A Comment about Sports
Aaron,
Here is a question / comment for you (perhaps to be posted on your blog).
As a community sports coach, I have an interest in the School District and how it approaches extracurricular sports activities within the school system. I have not been involved that long with the sports programs here in High Level (and perhaps don't have all the information as to how things run or which sports are promoted here in the District), but I recognize how important extracurricular activities such as sports teams are to the building character, and the social development of youth. These sort of activities go a long way towards promoting healthy lifestyles, and provide kids with opportunities to be involved in constructive programs in their free time, hopefully steering them away from negative activities.
I know that it is very difficult to find qualified persons (either teachers or community people) to coach or mentor kids with these programs, and that in many cases schools cannot run programs because there are not enough people to start or maintain sports programs. In many cases there are parents or teachers that are willing to step in and help where needed, but they may not necessarily have a good working concept of the specific sport skills, or coaching techniques that will benefit the students involved over the long run.
For some sports, I know (perhaps not specifically) that there are not teams, or the students may not be introduced to specific team sports outside of Physical Education classes until they reach grade 8 or 9 in some cases.
I notice that with respect to extracurricular activities your platform is limited to theatre infrastructure development, but I would like to ask the question, what will you do as a trustee if you are elected to promote opportunities to develop coaches and/or sports programs in our local schools?
What would you do as a trustee to promote the development of sports programs that are currently not running at some of the local schools, or taking existing programs to the next level? (I believe (but could be wrong) that there are no current soccer or football programs etc).
How would you suggest the District go about promoting the development of community / teacher coaches that have the proper information, theory and methods to promote to our local youth good character traits, social skills, etc. through sport?
Thank you for your consideration of my questions and comments.
Christopher Cottell
Christopher Cottell, CEPIT
Forest Management Planner
Little Red River Forestry Ltd. Woodlands Division
~~~~~
Chris,
Thanks for the comment and I know many other share your concern. I cannot however speak to this as I am not campaigning on this platform. I will direct you to Kevin Elias at High Level Public School as he directs much of the divisions sports programs.
Regards,
Aaron
posted by Aaron Lambie at 9:08 AM
3 Comments:
Aaron,
Perhaps I am wrong, but wasn't the whole point of this blog to start dialogue and conversation?
I don't believe that Mr. Elias is responsible for elementary school athletics is he? He does not control say whether the students at Spirit of the North school have the opportunity to be involved in a basketball program does he? Or if kids in Rainbow Lake have access to sports programs due to lack of a coaching staff (just an example not sure if this happens). Please do correct me if I am wrong here because that would be good to know.
If questions to you are going to be answered only if they fall under the realm of your platform, then there will not be much discussion generated if people have concerns that are outside the realm of your 4 point platform.
I believe that perhaps Mr. Cottell was not only asking you questions to hear what your stance would be on this topic, but also to see if you would follow through and find out any information from the District as to what IS actually being done, or WHY actions may or may not be feasible.
Not simply to be directed to another person who may be able to supply answers for High Level Public School, but not the rest of the District.
3:40 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
4:33 PM
Anonymous,
This blog is exactly as I have pointed out, a platform for discussion and dialogue. Maybe I am misunderstood but it is my understanding that Mr. Elias, a teacher at High Level Public School, is the sports coordinator, in some capacity, for the division and not just High Level Public School. If he is only the coordinator for High Level Public School then I will make the assumption that he would know who to speak with regarding Mr. Cottell’s questions.
Secondly, I will certainly entertain comments and dialogue about many issues however I do not feel that I can credibly give any suggestions or points on sports in the division as I have little interaction or knowledge to this. I feel that taking too many stances on too many points leads to a general lack of focus and a disservice to the people you are trying to help and represent. Much of my platform is designed to address academic performance and developmental success of the students.
I have personally consulted with Mr. Cottell on this issue and he agrees that Mr. Elias would be a more appropriate person to ask this question to. He did however make the suggestion to post his comments on this blog and that is exactly what I have done. I am never afraid to ask for help or make reference to someone that knows more and can help out individuals better than I can.
Again, thanks for the comments and sorry for the confusion.
Regards,
Aaron
4:41 PM
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