The
opportunity to find a weakness in something always exists — it depends on the
approach you take to identify a potential weakness. I have recognized a weakness
in my research topic, “Team Sports Help Children Grow and Develop Into Better
Citizens.” There is no doubt that team sports do help children grow and develop into better citizens, however,
there is a very important variable that I failed to recognize at the beginning
of my research. A team sport with a good
coach produces a positive outcome — a good citizen — although, a team sport
with a poor coach may not produce a positive outcome.
There
are many motives behind people’s actions. A coach with anything else in mind
but the best interest of the team puts the players at a disadvantage. They do
not get the same experience as players with good coaching. A biased coach, a
coach with ulterior motives, a coach who concentrates on individual efforts as
apposed to team efforts, a coach who encourages behavior simply to win, a coach
who does not play all their players fairly, or a parent who is coaching only to
promote their own child are all examples of poor coaching. In these cases players
are not exposed to the experiences
they need to become the best citizens they can be.
Once
we identify a potential weakness in something, we usually try to fix it. After
I determined there are circumstances where sports do not always bring out the
best in people, I worked to overcome this weakness. Instead of concentrating on
team sports in a general way I narrowed my research, concentrating on team
sports with positive coaching.
