Whither Motivation for the Young Athlete?
A number of years ago I worked closely with cadets at the U.S. Military Academy. From time to time, I would counsel first year cadets who were considering resigning from the academy. In many cases as these discussions unfolded the cadet revealed that he/she had never really been all that interested in attending West Point but had been pushed into it by a parent. Invariably they resigned. And most likely, both the individual and the institution were better off as a result of those decisions.
Working with youth athletic teams from time to time, I sometimes saw a similar dynamic at work. That is, some of the kids seemed to be participating mainly to satisfy their parents more so than themselves.
History Comes Alive in Our Historical Section
Their stories stay with us. They reverbrate down through the decades . . . Abrahama Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debating each other across the state of Illinois during the senatorial campaign of 1858 . . . Harriet and Dred Scott, slaves who dared to challenge the political structure of their era all the way to the US Supreme Court . . . The Monroe Cheesemakers, a high school basketball team that took on all comers on their way to the Wisconsin Schoolboy State Championship in 1965 . . . Bobby Thomson, an outfielder for the NY Giants who came to the plate with his team trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers in the bottom of the 9th inning in the last of three playoff games to determine who whould win the pennant. What happened in that at bat has since been dubbed "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" . . . Chief Black Hawk, a proud chief of the Sauk tribe, was determined to resist the takeover of the tribe's lands by an ever expanding American nation. What followed became known as "The Black Hawk War."
Sportademics is a unique web based company that emphasizes the meaningful true synergy of academics and sport within our culture. We believe deeply that a combination of intellectual pursuits with the physical, notably as realized through sports in all its varied forms, steadily enhances our lives as humans at every level and in virtually every expression.
Pikes Peak Young Composers
The Pikes Peak Young Composers Competition was created in 1995 by Leonard Rhodes with support from the Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration and Colorado Springs Music Company to provide an opportunity for young composers throughout the State of Colorado.
