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4 ; ' f \ f \ i ' | RE ae A a gE eae -- = FDP OE m ysl sD ae Gymnastics Corner wile. by Ken St. Amant This is the final article of a three part series. Previous articles have focused on the role of winning and the way in which the individual athletes must conform to the team concept in amateur sports. Fundamentals A child's desire to play and learn does not come about by forcing him to take part in these ac- tivities. Obviously, the best time for the child to acquire skill is when he or she intensely desires to learn. Through satisfaction of these urges, a certain skill level, attitudes and habits are at- tained, forming the basis for life-long interests. The parents who force their child to take part in sports may ultimately turn this child against the activity and maybe even sports altogether. It is always difficult for parents to understand why their son or daughter may not be playing as much or more than the others. Parents can also become one of the best in- spiring factors in helping the coach get the best performance from their children. These young athletes need restrained suggestions and en- couragement regarding skills. Here is where the parents can play an important role. Coaches in amateur sports should not be worried about winning. They should be concerned about teaching their young athletes the fundamentals and acquiring some level of skill proficiency. Many minor league organizations suffer from a lack of good coaches and in many cases, coaches are judged according to the success on the scoreboard. Modified Games Competitive situations should be limited until a pre-determined level of skill is acquired or a certain level. of maturity is reached (not necessarily defined by age). After this, the children can be grouped according to skill and ability levels. At this point competition should be used not to teach the athletes to win but to teach them sport- smanship, the ability to handle game situations and the ability to keep the activity or game in perspective. By this approach, the athlete will learn to work and play under discipline and authority. They will learn cooperation and self- competition along with the ability to put others first. Children should play modified activities. In competition, there must be a winner and a loser. If children are constantly faced with failure ex- periences, they will always think themselves as failures. Failure experiences will lead to more failure experiences and this will eventually lead to withdrawal from the activity. Although competition will not be completely eliminated by this kind of program, it will modify the consequences of winning and losing. Competition is not meant to be eliminated in this type of organization. Through modified games, children can feel themselves out. This can be the opportunity to evaluate themselves and channel their activities to suit their own needs. They can learn their limitations while enjoying themselves in these activities. In this way, they are not forced to withdraw because of embarrassment. Competition, if properly guided, can be beneficial and the athlete may enjoy the activity by fulfilling his or her objectives no matter what they are. 3 Conclusion Coaches and parents must realize that through sports, physical, mental and social development is an integrated active process in which the physical can not be treated separately. By improving the capacity of the whole child the desired result of victory may be realizes. Therefore, sports should be put back into their proper perspective. Sports for sports' sake should be the only reason for participating in any sporting activity. Parents and coaches must accept this approach if the youngsters are going to get the most out of sports. The important aspect is that everyone is a winner if they obtain satisfaction by doing their best. "Tt's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that counts." Gymnastics Calendar Mon. July 27th --- 2nd session of Summer Gym Camp begins: 8:30 a.m. for advanced and 1:00 p.m. for beginners. Sat. Aug. 8th -- Balm Beach Summerama Display. Week of Sept. 7th --- Hurons' Club 50-50 draw. Don Lawrence * Sports editor * The Midland Times Job-Generators short-circuited Media scribes and broadcasters | RA -- Still student employment bats In a challenge softball game at Tiffen Park in Midland Wednesday night, a team of local media personnel took on the "Job Generators" of the Stim@ent Employment Centre in Midland, the result being a 37-13 win for the media crew. Playing for the Student Employment Centre were Line Berry, Bev Evans, Paul Mount, Bonnie Curry, Barb Desroches, Craig Pender, Jason Pender and John Curry. Berry, Evans, Mount and Bonnie Curry all work at the student centre with Desroches representing the main employment centre. John Curry and Craig and Jason Pender were students who helped them out. The lineup for the media team _ included Bernie Kaczmarski of Maclean Hunter Cable TV, Murray Moore, Grace McCabe, Pam Carruthers and Don Lawrence of The Midland Times, Paul Welch and Craig Elson of The Free Press and Scott St. James, Gary Greer and Steve McLellan of CKMP. Despite the score, the student employment centre did come up with some very good plays, their most outstanding being one a triple play on a pop fly. Leading off the hitting for the media crew was Don Lawrence with a home run in the top of the first inning. Also in the home run market were Craig Elson with several four- baggers and Steve McLellan with a home run on his wrong hand in the closing innings. Winning pitcher in the game was- Grace McCabe of The Midland Times. ' She shared those pitching duties with Pam Carruthers, also of a = a Zz. This is how it's done! Players of the Media team crossed the plate in Midland's Tiffin Park, Wednesday, 38 times during a challenge game organized by the Student Employment Centre, whose players scored 13 runs. Crossing the plate TOP LEFT is Free Press managing editor Craig Elson before he can be tagged by Student team catcher Paul Mount. Crossing the plate TOP RIGHT is The Midland Times Advertising Salesperson Pam Carruthers, again ahead of Mount. LOWER LEFT, CKMP Salesman Steve McLellan swings in front of CK- MP announcers Garry Greer, rear left, and Scott St.James, rear right over McLellan's head. Beating the ball at LOWER RIGHT is Free Press The Midland Times. Pitching for. the student employment centre was Barb Desroches with John Curry helping out on the mound. Talk of a rematch is in reporter Paul Welch. the works. Novices do their thing by Dave Chalmers After a disastrous opening period in the Orillia Novice Lacrosse tournament recently the A.E. LePage Midland team switched to high gear and never looked back throughout the remainder of the tourney as they earned the Tournament Championship. Midland drilled Mimico 14-2 in game one as the short handed Mimico team put up a super battle during the first half of the game: Midland's fresh troops finally prevailed as Jesse Perrault scored five times and David Chalmers scored four with two assists while Shane Nichols notched a pair of goals and assists. The scoring continued with Chris Walser, Shaun Desjardins and John Brophey each scoring once. Midland continued to improve their play in game two as they faced Cawthra, a team previously unbeaten by Midland. The A.E. LePage boys were not rattled by previous Cawthra matches and were able to display their skills as Midland defeated Cawthra 7-3 and advanced to the cham- pionship game. Chris Walser scored a pair of goals in game two as Shaun Desjardins also registered a pair. John Brophey, Jesse Perrault and David Chalmers each scored to put the game out of reach for Cawthra. Jamie Peden set-up two goals with Mike Waltenbury collecting one assist. A confident Huntsville team hit the floor to face Midland for the tournament championship and the game was a classic struggle as each team banged numerous shots off the goal posts as the play travelled end to end. The A.E. LePage squad sported a 3-2 lead after one period as Jesse Perrault scored once and Shawn Desjardins twice. The scoring continued during the second period as Jamie Peden, Jesse Perrault and Shawn Desjardins each scored to give Midland a 6-4 edge after two periods. The final period was action packed as Huntsville scored to cut the lead to 6-5 and were pressing very hard to tie the game. Midland's goalie, Shawn Price, held Midland in the lead with excellent saves until Mike Waltenbury escaped with the ball to score the insurance marker. Friday, July 24, 1981, Page 5 " 4d