Promoting Perseverance: How Sports Promotes Essential Life Habits

The prospect of working with a group of adolescent boys from an urban, inner-city neighborhood in an after-school sport education program may be a daunting task for some but for others it can be a motivating challenge.  After all, the last thing most middle grade-aged students want to do after a regular day of school is to join a program with an emphasis on more learning.  However, well-structured programs in an after-school setting that cater to the interest of adolescent males hold promise in changing current negative trends and outcomes that are often associated with this group as they move through their formative years and into adulthood. 

A few of the attributes most commonly associated with urban, inner-city, “at-risk” or “underserved” youth is that they are: 

§  Selfish

§  Hyperactive

§  Disengaged

This past Tuesday, the DE after-school program showed me that these attributes may be present at times but can be overcome and remodeled to produce young men who deserve ‘different’ marks from their observers. 

In a public school gymnasium located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, eight young boys, participating in an after-school basketball-based, physical education program, showed me this transformation is possible. 

The young boys started the Tuesday afternoon session exhibiting many of the characteristics presented above.  Their actions showed a clear lack of focus and cooperativeness as they engaged in actions solely thinking about themselves and how they could enjoy a few hours of basketball inside the confines of an inside gymnasium. 

Soon, after settling the boys down and providing some purpose, through a discussion and several physical activity tasks, a majority of the boys began to display a sense of understanding behind the theme and word of the day (perseverance).  Many of them became attentive and focused rather than merely actors in a physical space where their attitude normally centered on having a ball and running around with it in an effort to see it through an orange circle ten feet in the air. 

During a group discussion following physical activity the boys respectfully engaged in a discussion that centered on the word perseverance.  They collaboratively worked through the definition and provided their own insights into what they believed and understood the word to mean.  They then went on to talk through the concept of perseverance in relation to being on a basketball team. 

Later that night, ironically, the Los Angeles Lakers first round draft pick, Julius Randle, went down with a broken leg that could keep him sidelined for the remainder of his rookie season with the team.  This real example for the young boys will allow them to track and follow how an individual on a team perseveres through a difficult time. 

Young people need new challenges and obstacles.  Equally as important as the challenges and obstacles is the support and systems (i.e. programming) in place to help them through the process and allow them to see and experience that success is possible if one perseveres and stays focused.