part of an event like this is a pretty sweet part of my job!

Book Review: Curl To Win

Recently I picked up "Curl To Win" by Russ Howard. For those unaware, Russ Howard is an Olympic Gold Medalist in curling, teaming with Brad Gushue at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Howard has enjoyed a long and successful curling career.

I find it a little hard to categorize Curl To Win. In many ways it is a resource to improve your own curling game, but it isn't as technical as a coaching manual would be. There are also many stories of Howard's own experiences, which adds that personal element you wouldn't get in most "how to" or improvement books.

In the end, I like the blend of the two styles. The book is very reader-friendly, as you get to hear stories of past Brier's and and the Olympics instead of simply being told to "do this" or "do that". The book is also extremely friendly to new curlers; the first chapter or two is all about introducing and explaining the game to beginners. Experienced curlers could easily skip this part of the book, and when I reread the book I'm sure I will be skipping that part too, but I'm glad it's there as it sets a good framework for the rest of the book.

I tend to disagree with a couple of things Howard says in the book, but that doesn't mean he's wrong; I'm by no means arrogant enough to think I know more about curling than Russ Howard. He's been curling for a long time, but for example, he recommends the lift delivery when throwing a curling stone (where you lift the stone off of the ice in a backswing motion before throwing it). I am in the camp that likes the no-lift delivery better; hefting a 42 pound rock when I don't have to seems harder on the back and there is also a smaller margin of error when delivering the rock. To be fair, even though Howard recommends you progress to the lift delivery, the book still shows you how to do the no-lift delivery as well, leaving the choice up to you.

The book also contains pictures of Howard (or other curlers) to demonstrate all of the techniques in the book, which is a great visual aid. He also demonstrates some classic mistakes as well, which is nice for comparison. The pictures are especially helpful in the section dealing with various curling drills; as a curling coach I'm always looking for new drills, and the book was very helpful on that front.

I really liked the section dealing with the importance of each position on the team. Rather than write these sections himself, Howard went out and got other curlers who are at the top of the field in their chosen position to write about it. Howard has been a skip for a great many years, so it was nice to hear about the skills needed and importance of the lead from someone who plays and loves the position. I definitely want to have my curling team read that section of the book.

I think Curl To Win is a great resource for anyone that wants to learn to curl or refine their game. I would have liked to maybe see a little more technical stuff later on in the book for the more advanced curler, but the book still has a lot of value.

I give it 4 curling stones out of 5.

My First Coyotes Game

While in Arizona, I really wanted to go see a Phoenix Coyotes game. The nearest NHL city to me is Minneapolis, at 10 hours away, so a 45 minute drive down the interstate was much more appealing. A few people I talked to beforehand in Arizona thought driving 45 minutes was too far for a hockey game...I drive almost 2 hours just to go to a Moose game, let alone an NHL game, so the drive time didn't really phase me.

The Coyotes have been pretty shaky financially since, well, probably since the team moved to Phoenix. The organization offers a lot of perks to get people to games. For example, I did not have to pay for parking, and there was a pile of staff out directing traffic so parking was an absolute breeze.

When I approached the ticket booth for tickets (Sarah was worried they'd be sold out; I told her not to worry, it's a Coyotes game), I was promptly informed that there were no more $15 seats left. I said that was fine, I didn't want $15 seats. I think they just expect that people want the cheapest seats possible.

One promotion the team offers runs from Monday-Thursday, where a $30 ticket gets you an upper deck seat and all the pop, hot dogs, and popcorn you can consume. While tempting, I didn't want to sit in the nosebleeds, I wanted a good seat. So, I chose the $60 seats, which got us a seat on the corner near the top of the lower bowl. Honestly, the seats were amazing. We could see everything on the ice; if you're too close to the glass, or in the middle of the arena, you can't see into the close corners. From our seats, that wasn't a problem.

The arena is a very nice facility (it reminded me of the MTS Centre, actually). I really liked seeing the numbers of the only retired numbers in the franchises history, because they were all Winnipeg Jets, not Coyotes. The names and numbers were displayed in Jets colours too, which was a nice touch.

