As the school year comes to a close so does my opportunity to do a lot of the things i have done for this foundation. I do and always have had intentions to continue over the summer so it will continue for a few months because i really want to be able to raise enough money to make my work worth it and to help the people who need it. I intend on running a clinic for each sport i am able to, at least 4, and possibly having a general fundraiser to raise some extra money.
As you know if you were signed up to attend, due to some last minute unfortunate circumstances the first clinic was canceled. while i of course have plans to run a full clinic for these girls over the summer, it is still sad i did not have the chance to already. I would however like to share the work leading up to the clinic that i did days prior so the clinic would run smooth. Like I mentioned in my last blog i did prepare myself and my other coaches to be ready for any medical issues that might come up which is the most important preparation. I also created check in procedures to make sure everything runs smooth and that all people get their health forms that were previously created signed. I worked with some of my teammates and coaches to figure out effective drills and stations that would allow the girls to get the most out of the clinic without exhausting them. Having to create a and write a way to explain the drills was shockingly the most difficult task since i had to be clear and precise so the other coaches could explain the drills correctly because even when i as at that level, elementary and middle school players get confused easily. Overall although it has not run yet I am proud of the preparations that i did and i feel it would have come together well. I am excited to be able to run a clinic off these plans in the summer! Check back for dates and updates!
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I want to be as prepared as possible for anything that might come about during my clinics so i decided to do some research on injuries and first aid so i could be prepared if anything happened. I really tried to have keep a good amount of people certified in first aid or child care at the clinics to keep everyone healthy. Myself being certified in child care helps this very much, but i still learned a lot about how to handle various situations and wanted to share.
The first lesson i learned was the bloody nose myth. With a friend who gets constant bloody noses at practices i thought this might be an issue id face. I was surprised to learn it is very bad to tilt your head back with a bloody nose. WHy every person thnks they should do it is beyond me. HEre is the link to the article that taught me how to handle this: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/ears-nose-and-throat/nosebleed As a girl who also constantly rolls her ankles i was curious to see if even I knew how to treat them right. Of course prevention is still key which is why ankle braces are always encouraged. What i have learned is to always keep the shoe on!!! This is the most important thing i have learned about ankle sprains especially with basketball since the high top shoes will control the swelling. Once you take the shoe off your ankle has all the room in the world to swell. Here is another link: https://familydoctor.org/ankle-sprains-healing-and-preventing-injury/ Lastly since the clinic was planned to be on outdoor courts i wanted to learn about the casual cuts or anything else kids would get by falling on the court. I knew going into it younger kids may be difficult when they get a small cut so i wanted to be prepared for it. The most important thing i got out of looking into this is to always try to clean the cut and keep it clean because an infection is worse that the cut itself. Here is another link relating to this: https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-cuts/basics/art-20056711 Along with this i also researched good first aid tools i may need and other possible situations i could be in. I really wanted to ensure kids would be safe so doing this research i believe was beneficial. schedule these FOr the longest time we have had problems involving dates and times as well as locations to start our clinics. It has been a challenge clinics especially after so much time was spent in the fall doing prep work, but i am happy to say we have a girls basketball spring clinic!
May 18th and 19th mark the unleash your game foundations first clinic. I decided on doing a weekend double session for a few reasons that i ended up putting a lot of thought into. With all the scheduling conflicts my four session plan did not seem as effective which lead me to asking some other coaches for effective ideas. With a double session in mind i asked a coach to help me come up with a great four hour plan that i think will work very well without over working the kids. Interviewing and talking to experienced players and coaches i created skill stations and games that will balance out fun work and breaks to create the best clinic for younger kids. I learned that this balance works well because no clinic is effective working kids in skill sets for four hours because they will get extremely tired. adding a small break gives them a complete rest while using an hour for games like 3v3 and knockout allows kids to use that skill in a competitive setting while also giving kids rotating breaks. If you would like to sign up please see the clinic section for more info and interest form! So as i am planning my upcoming clinics i realized i really wanted to be educated on coaching to be able to run a good clinic. I didn't think just being a player was good enough for what i wanted to do. I came across a very interesting coaching blog in my research that talks about the psychological and mental aspect of coaching that i hope to encourage all my coaches including myself to incorporate in coaching the clinics. There were many separate blogs addressing different ideas so i looked at about 5-6 of these.
