Wednesday, January 14, 2009
You do the math...
10 000 hours or ten years?....
One of the staff members here at the office was talking about the book ‘Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell’ earlier today. She was specifically referring to the 10 000 hours or ten years theory brought up in the book; a theory that is also front in center in all LTAD literature. (click here for for LTAD site info)
If it take that long to become a master of a skill, does it make that we expect our Tween AA players to perform at such an elite level... let’s say an interprovincial semi national year end event.
If you do the math quickly if they started at age 6 and they are currently 11 or 12... then that’s 6 years or less. No way they’ve acquire the skills yet to perform at such a level.
But I did says 10 years or 10 000 hours... so let’s see; 10 000 hours in 6 years would mean:
1666.66 hours of ringette per year = 138.88 hours per month = 34.7 hours per week = 4.9 hours per day.
So yes it could be possible to get 10 000hours into 6 years... however I’m pretty sure ringette 24/7 for six years at age 11 could be borderline crazy (or something else).
Using the same logic... you do the math... when would it be fair of us to put such high expectation on our athletes???
(Hint: We’ve just established that it’s after Tween, so no need to try and make a case for any of the earlier age groups)
Giving our athletes the opportunity to progress through the sport acquire the proper skills and more importantly ensure that they are enjoying what they do is what LTAD is all about.
Expecting an 11 year old to perform at a competitive level with high expectations doesn’t make much sense.
Provide them with an opportunity to learn, make friends, and have fun and do the best that they can... you’d be surprised at the results you get down the line.
Yours in Ringette,
-FL
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3 comments:
Who says the Tween AA program asks them to perform at an elite level? Nobody thinks Tween AAs are masters of their sports yet. AA just asks them to work hard, challenge themselves and try their best. Just because you go to a national or regional event doesn't mean they must perform at an elite level- they just get a chance to compete against teams they don't normally compete against. In the 3 years my daughter has been involved in AA, she has been "provided with an opportunity to learn, make friends, have fun and do the best she can" - why are you taking that away from her?
I really don't understand why people want to limit players challenging themselves to be better and improve their skillsand abilities.
Just because it's an 'A' or 'AA' level of play, does not mean that there is any unrealistic expectations being placed on the players. If anything, you are allowing those players with the natural abilities to thrive and develop their talents at a higher level.
If Bobby Orr had been told, I'm sorry son you can only play house league because your not old enough, would he have become the player he did??? No. He was moved into divisions that suited his talent and ability.
LTAD is about Athlete Development right, that's what the title says? So how does limiting the potential for development of a player increase the development of the player? Maybe it should Lengthening the Time an Athlete Develops...
You should let the playing ability and common sense dictate what level a player is allowed to play at.
I was told this year that my team had no 'B' Level players on it, so we were seeded in the C division. We ended up dominating the C division so much that we were moved to B and we ended up winning the B League Championship for the year. There is no magic set of quantitative criteria for determining who is an A, B, C or Rec player. It doesn't say in a manual or rule book that the player must be able to skate forwards and backwards at a speed of 25 km per hour or have a shot clocked at 50km per hour.
Let me play and see how far they can go. Why not give them the opportunity to play against teams from different geographic regions? They are making friends, having fun and developing social networks in a very much broader setting. Isn't that what it is all about?
But are not some 11 yr olds more advanced in their development than others. So if the player is more advanced, we will penalize her and deny her the opportunity to be challenged.
Will that not drive away players.
This has nothing to do with elite nobody said these girls are elite they are young athletes who work hard want to compete and be challenged. Getting to travel to a big event and compete against girls of similar calibre and commitment level is not necessarily elite its a valuable life expirience and opportunity generating memories that will last a lifetime. I would think that the girls regardless of age should have the opportunity to compete against girls of similar skill and development.
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