Speaking of Jets colours, I took my Jets jersey with me to wear to the game. I had a few people ask if I was from Winnipeg (to which I said yes, it's easier than explaining where Riverton is when you're out of the country) only to find out they were from Winnipeg too.

There was a pretty good size crowd at the game, which surprised me. However, when the national anthems began I was struck by how many people were singing O Canada. Turns out the game was packed with Canadians on vacation like us who chose to go to the game against the Vancouver Canucks. There were a LOT of Canucks jerseys in the crowd.

The Coyotes scored the first goal, and half of the crowd got up and cheered. A minute later the Canucks scored, and the OTHER half of the crowd got up and cheered! The game was very enjoyable because both teams had a strong presence in the crowd; "Go Coyotes Go" was often met with "Go Canucks Go". Sarah was cheering for the Canucks, but I couldn't bring myself to cheer against the Coyotes while wearing my Jets jersey.

I was talking with some guys in the crowd during the game, and they told me that this was the second largest crowd the Coyotes had had all season. The biggest crowd was the home opener, when all the seats were free. From what I understood, the best crowds throughout the year are the ones when western Canadian teams (and the Leafs) are playing the Coyotes, as those are the ones the snowbirds go to I guess.

The game was a tight one that went all the way to a shoot-out (which I was hoping for). I have to admit, the Coyotes have really turned things around this year. Come play-off time, they'll be the Western Conference team I'll be rooting for all the way, until/unless they meet the Penguins, then I have to go with my boys.

I have some pictures from the game, but they're not on this computer, so I'll include some later if I post some pictures on the blog (those of you who have me on Facebook can see the pictures I have up so far there).

The Power of the Coach

I was talking about coaching with the Rec Director in the Lakeshore area a little while ago, and he had a funny story for me with serious implications.

Dave is a lacrosse coach, and for those who aren't familiar with the sport, it's a rough game. While coaching an Under 12 or Under 14 team (I forget the exact age group), Dave made a comment to his players, "There's no crying in lacrosse." He said it jokingly and didn't mean it; really I could see myself saying something similar.

During the course of a practice, one of his players got hit there by the ball. The player crumpled to the ground and curled up into a ball, which is a totally natural reaction. As Dave made his way over to check on the injured player, he heard one of his teammates say "Remember, there's no crying in lacrosse!" and the player on the ground repeating "I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry." When Dave heard this, his response was "No, go ahead and cry!". All of the players were worried the injured player would be punished for crying, so they were trying to help him through it.

It's a funny story, but it really goes to show just how much influence a coach has with their players. This also applies to everyone in positions of leadership; teachers, youth leaders, even older brothers or sisters.

After hearing this story, I really try to watch what I say to the kids I coach. It actually makes me feel bad about an experience I had coaching Midget soccer when I was younger. One of my players was determined to score a goal in a game against Gimli, and somehow we got onto the running gag that if he didn't score he'd be cut (we didn't have cuts at all, by the way). He had a bunch of chances that almost went in but didn't, and occasionally when he missed I'd yell "Justin! You're cut!" It was meant totally in jest, everyone knew that, but I still feel kind of bad about it. Today Justin is actually a member of the U of M track & field team, and a competitive one at that, so I don't think I scarred him thank goodness.

Everyone is a role model to somebody, so I think we need to remember that we need to set a positive example in everything we do and think before we speak, Facebook, or text.

The Magic Hockey Helmet

This kid absolutely nails what is wrong with so many kid's sports out there; while the focus is hockey, this definitely applies to all kid's sports. I absolutely love this video and wish the people that really need to see it would watch it.

Dude Looks Like a Lady

This week I was asked a question; would I be willing to skip a team of beginner's this year in curling? Now, considering I am a certified curling instructor and I love to curl, this might not seem too strange. What makes it strange is I was asked if I'd do so in the Women's League.

This year I have been offering curling lessons at work, and I got a really good response; 13 people signed up for the lessons, which are ridiculously cheap at $20 for 4 weeks of instruction. The goal of the lessons is to "grow" more curlers in Riverton, to help increase our curling club membership. Well, there are some beginners who want to curl in the regular league but cannot get on a team (because they're full) and all of the women who want to skip already are. So I was asked if I'd be willing to do it.

