Wasn’t Queenslander’s Samantha Stosur’s win in the US Tennis Open brilliant? Wasn’t she the best; cool, calm and collected while sullen Serena Williams had a meltdown midway through the game? Don’t you feel a great sense of pride to see a young less experienced but determined Australian not cave into any of the pressure of arguably one of the biggest international tournaments on the circuit? She didn’t lose her cool because of the parochial crowd from New York, nor did she cave into the intimidating Serena Williams. Sam held her ground and her nerve taking out the title in just 73 minutes. She is the first Australian woman to win a majors since Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s Wimbledon win in 1980 – an outstanding achievement!Equally, Queenslander Sally Pearson’s world championship win in the 100 hundred metres hurdles, running 12.28 seconds was the fourth fastest time in history and the fastest time in 19 years, was sensational too. There must be something in the Queensland air, to say nothing of the spirit of Queenslanders, to see two young Queensland women perform so well on the international stage over recent months.
Don’t you find it amazing that the mood of the whole country can be affected by a win by an Australian in the international arena? Even those people who rarely watch sport or take a cursory interest at best in what happens in tennis, rugby or athletics are suddenly transfixed by a world final and are buoyed by a win. National pride collectively swells as we all clearly identify with the winner, be it a team or an individual.
In a recent article in North American Journal of Psychology, noted psychologists (End, Worthman, Foster and Vandemark) found that many sports fans, particularly those who are avid fans of a team or individual, had very positive emotions after a team’s win and not surprisingly, very negative emotions after they lose.
Interestingly, fans internalize the successes of the team in such a way that their actual self esteem is boosted as well as their mood. Psychologists also discovered that if a fan watches the team win then they predicted that the fans would personally perform at a higher level than fans who watched the team lose. Yes, there is a whole science and research around sports psychology. The psychology of fans responses to winning or losing sports teams should come as no surprise to any ardent sports fan.
Teams sports as well as individual pursuits in tennis, athletics, and swimming for example, are important for young people’s development of character, resilience, determination and cooperative efforts. The benefits of sports activities are well researched and acknowledged as being an important ‘core’ component to the growth and development of young people.
Young people need to have opportunities to think quickly and to react quickly to situations and sport provides this immediate opportunity. Young people can learn from what they do on the sporting field instantly - they know if they have made a good decision or a bad one and learn from the experience. Young people learn about leadership, teams, coaching and working with others. Parents should be there to guide and give advice but not to lecture or berate young people for how they have played or performed.
We have a lot to learn about human behaviour and sport provides an excellent vehicle to learn the basic principles of human nature. There is no victory without effort and determination. Our sporting heroes deserve our accolades; they have put in the hard yards and have committed, in many cases, a whole life in pursuit of their dreams. Yes it's wonderful to see our up and coming youngsters strive for greatness, but I also hope along the way that they learn lessons of humility and graciousness in victory as well. Both Sam Stosur and Sally Pearson have done us proud in this regard and stand as excellent role models for our younger sports men and women who are our champions in the making.
“To be what we are,
and to become what we
are capable of becoming
is the only end in life.”
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
Karon Graham
In a recent article in North American Journal of Psychology, noted psychologists (End, Worthman, Foster and Vandemark) found that many sports fans, particularly those who are avid fans of a team or individual, had very positive emotions after a team’s win and not surprisingly, very negative emotions after they lose.
Interestingly, fans internalize the successes of the team in such a way that their actual self esteem is boosted as well as their mood. Psychologists also discovered that if a fan watches the team win then they predicted that the fans would personally perform at a higher level than fans who watched the team lose. Yes, there is a whole science and research around sports psychology. The psychology of fans responses to winning or losing sports teams should come as no surprise to any ardent sports fan.
Teams sports as well as individual pursuits in tennis, athletics, and swimming for example, are important for young people’s development of character, resilience, determination and cooperative efforts. The benefits of sports activities are well researched and acknowledged as being an important ‘core’ component to the growth and development of young people.
Young people need to have opportunities to think quickly and to react quickly to situations and sport provides this immediate opportunity. Young people can learn from what they do on the sporting field instantly - they know if they have made a good decision or a bad one and learn from the experience. Young people learn about leadership, teams, coaching and working with others. Parents should be there to guide and give advice but not to lecture or berate young people for how they have played or performed.
We have a lot to learn about human behaviour and sport provides an excellent vehicle to learn the basic principles of human nature. There is no victory without effort and determination. Our sporting heroes deserve our accolades; they have put in the hard yards and have committed, in many cases, a whole life in pursuit of their dreams. Yes it's wonderful to see our up and coming youngsters strive for greatness, but I also hope along the way that they learn lessons of humility and graciousness in victory as well. Both Sam Stosur and Sally Pearson have done us proud in this regard and stand as excellent role models for our younger sports men and women who are our champions in the making.
“To be what we are,
and to become what we
are capable of becoming
is the only end in life.”
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
Karon Graham
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