He said an equally talented child in the city will be in the middle ranks of their sport so will not get the same attention or develop the same self-concept. Abernethy said other environmental factors also play a role. "Smaller communities provide an environment that allows children a greater amount of independent mobility and physical safety," he and his colleagues write. "When coupled with an abundance of space to play, these factors may facilitate diverse types of sport participation, a characteristic associated with the acquisition of sport expertise." Abernethy said young athletes in country areas, because of less safety concerns, are not dependent on parental supervision to practice. This allows them to undertake what he calls "deliberate play," which is unstructured play that develops innovative skills they then use in their sports. He said in country areas young players are also more likely to play against adults at an earlier age. As a result they have to enhance their strategic thinking as they cannot rely on physical size to help them win, he said. Abernethy said city-based sports administrators need to think how they can "create the environments that happen more naturally in towns." This could include rethinking the age-based structure of most junior sports. The flaw in this system is that the physically bigger players are often picked as being talented, when it is only their size that allows them to dominate. Once they hit grade sport and play against adults, they no longer have the size advantage and have not developed the strategic skills to go on. Related Links: Treehugger: Clean Air Champions: Athletes for the Environment |
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