How does learning many different sports benefit middle schoolers?
Why in middle school do we play 22 different sports? In primary school we play 10 sports over a the course of a year, and in high school we specialize in one or two sports. We recently sat down with Mr. Walker to find out why in middle school, we play so many different sports.
Me: How does learning many different sports benefit kids?
Mr. Walker: It benefits kids here in middle school, we are trying to expose kids to as many different sports as possible. We believe that middle school is when kids are most impressionable. We want to expose them to as many sports as possible so that when they get to high school, they have a wider range of sports they know that they can pursue. Also since we have such a wide range of sports, you could find a hidden talent in yourself for a sport you never knew existed.
Me: Maybe so, but is three days really enough to expose kids to a sport enough for them to decide whether they are good or want to pursue it?
Mr. Walker: We choose to think of it as nine days instead of three. If you are at SAS for all your middle school years, you are getting nine days instead of three for all your sports.We believe that in the nine days you get to experience a sport are enough to give you a basic exposure of the sport. Also, nine days is enough to get you curious about a sport and to see whether you are interested in pursuing the sport. If you are still curious about a sport, that is why we have intramural after school. Intramurals are where if you find you are curious about a sport, you can play it in a less competitive manner and learn the basics and rules of the sport.
Me: Exposing kids to different sports is important, but is 22 sports a little much?
Mr. Walker: It may seem like a lot, but it is necessary. We want to keep kids happy because if we include say basketball, but not football, all the people that enjoy football will be disappointed. Also by playing many sports, the days that you have to play the sport are lessened. For example lets say the we only had ten sports, and the we had just started basketball. If after the first class you realize basketball isn’t for you and you don’t like it, you are stuck playing it for another 11 classes. When we have shorter time periods for each sport, and you do not like to play a sport, you are not stuck playing it for PE for many days.
Me: It is a big change to move from primary and intermediate school where you have only played 10 sports to middle school where you play 22.
Mr. Walker: Well the purpose of primary and intermediate school PE is not actually to expose you to sports, but to teach you the basic movement patterns which prepares you for middle school PE. We like to think that primary and intermediate PE exposes you the different types of athletics and shows you the movements for each one so that you are developing an open mind about sports and you are developing a wide variety of muscles in your body. When you move from intermediate to middle school, you are just putting those basic movement patterns you have learned into real life sport situations and developing your muscles further.
Me: Do you ever get any suggestions to add sports to the already present 22 sports?
Mr. Walker: Yes we do get suggestions, but there are steps that need to be gone through before a sport can be added. First a decent amount of people need to come with a proposal to add a sport as an intramural. If that intramural seems to be successful and many people are participating, we bring this in front of the athletic committee. If the committee feels that the sport is very popular and would benefit kids, that choose to add this to to the 22 current sports. Also the committee feels that a sport is not popular at all, and it would be better replaced with a different sport, they can do that.
Why in middle school do we play 22 different sports? In primary school we play 10 sports over a the course of a year, and in high school we specialize in one or two sports. We recently sat down with Mr. Walker to find out why in middle school, we play so many different sports.
Me: How does learning many different sports benefit kids?
Mr. Walker: It benefits kids here in middle school, we are trying to expose kids to as many different sports as possible. We believe that middle school is when kids are most impressionable. We want to expose them to as many sports as possible so that when they get to high school, they have a wider range of sports they know that they can pursue. Also since we have such a wide range of sports, you could find a hidden talent in yourself for a sport you never knew existed.
Me: Maybe so, but is three days really enough to expose kids to a sport enough for them to decide whether they are good or want to pursue it?
Mr. Walker: We choose to think of it as nine days instead of three. If you are at SAS for all your middle school years, you are getting nine days instead of three for all your sports.We believe that in the nine days you get to experience a sport are enough to give you a basic exposure of the sport. Also, nine days is enough to get you curious about a sport and to see whether you are interested in pursuing the sport. If you are still curious about a sport, that is why we have intramural after school. Intramurals are where if you find you are curious about a sport, you can play it in a less competitive manner and learn the basics and rules of the sport.
Me: Exposing kids to different sports is important, but is 22 sports a little much?
Mr. Walker: It may seem like a lot, but it is necessary. We want to keep kids happy because if we include say basketball, but not football, all the people that enjoy football will be disappointed. Also by playing many sports, the days that you have to play the sport are lessened. For example lets say the we only had ten sports, and the we had just started basketball. If after the first class you realize basketball isn’t for you and you don’t like it, you are stuck playing it for another 11 classes. When we have shorter time periods for each sport, and you do not like to play a sport, you are not stuck playing it for PE for many days.
Me: It is a big change to move from primary and intermediate school where you have only played 10 sports to middle school where you play 22.
Mr. Walker: Well the purpose of primary and intermediate school PE is not actually to expose you to sports, but to teach you the basic movement patterns which prepares you for middle school PE. We like to think that primary and intermediate PE exposes you the different types of athletics and shows you the movements for each one so that you are developing an open mind about sports and you are developing a wide variety of muscles in your body. When you move from intermediate to middle school, you are just putting those basic movement patterns you have learned into real life sport situations and developing your muscles further.
Me: Do you ever get any suggestions to add sports to the already present 22 sports?
Mr. Walker: Yes we do get suggestions, but there are steps that need to be gone through before a sport can be added. First a decent amount of people need to come with a proposal to add a sport as an intramural. If that intramural seems to be successful and many people are participating, we bring this in front of the athletic committee. If the committee feels that the sport is very popular and would benefit kids, that choose to add this to to the 22 current sports. Also the committee feels that a sport is not popular at all, and it would be better replaced with a different sport, they can do that.
I really like how at times you were almost questioning her answers, making her give you deeper answers and more information. Really well done, and I liked her answers and points!
ReplyDeleteI really like your angle. I never thought about it before but I can understand why you wanted to research this topic.I think 22 sports is too much for a year in middle school. If the point of having them is to get a basic taste of each sports, maybe we could split all of them throughout three years.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the topic that you were interviewing about! You can really tell how you and the interviewee were in a conversation, and I thought each of the questions you asked were open ended and it seemed like you researched your topic.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very unique topic that you chose, and your topic made me think about this sports issue even further. From your research and your great introduction, I was able to learn that there are 22 different sports we play throughout the course of the year, and it made me think about why we do so many. You have very detailed facts and it is very interesting for the reader to learn that in primary school, we do 10 sports, and then we make a drastic change to 22, and then only back to 1 or 2 in High School. I really like how you also asked questions based off of his answers (ex. 2nd question) and how you add your slight opinion/bias into the conversation.
ReplyDeleteSukriti, I really liked your interview. Your topic made me think about the middle school PE system. Do you think that having the intramural sports after school really helps the people who wants to get in the sports more?
ReplyDeleteThis is a big chunk of information. Your questions were very effective and was not going off topic. What do you think of 22 sports in P.E? Do you like the idea any better after hearing what Mr. Walker had said?
ReplyDeleteI liked your topic because I'm sure many other students were wondering the same thing. I do think that 22 sports is a lot, but like Mr. Walker said, they are trying to expose kids to different sports to help them see which sports interest them.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting topic that I haven't really considered before. I think that 22 different sports is excessive and I'm often disappointed when a unit is over so soon. I also think that units like project adventure and challenge course don't really count as exercise or an actual sport.
ReplyDelete