Spirituality In Sports Leadership

Initially, spirituality in sport may be difficult to identify yet after closer inspection it is critically clear as one of the main reasons for people pursuing sport and declaring it a passion. The idea that individuals do not passively absorb sport but actively participate with engagement and focus is described by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to be a highly focused mental state known as ‘flow’. He argues that the most powerful moments in our lives are not the relaxing and receptive events but are the moments when a ‘person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile’. A definition of spirituality is difficult to describe as many would disagree on its meaning,

One such leadership course that I am familiar with that offers the above opportunities is the ‘Junior Sport Leadership Course’ or rather JSLA. Its core values include the following statement; ‘Developing leadership – teaching people the ability to organise activities, to lead, motivate and communicate with groups’. These attributes are similar to that of a teacher possessing and students often sympathise with teachers during certain aspects of the course such as the behaviour management module. During this assessment of classroom management I personally require students to lead a session whilst certain individuals have been given flashcards with certain behavioural problems such as creating a disruption or causing disagreement. A secondary important module related to SMSC is fair play, whereby students are required to demonstrate how individuals maintain a sportsmanlike approach through adherence of the rules and respect of officials whilst leading their own