PHYSICAL LITERACY PGA JUNIOR LEAGUE Prepared by Kevin Kirk

Transcription

1 PHYSICAL LITERACY PGA JUNIOR LEAGUE 2016 Prepared by Kevin Kirk Physical Literacy is a term that has been around for many years. It is the idea that over the last couple of decades, there has been an increased emphasis on literacy/numeracy (reading/writing/math) and a decrease in physical literacy (movement/sport) in our schools, communities and societies. One of the most important developments over the past 12 months was the release of a white paper on Physical Literacy. Several reasons were sighted along with some very sobering statistics about the impact of these trends on our youth, their well-being and their future. The paper was also clear that this is a global problem that requires action and attention. Canada is the current leader in this movement. Our neighbors to the north have taken a strong stand and have provided the rest of the world with the research, science and actionable steps that can be used for us to address these disturbing trends. In response, the U.S. Olympic Committee introduced a U.S. Developmental Model which identified Physical Literacy as a priority. Over the past few years, The Aspen Institute has hosted The Project Play Summit in Washington, D.C. This year, the summit was held on May 17 th with over 350 attendees from around the world. This summit assembles leaders and stakeholders in youth sport. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The President s Council on Fitness, The U.S. Olympic Committee, and the Laureus Foundation were among some organizations at the event. The focus of this group is the state of youth sport in our communities. The summit had a tremendous lineup of speakers highlighting different areas of sport. The statistics surrounding our youth and their lack of participation was alarming. Most sports including golf noticed a significant and steady decline in participation beginning in The Summit speakers emphasized the negative impact this trend will have on our children as they age. Several reasons were sighted for the decline. They also discussed the important developments over the last year and provided the attendees with eight actionable steps designed to grow youth participation in sport called The 8 Plays. The 8 Plays: 1. Ask Kids What They Want 2. Reintroduce Free Play 3. Encourage Sport Sampling 4. Revitalize In-Town Leagues 5. Think Small 6. Design for Development 7. Train All Coaches 8. Emphasize Prevention In response to that call to action, we decided to introduce Physical Literacy and some of the suggestions put forth by our friends at the Aspen Institute to our PGA Junior League this summer. PGA Junior League is a PGA of America sponsored initiative. The PGA Junior League is a fun, social and inclusive team based league for kids 13 years of age and under that resembles the structure of Little League Baseball. It began in 2011 and in 2015, over 30,000 kids participated. In our community, we field 6 teams. This year our league regular season began in mid June and ran through July. Each team in our league plays 5 regular season matches and a final match to determine a league team champion. From

2 there, an all star team is selected that will compete in the regional playoffs. Two of our coaches (James Larkin and Susie Kirk) agreed to introduce Physical Literacy to their PGA Junior League program. In early June 2016, the coaches screened the athletes to establish a baseline. The screening consisted of the following assessments put forth by the Canadian Sport for Life/Physical Literacy and the Drive, Chip, Putt National Championship. 1. Play Self (Athlete Self Assessment/CS4L Physical Literacy) 2. Play Inventory (Athlete Self Assessment/CS4L Physical Literacy) 3. Play Parent (Parent Assessment/CS4L Physical Literacy) 4. Play Basic Movement Screen (Project Play/CS4L Physical Literacy/Video) 5. Drive, Chip, Putt Test (Points Based Skill Test/Video) Over the course of the 8 week season, each team had 6 practices and 6 matches. The practices lasted approximately 90 minutes and the matches were 9 holes. The program wrapped up in late July, Below are the findings: SCREENINGS 1. Play Self (Athlete Self Assessment) The athletes in the program ranged from 7-13 years of ages. In this league, boys and girls competed side by side on the same team. In this assessment, the athletes were asked a series of questions to determine their confidence in their ability to operate competently in a variety of sports and environments. The athletes were also asked to rate their perception on the importance of numeracy, literacy and movement in the environment of school, at home with family and with friends. 2. Play Inventory (Athlete Self-Assessment) In this assessment, the athletes were asked to identify the activities they had participated in over the last 12 months. All athletes were from an affluent community where sport sampling and opportunity to participate in several sports is common. Most of the athletes in this program sited participation in 5-6 other sports including golf. None of these athletes listed golf as their main sport. 3. Play Parent (Parent Assessment of the Athletes) The Play Parent Assessment asks the parents to rate their child s overall level of physical literacy on a high/medium/low scale to measure the competence, confidence, motivation, knowledge and willingness to participate in group and individual activities. It also asks parents to rate their child s ability to operate in a variety of environments. 4. Play Basic Movement Screen (Video) The Play Basic Movement Screen is an assessment tool that provides the coaches a framework to create a baseline for each athlete. The competence scale is broken into four categories (initial, emerging, competent, and proficient) and is separated into 4 distinct movement based categories (locomotion, throwing, kicking and balance).

