provide students with a much-needed
lesson in shared success.
Balancing act
Of course, moderation is key. As is
the case with many good things in
life, more is not always more when
it comes to athletics. Students may
not receive the full benefits of a sport
if it takes up all of their energy or
leaves parents standing in as personal
assistants just to keep up with busy
practice schedules.
Victor Chen (not his real name), a
Hong Kong father of three children,
has a seven-year-old son who plays
six different sports. Victor explains
that he hopes these activities will
make his son well-rounded. However,
he adds that he sees his son’s diverse
sports schedule as temporary, in part
because of the logistical demands it
places on their family. “I believe his
schedule will be consolidated once his
interests narrow,” he says.
It is important for athletes to
feel passionate about the sport that
they are committed to, especially
since it can play a significant role in
their lives. Family members should
work together to find an athletic
environment in which their kids
thrive.
Lina Nilsson, a former gymnast
for the University of California,
Berkeley, has experience in finding
the right sports outlet. Nilsson is a
talented gymnast who began taking
lessons at the age of four. Growing
up, she spent a tremendous amount
of time training and later practised
for six to seven days per week at the
university level. It was not always easy
for Lina to honour her passion while
pursuing her studies at the same time.
“I love gymnastics, but it was
always challenging and practices were
really tough and took a lot out of me.
Most of the time, I saw gymnastics
as a job, something that I had to do,”
Lina explains.
She eventually decided to retire
from gymnastics, but found that the
athleticism she gained through the
sport could be applied to another
extracurricular activity: rock
climbing.
Lina says, “The interesting thing
with rock climbing is that I spend
close to the same amount of time
training, but I look forward [to] and
love every minute of it. This may be
because it’s new, but I enjoy every
part of it, not just when I’m successful
at it.”
Parents and educators are
responsible for helping students grow.
Too often, the focus on growth is
narrowed into factors such as test
scores and interview skills in order
to meet the demands of a highly
competitive education system. In
addition to performing well in
exams, we want our children to be
team players and happy and healthy
individuals. While sport cannot
provide a complete means to these
ends, it can certainly give children a
running start.
Michaela Steinbach is a Senior English
Teacher at the Kelly Yang Project
(
), a leading after-
school English writing programme for kids
aged four to 17 in Hong Kong. At KYP,
Michaela teaches Creative Writing, Public
Speaking, Critical Reasoning, and Grammar
and Vocabulary. She enjoys helping her
creative students improve their writing skills.
June 2014
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