By Pablo Briens Montero, Year 11
Sports Leadership is a well-established P.E. class program that is offered to Year 11 and is an excellent opportunity for students to develop leadership skills, improve their collaboration, and plan and teach activities for younger students at LGB. This course leads to a certificate with three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold. To qualify for Bronze, you have to meet all the basic requirements of the program and complete the necessary hours of leading. For the Silver award, you must still meet those requirements but also show exemplary engagement and participation. To qualify for Gold, one has to fill in the requirements for Bronze and do an extra 2 hours of independent leading outside of class. While this certificate is a curricular activity, it is a great asset with regards to university portfolios and CVs when applying for jobs. It demonstrates a plethora of employable traits and provides evidence of these through the universally recognised certificate.
The course was created around 7 years ago when LGB’s own Ms. Sheppard and Ms. Smith wrote the program, which was originally from the U.K. and then they adapted it for international schools such as ours.
The program was designed to give Year 11 a different option for their sports class and to curate a passion for leading others. Sports Leadership offers students the opportunity to develop skills both in planning sporting activities and in developing leadership and management skills.
Throughout the years, it has evolved to be even more than that as the Year 11 students are able to excel in ways that they may not have otherwise experienced in regular sports lessons.
It improves the students’ confidence and self-esteem as they are able to develop their leadership skills that will be useful in the future. Concerning the primary school children that are being led, they receive a great amount of inspiration from the Year 11s and it has led to some aspiring to participate in the program in the future.
In a normal Sports Leadership class, students either plan a game or lead a class in small groups of around 2-4 people. These games and activities are adapted depending on which grade is coming in for a session, to make the class more enjoyable and suitable for the kids. Throughout the leadership sessions, students introduce a game to a lower grade class and engage with them. The children experience the opportunity to get physical exercise outside of regular sports class and the Year 11s are able to practise core skills concerning leadership.
With my own experience, I can testify that this class has had a strong effect on my overall leadership skills, as I have grown more confident in my authority and developed my patience. It has been a great experience learning the role of a teacher and has shown me the respect teachers deserve as this necessary job is often difficult.
The Sports Leadership program in Year 11 highlights the dedication and creativity of students and allows them to develop their skills and flourish. I would definitely recommend anyone that has not yet started Year 11 to pick this subject for P.E.