3 5. Drive, Chip, Putt (Video) The Drive, Chip Putt Test is the test that is used to score the Drive, Chip, Putt National Championships. Points on this test are accumulated by completing a skills test. The test points are based on an established set of standards. Driving points are a combination of driving distance and direction. Chipping and Putting points are based on shots holed and shot proximity. THE PRACTICES 1. Movement Preparation The coaches decided each practice/competition would start with 20 minutes of Movement Preparation. It was agreed to use the Canadian Sport for Life/Project Play Movement Preparation Age 9-10 (Movement Prep). The Movement Prep is comprised of dynamics, accelerations, ladders, weaving/pylon drills, and a mini core routine. The foundation of Movement Preparation is rooted in the concept of Physical Literacy. Movement prep is much more than a traditional fitness warm up. It was designed by some of the world leaders in youth development and encompasses many important aspects of movement science including physiology, biomechanics, psychology and sociology. 2. Skill Training Each practice also included a minute segment of time dedicated to golf specific skill training. The emphasis of this segment was on the 3 basic skills that were listed in the Drive, Chip, Putt Test (full swing, chipping, and putting). A few minutes of each skill training segment was also dedicated to rules, etiquette, and strategy. The practices were designed for the learning of skills to be done in an organic (non technical) manner focusing more on tasks and less on technique. They also contained elements that required the athletes to work together in order to promote teamwork. Most of the skill training sessions involved the completion of 3-4 tasks and a team based test at the end. 3. Free Play One of the suggestions put forth in the Project Play Document encourage time and space for free play. The free play idea allows the athletes to have an area and group of objects available where they can play in an unstructured manner minutes were provided at the end of practice and the athletes were asked to congregate in the free play area upon completion of the structured skill training segment of practice. The free play component turned out to be one of the things the athletes enjoyed most about this program. THE MATCHES The matches were guided by the rules of competition put forth by the PGA Junior League (PJL). PJL is a team based competition. It encourages inclusion and participation. Teams consist of 12 athletes (both boys and girls) ages The matches are contested in a team scramble format. During the 9 hole match, three 3 hole matches are contested (1-3, 4-6, 7-9) and scoring of these matches accumulates across the 9 holes to determine an eventual winner of the match. Matches are set up in a league format very similar to Little League Baseball. Winners of each league advance to the playoffs with a chance of competing in the PGA Junior League National Championship where a National Champion is crowned.

4 Susie and James had their teams show up a few minutes early for each match in order to get the Movement Preparation done before they warmed up to play. Both teams competed in all six league matches and neither team qualified for post season playoffs. FINDINGS 1. Play Self-Assessment: It was very clear that the warmer weather in Texas has an impact on the overall confidence level of the athletes. As a group, they scored themselves high in activities in the gym, in/on water, outdoors, playground and low on snow/ice. The athletes in this group were quite varied in their perceived competence/confidence in sports and movement based activities. The interesting finding in this report was the elevated importance the athletes gave to movement, activities and sports at school, at home and with friends. 2. Play Inventory Assessment: It was not much of a surprise to see that the athletes who participated were involved in a variety of different sports and movement based activities. This high sport sampling was due mostly to the community affluence and opportunity to participate in many sports/activities over a 12 month period. It is also important to note that the younger ages of the athletes may have and impact on the high incidence of sport sampling in this group. 3. Play Parent Assessment: It was clear from this screen that the group was quite diverse in terms of competence, confidence, motivation, knowledge, and willingness to participate in both team and individual sports/physical activities. The one common theme was the lack of confidence and participation in snow and ice based activities. 4. Play Basic Movement Screen: The biggest change came in this area. The athletes in both groups improved over 18% which surprised those of us who were involved with the program (James s group up 18.2% and Susie s group up 18.4%). This large gain is attributed to the implementation of the 20 minute Movement Preparation to the practices and matches. We also know that this improvement in movement competence translates into improvement in confidence which makes them much more likely to stay involved in sport/movement. This is a very significant gain and something we will continue to investigate. 5. Drive, Chip, Putt Test: This was another area that we noticed significant gains. The improvement of the entire group was just over 5%. While this number seemed low, it made sense due to the nature of the program and the style of instruction that was employed. As mentioned above, there was very little technical instruction provided. The gains we feel were attributed mostly to the task training and the natural improvement\refinement through the play, participation and practice the athletes experienced over the 8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS So what did we learn from the screenings and programming of our Junior League Experience? I am happy to report that the 2016 PGA Junior League was a success on several levels. The coaches, athletes and parents really enjoyed their time together. They learned to collaborate & support each other over the 8 week season. Statistically, they became better movers and better golfers. This program embodied several of The 8 Plays : Ask Kids What They Want, Reintroduce Free Play, Encourage Sport Sampling, Re-Vitalize In-Town Leagues, Design for Development and Emphasize Prevention. One question we had coming into this summer was, Is it possible to have a positive impact on kids in golf for an 8 week season in PGA Junior League? It is clear that we can. It is really up to the

5 coaches to take time when designing programs. The strategy needs to go beyond a simple moneymaking childcare service. The well-being, growth and future of the sport is in our hands. It appears most other sports are experiencing similar challenges and in the sport of golf, the negative growth in players is not just limited to juniors. The Japanese sign/word for crisis and opportunity are the same. According to the statistics put forth by the National Golf Foundation & the Aspen Institute, the decline of participation in youth sport (including golf) is something that needs to be taken seriously. The implications on our youth and their longevity, health and well-being is at stake. The consequence of dismissing this issue is significant. We cannot sit at idle and wait for some one else to fix the problem. Making this change is going to be a Big Lift and it is going to require help from everyone; from the grassroots level all the way to the heads of our National Governing Bodies (NGB s) of sport. The sport of Golf must take part in this resolve. We need to take the lead at our clubs and in our communities. We also need to team up with groups like the Physical Literacy Movement, The Aspen Institute, The U.S. Olympic Committee and Canadian Sport for Life to drive participation in youth sport. To summarize eloquently, there is a quote I love from anthropologist Margaret Meade. When asked if a small group of people could really make a change that impacts our culture/community, her answer was It s the only thing that ever has.