FTLComm - Tisdale - June 9, 2000

The Saskatchewan Roughriders open their camp this weekend in Saskatoon, and in Tisdale Thursday afternoon the coaching staff had the prospects for the fall of 2000 on the field for some evaluation and preliminary training. Tisdale had a remarkable season last year handling the other teams in the league last year with confidence and an outstanding record. Losing out in the semifinal they put on an excellent show and this year the interest in playing is even high then last year. The 1999 season saw so many junior players wanted to get into the game the coaches put together a junior team to play six man exhibition games against the teams in the neighbouring six man league.

Though football has been criticised for equipment problems which see far to many injuries, especially head injuries the sport continues to be remarkably popular. But on the plus side team sports like football and hockey seem to be one of the best indicators for future success in all fields of careers. Military recruiters suggest that a person's participation in team sports is the best indicator as to how that individual will be able to work with other people

successfully throughout their lives. In a society where individual effort is only effective in a collaborative and cooperative setting sports like football prepare the individual to develop leadership and coordinated efforts that easily transfer into all endeavours. One of the keys to success for Tisdale's football team last season and it looks like

things are headed the right way again this year has been the outstanding coaching. Though we all seem to believe that coaches need to be experts in the sport what they really need to be is experts in the people they train and direct. A coach is perhaps the most influential person in a young person's life and only the smallest part of that interaction involves the actual sport but is much more related to making hard decisions, sticking with those decisions and being able to communicate to the player a determination not only to win but perhaps far more importantly the ability to handle defeat in a positive way that will build and develop the players capabilities in perceiving reality and coping with what ever comes his way.