One of the annual lessons we "invented" at BALL is "The Challenge". We're doing one right now for a local high school baseball team.
The Challenge builds on the story of Roberto Clemente and the Wooden maxim "Help Others." It enables coaches to develop 3 key areas that are important in their chosen sport: Physical skill, emotional intelligence, and mental toughness. And best of all, it's age-neutral. Any kid from 6 to 18 years old can compete and learn valuable lessons about themselves in the process.
It's also a dynamite "feel-good" fund raiser for local charities, the league sponsoring the team, and the team itself. But the success of the event is not determined by the amount of money raised, but by the number of individuals "touched" by the kids with the community awareness plan. Businesses love to brand this type of event. And it's extremely simple to implement.
In a nutshell, The Challenge works something like this:
- Each kid practices every basic skill needed to be successful in playing that season's sport by participating in one 45 minute "station-to-station" practice;
- Each kid learns about 3 local kid-centric charities and then develops his own "community buzz" action plan about creating local awareness about those charities;
- Each kid is able to better develop his/her competitive spirit by participating in each "block" of the lesson.
Another cool thing: no matter what the level of physical skill or parental support, everyone can "win" at least one section of The Challenge or win a prize. The only people that "lose" are the ones that fail to participate. And each kid, even if he doesn't finish at the top of the block, is successful based on Wooden's success definition.
Do you accept The Challenge?
Make each day your masterpiece...and help others!
Ted Browne
Chief StoryTeller
Saturday, April 17, 2010
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