Devil's Advocate — Team Sports Help Children Grow and Develop Into Better Citizens

            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.