iSport

While sports are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and children are attending school virtually from their bedrooms or dining tables, now is the perfect time for student-athletes to turn to sports development. Grow their leadership skills so that when they return to their sports of choice, they can come out ahead.

There are a few sports development e-learning platforms out there that can help your students along the way, such as Leaders of Evolution or the fellow Australian-based sports development company iSport, otherwise known as the Institute of Sport.

According to its website, “iSport develops and delivers practically oriented, educationally rigorous online courses that can be purchased and accessed at any time through the iSport Management portal. All resources are updated regularly to reflect contemporary conditions and key learnings can be implemented immediately for the benefit of individual and organisational sport business operations.”

One sports development course this company offers is called “The Basics of Sport Leadership,” and it expects that its students will gain an appreciation for the foundational skills necessary for sports development and impactful leadership in their individual sports and the industry at large. But iSport’s other sports development courses are largely tailored towards people involved in the management and business of sport, rather than the athletes themselves.

At Leaders of Evolution, we create sports development courses focused on leadership in sport and designed specifically for student-athletes starting from a young age and carrying through the rest of their student career. Our courses align with the Australian Curriculum, specifically where personal and social capacity, self-management, self-awareness, social management, and social awareness elements are concerned. Ultimately, the goal of Leaders of Evolution’s sports development courses is to help students assess their current performance in various leadership contexts, investigate and apply leadership principles within their sporting environments by learning from professional athletes and coaches and develop and apply the 4 C’s (Competence, Confidence, Character, and Connectedness) to their lives in the arena.

What is sports development, and why does it matter?

The term “sports development” refers to the use of sport as a vehicle for learning leadership and life skills that can propel people forward in life, both on and off the field. According to sportanddev.org, “Actors in sport, academia, private sector, non-profit and non-governmental organisations, government agencies, UN agencies and international organisations, the media, the general public as well as young people are increasingly interested in the potential of sport as a tool to reach personal, community, national and international development objectives.”

In 2006, Barcelona Football Club partnered UNICEF to promote sports development. Since then, they’ve reached two million children in seven countries and claim that sports development efforts like theirs can contribute to better health, confidence, self-esteem, and academic performance.

At Leaders of Evolution, we believe that the skills students learn from sports development and our unique sports development courses have the longevity to stay with them for life and make those lives more prosperous. Vaughan Hogan, the head of football at Corinda State High School, said, “It’s been a great resource for our students this year and has helped fuel some much-needed conversation around leadership and character on and off the field. Students have found the platform and content engaging, often completing online lessons outside of class and training time.”

How you can harness Leaders of Evolution sports development courses

Step 1: As an educator, you can click here to select either the “On-field” or “Off-field” course, depending on what aspect of sports development you’re in the market for, and take advantage of our “Online Teacher Introduction” course, where you’ll find advice from well-versed teachers and the Leaders of Evolution team.

With that step-by-step guide, you’ll be prepared to deliver an engaging experience and transition your students to the launch of the sports development course. Upon completion of the “Online Teacher Introduction” course, you’ll be rewarded with a certificate of completion in recognition of one hour of Professional Learning.

Step 2: With a “Customer Success Toolkit” from Leaders of Evolution, you’ll feel supported in your implementation of this sports development course. It will provide you with helpful tips, a breakdown of the curriculum, and a 12-month timeline for delivery.

You’ll also have access to a Goal Setting and Self-reflection framework, which will equip you in your endeavour to achieve your school’s unique priorities for sports development as you promote your students to apply their new leadership skills.

Step 3: As students progress in their sports development course, they’ll self-regulate their journey. But as their teacher, Leaders of Evolution will empower you to connect with them through lesson plans, an assessment matrix, and learning tools.

Step 4: Leaders of Evolution will check in with you each term and continue to provide you with tools to make sure your school maximises its student leadership goals and stays on a productive path of sports development.

You’ll also have access to online reports which will help you track the progress of your students throughout their sports development course.

To get a sense of what Leaders of Evolution has to offer, try our free taster course.