Theme 3: Working to promote a safe and good community
Promote – Prevent – Stop – Support. Here you will learn a little about what to keep in mind when creating activities that promote community in the group.
The qualities of community
In any environment, community is important, and we have some qualities in the community that play an important role in children and young people thriving, growing and developing. In many ways, one could say that community is the key to sustainable sport. So how should I plan my training to promote safe and good community?
Being part of a community is the main reason why most children and young people come to training, to experience being part of something. The good community as a separate value. Then we as coaches must want to facilitate and focus on all athletes experiencing just this. At least in parts of the training, the start, for example. which gives the participants an experience that it was nice to come here. To make this happen, we must also facilitate in such a way that just this happens. It is not enough to just talk about this and think that it is important. We need action . As a coach, you must want this, and have thought through the exercises/activities. Does this fit with what I want to achieve?
Simple tools for you who are a trainer or guardian
FFSS, which stands for promoting, preventing, stopping and supporting:
Promotion:
Promoting means creating activities that promote community. Ensuring activities that give the whole group a good feeling is the concept of promoting. That everyone should experience that they can participate, that their participation means something, that they experience that it makes sense to be involved, and that everyone experiences belonging to the activity. Regardless of what their prerequisites are, and what skills they have. Then a piece of advice might be to have open movement solutions for some of the exercises, where the tasks can be solved differently - and where the sense of community is most important. We work with the same thing, but in our own way. When everyone gets to participate and takes their place in their own way, this also contributes to promoting achievements because it contributes to the experience of security. Safe children dare to try, dare to make mistakes, they give others space and a space for mastery is created for growth and development.
An important part of our sports model is that my efforts should also help you, and vice versa. The feeling of community can also help the individual to become better at their sport. Building security in the group is also about involving the athletes, what do they like, what do they find fun? When you as a coach are choosing the content of training, are there some exercises that are very suitable for everyone? Children, young people and also adults often like play and playful activities, so be sure as a coach to make room for this. Play is a lot, and can also contain elements of the desired skill development/training.
Prevent:
The organization itself can also have an impact, should it be two and two, four and four, all or individually? Once the choice of organization has been made, it is the adult/coach who must be in control, this is important. If it is to be divided into groups, it is the coach's responsibility and the adult's responsibility. It is good prevention to have thought through this as a coach, how you want to do it and what will happen. Have rules of conduct for the group, that's how we have it here - rules. Then you are also prepared for protests from the athletes, and have thought through how this will be resolved. For example, how do we promote community during the drink breaks?
It's about reducing the risk of unwanted incidents, offenses or bad moods occurring. It's about preventing and promoting a positive experience for everyone, so your preparations as a trainer are important. By being clear about expectations, by planning how we will organize, by planning what we will say, we increase the likelihood that it will be good for everyone.
Stop:
Sometimes it is necessary to say stop even as a trainer. It is important to say stop in a way that is both accepting and acknowledging, but at the same time clear enough. It is a good idea to plan what you will do when unwanted behavior occurs.
If you have not thought through these possible challenges, you risk reacting differently and inappropriately. If you are not prepared, you may react too harshly, or differently from time to time. You may react emotionally by becoming angry or irritated. By being prepared, understanding that it can happen, you can also be much more relaxed when you react to the athletes. Children and young people will both test their limits, make bad choices and make mistakes, and it is the adult's task to guide them in the best possible way. When we as coaches are prepared for this, we are often also safer in situations and can resolve them in a better way.
Support:
The last step here is to think about support. Is there anyone in your group who needs a little extra support to succeed in the activity? Maybe there is someone who is insecure and who it is a good idea to talk to a little before any activity. Maybe there is someone you need to make sure is important that she comes to the group with someone else. It is about awareness of which of the athletes needs a little extra support to ensure they have the best possible experience. A hand, an extra explanation or a little extra attention.
To make it easier to remember the FFSS, you can use these check questions:
- Is the activity suitable for building community?
- What do I need to think about regarding prevention?
- How do I stop unwanted behavior?
- Who in my group needs a little extra to succeed?
Reflection questions:
Plan a community-building activity using the FFSS form.
