A LESSON FOR KIDS
AUSTRALIA’S TEST CRICKETERS MAY HAVE LET US ALL DOWN BUT THEY GAVE JUNIORS A STRONG MESSAGE
THIS week’s column is very relevant to juniors but looks at those at elite levels.
After all, our juniors will become our elite athletes and ultimately take the step to donning the green and gold and representing their country.
Let’s state the facts – three Australian cricketers were caught in the ball-tampering scandal.
Shame? Yes. Disgrace? Yes. Cheating? Yes. The end of their career? Maybe. Crime? No.
Alan Jones questions whether what has happened is any different to what we all suffer on a daily basis.
“There are more than these three cricketers betraying our cultural values,” he said.
I must admit I struggle with what they did but it was a mistake, not a crime.
Yes, they get paid a lot and I am the first to say they need to pay for their misconceived judgments.
They will. They will lose income and their sponsors. They say Steve Smith and David Warner may never play again. Punishment enough? I say yes, absolutely.
Pressure can do terrible things. This is an issue that we all need to face.
Political correctness has parents, coaches, administrators and teachers being told that competition is something we do not need to put our young children in.
Really? We all need to understand and admit that competition is part of life.
Children need to be taught how to compete, how to lose and win with fairness and dignity. How to overcome the pressures of expectations.
The sooner we can do this, the better we will accustom them to dealing with disappointment and to move on.
It is part of GCAS’s role to educate all athletes in our programs about the pressures to win and how to deal with them in an ethical manner.