Co-curricular - Senior Sport
Goals to Change Your Mind
Goal setting is a valuable aspect of everyday life. Goal setting in sports is especially important to measure and improve performance as well as to achieve other positive effects. I am surprised that more often than not, I hear our students say, “we’re not going to win this week because….” or “we were always going to lose against them.”
I beg the question why? Why in our minds do we go into a Saturday fixture thinking we cannot win or have such a defeatist attitude before the whistle blows?
Our mental toughness is lacking and needs to be addressed. An opponent may be physically bigger, faster or stronger. However, ask any long-shot, come-from-behind underdog and they will tell you how hard they worked and how their sense of belief never faded, even when no one else gave them a chance. Just look at the 1997 Newcastle Rugby League team who won the Premiership after being belted by their opponent Manly Sea Eagles just two weeks before. Or the legend of Gold medallist Steven Bradbury – the last man standing in the 1000m speed skating final at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
We need to reprogram our minds and how we approach our sports. “I’m not going to give up”, “We can beat these guys”, “We’re going to score more points now than last time”.
One way we can improve upon this is by creating individual and team goals. Goal setting should always be present regardless of the difficulty of the sport or the level at which the athlete is competing. There are several benefits of goal setting in sports which will make for a more enjoyable season:
Self-Confidence
Goals focus on self-improvement and accomplishing them boosts your self-confidence. Setting goals can foster a positive approach to focusing on yourself and not comparing yourself against others.
Motivation
Goal setting is a simple yet effective motivational tool in sports activities. When you feel motivated, you will strive harder to perform better. Goals also give you a sense of direction. They tell you in detail what you need to accomplish. They will effectively increase your persistence, patience, effort and your overall performance.
Improved Performance
Goals should be challenging but not threatening. A challenging goal involves attainable difficulty that will push you to work harder within your limits. Set goals based on your performance.
Once goals are set, we must work hard to achieve them, and this starts at training during the week. Remember no matter what the final score reads, as individuals and as a team we should all be working towards improving ourselves as athletes and as human beings. An 100% effort is all you can give and all we ask of you.
Good luck to all those competing for the remainder of this summer season. I hope you achieve your goals.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Lachlan Weir of Year 9 who won the Junior Champion at Carnarvon Golf Course last weekend. The Junior Championships were held over three weekends and last Sunday, Lachlan was crowned Champion winning by over 30 shots and was very close to winning the B-Grade Championship. Lachlan has now qualified to compete for The NSW Junior Champion and also Champion of Champions to take place later in December. Well done Lachlan and all the best for the future tournaments.
Anthony Calavassy
Head of Secondary Sport