I was hesitant at first, mostly because I was worried that some of the women might get upset by a guy curling on Monday's. I also thought it might feel kind of weird to be the only guy on the ice. But, I have been assured that the other skips were consulted and they don't have a problem with it, so we're going to give this a try.

There definitely are some perks to curling in the ladies league. I get to curl twice a week (three times while lessons are going on; if I don't get good this year I never will!), which is good for getting some more exercise and improving my game. More importantly, Sarah is one of the members of the team, so I get to curl with my wife! She also takes the curling lessons I'm offering so while I have always hoped she'd curl with me at some point I never thought we'd be doing so twice a week!

If this situation was made into a movie, and I had to pick the music for the first time I step onto the ice at ladies' league, I can't decide if the most appropriate theme song would be "Dude Looks Like a Lady" or that "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" song. The Bearded Lady is on the ice!

H1N1 Shenanigans

I will admit that I'm not the most informed person in the world on the H1N1 virus...there is so much conflicting information and (from what I can tell) media over-hype going on it's hard to know what is accurate and what is sensationalism.

I've seen multiple articles stating that the H1N1 virus is actually less dangerous than the common flu. Yet there are such extraordinary measures being taken to prevent the spread of it, it makes you wonder if it's more dangerous than the common flu.

Regardless, I think some of the "measures" being taken are ridiculous. My primary example is a volleyball tournament I refereed on Saturday. I was told that the players were not to shake hands with other teams during the tournament. All of the players said it was really awkward to wish the other team a good game without shaking hands. I told them they could wave at each other if they wanted.

But what gets me is this is volleyball; even if hands aren't shaken, everybody is still touching the same disease-infested ball (my term, not one from the health muckity-mucks). Everyone is still diving around on the same dirt-covered floor. And all of the players (within their team) were constantly slapping hands with each other on the court anyway! And don't tell anyone, but when the Gimli coach gave me a break partway through the day, he used my whistle. Sshhh!

I think our society is becoming a bunch of germ-o-phobes, honestly. Our bodies need exercise, and so do our immune systems. If they never have anything to fight off, when something serious comes along we'd have no defense.

Now, this all being said, I'm not commenting on the vaccination. Some people want it, fair enough. Others don't, I think that's fair too. Everyone is entitled to their own choice in the matter. While I choose not to get it, I have no problem with the decision others have made to get it. I do think though that people not in the priority group should probably head to the back of the line though.

Equal Play vs Competitive, Part 1

Ever since I was a kid I have always loved sports. I started playing soccer back when the New Kids on the Block were hitting it big. I started curling at age 10, the first year I was eligible. I was on the school badminton team from age 12 onward. I love sports. I don't play as much as I used to, but I like to stay involved as a coach. I really have a heart for coaching, and absolutely love it. I began my coaching career when I was 13 years old and haven't looked back, though I did go a few years without coaching while I lived in Winnipeg.

Ever since becoming a Recreation Director I have really struggled with the issue of Equal Play vs Competitive coaching styles. Equal Play means that regardless of ability, all of the kids get a chance to play. Competitive means that some kids are going to ride the bench a lot more than they are going to play, but your chance of winning greatly improves.

I am going to be dividing this series of articles into several sections: Equal Play, Competitive, Intangibles, and Conclusions. To lend the series some focus, I'm going to strictly be referring to Senior Varsity volleyball, for a couple of reasons.

In some sports Equal Play vs Competitive isn't an issue. Badminton only allows so many entries per category, so there is no choice but to have try-outs. Soccer teams need to have at a minimum 14 players, and because so many players are on the field at a time it is easier to get away with having weaker players on the field and still field a competitive team. Volleyball, however, is another story. Only 6 players get to play on the court at a time, and it is even harder when you have to consider how specialized each position is.

So as not to have to repeat the facts each article, keep in mind these constants for this series:
- Senior Varsity volleyball (gender neutral, unless otherwise specified)
- Roster of 12-13 players
- Sole volleyball program in the community
- High school sports program, not a club or community program

So I hope you'll indulge me as I hash out the pros and cons of each coaching approach. I struggle with deciding which approach is the better one, and I do hope that getting my thoughts on the matter down for comparison may help me decide which I prefer. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!