One of my favorites was an article based on focusing in sports in order to achieve your goals. This article took a psychological approach to how you thrive in sports. A common problem has been kids falling short under pressure. Guilty of this myself, I understand all the anxiety and frustration that comes with the pressure of competition. This explains how you, as an athlete, can increase your mental toughness as well as what coaches can do to help. I will definitely be referencing these articles with any problems that come up in the clinic. As a player i understand the game well enough to teach, but having psychology etc behind me and the rest of the coaches will give us all a leg up to make our clinic that much better. Check out some of the blogs and articles! https://www.appliedsportspsychology.com/coaching-blog So recently i have read an article that really outlines why i wanted to start this program. This article written by health direct focuses on what the life skill benefits of sports are for kids, not the physical aspect most people think of when i say benefits of sports. The most interesting part of the article for me was the aspect of learning to lose and to not worry about winning or losing, something that this article claims parents have a huge part in. Losing is inevitable in sports and now, with the wave of trying to form games and leagues without winners or losers, I think it is very important that losing stays intact. If kids become okay with losing at a young age that will carry with them as they grow up. Another great part of the small article was how parents should be involved. It emphasises that parents should allow kids to focus on having fun and learning the game rather than losing or winning. What stuck with me is also the positivity it emphasises, Especially with parents. For example, if a young kid sees their mom or dad negatively coaching from the sideline or yelling at refs etc, then they think that behavior is okay. This can lead them to do this to officials as well, and this can lead them to be negative to their own team. Here is the article if you would like to read!
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/developing-life-skills-through-sports last week was my pecha kucha presentation and it went amazing! I will be linking the video soon but the information included was great. I was able to perfectly get across the messages i wanted to including my inspiration and my future plans. I also got a ton of feedback and interest for my project. Friends and teachers even strangers came up to me after my presentations wanting to hear more and wanting to help. I have so many volunteers because of this ! I even had some people have interest in applying for a scholarship which felt absolutely incredible because it felt like i was already making a difference .
Doing this project was also great because it forced me to think of the future for my project. One of the things i did for my project was make a timeline. It forced me to figure out timing for clinics and scholarship releases etc. This will help me a lot in the long run. Overall this was a great experience. It boosted my confidence and gave me more support from my school. It also gave innovations class a lot of buzz. There are so many people now interested so it will be great for the class! Keep checking to see progress! Coming up is our midterm project which is our pecha kucha. a pecha kucha is a presentation style where you have 20 pictures and you talk along with the visuals for 15 seconds a slide about any topic so i will be talking about my inspiration, my project itself, and where my project is headed. Next week, the 18 people who have spent the year creating innovative projects are presenting their work to over a 100 students and staff members. Personally, i am very excited for this not only for my project but for innovation class in general. I love this class because it has allowed me to create this program while educating myself on a topic i have always wanted to study, non-profit business. This class gives you freedom to study what you love no matter what it is, and i think everyone should have the ability to do that which is why i want to advertise the class as much as possible.
As far as my own project, i am so excited to really get my word out. Since i will really be launching the program soon this exposure to different people in the community will be great for the start of clinics especially. This has also given me a chance to reflect on what i have done so far as well as where i want to go with all of this which i talked about in my last post. Reflecting on my project has been interesting because i have done so much tedious work for my project that other people think is so boring, but i have loved every second. It has made me realize how much i love what i am doing no matter what the work is like. I am so excited now to get going with clinics and fundraisers because i know once i see my results it will be that much better. check back soon to hear more! SO recently i have been thinking about what i want to do to really launch this program. The focus for a long time now has been setting up everything. After trying to start my clinic i realized i had none of the background work done that i needed. SO since i started i have been in the planning phase doing work on partnerships and the scholarship program as well as other areas like ways to fundraise and budgeting plans. I learned a very huge lesson that should be applied throughout this project; I cannot jump into things without doing the work. There is so much extra work i did not even realize i had, but to run this effectively i have to be patient and do tedious work.
As far as a real launch, i plan to put all of the work i have done into effect starting in late winter. I want to start indoor clinics for baseball and softball right before the season starts then put some outdoor clinics for basketball in the spring. Right now i also have a plan for advertising the clinics set over a 3-4 week period which will go into effect for softball and baseball clinics in february. Events will also start in the spring which are already being planned. The scholarship program will also open up around june. Hopefully everything will work out now that it is planned out well!! keep checking back in to see whats going on! We have just finished our scholarship program applications and process to be released soon. this process is so important because it needs to be easy to apply, affordable for us and it has to be done in a way a way so that we are helping the right people. this process includes a few applications and a possible interview.
The first application is to get into the overall program and are given to people by the director or coach of one of our partner teams that the child desires to play on. Based on the child as well as the family's finaincial situation, this application puts you into one of 3 groups. The first group is compiled of the kids with the most need and gives out the most money. Group 2 gives slightly less money and group 3 gives the least amount of money to the kids with the least amount of need. Group 1 families are required to have an interview with the coach or director of the partner team to ensure that good kids are getting these scholarships. once you are placed in a group with a specific team you are put in the data base so any further teams you would like to play for will give you an easier application. The other application you may need to fill out is for equipment coverage. The equipment application is very easy and you get the equipment based on your current equipment and what you need as well as which group you were put into. We tried to make this process easy but we still need to make sure we help good kids that truly need it. Keep checking back to see updates! |
Check out my intro video!
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