Mr Parker
Director of Sport & Physical Activity
We love to win! It’s a fantastic reward for hard work, commitment, executing tactics, demonstrating skills, and more. There’s wonderful gratification in collecting a medal or lifting a trophy.
As a sector, we know that competition is more than zero-sum, binary, win or lose, and that competition is much more than results. In her must-read book 'The Long Win', former Olympic rower Cath Bishop, looks at redefining success and discusses the role of competition, participation and performance in great detail.
At CLC, we focus on supporting pupils to be their best in the long-term. We do this by ensuring learning and enjoyment is at the heart of everything we do. In practice, it means that while we love to win, it’s not our main priority. But, that sounds rather fluffy, what about the sporty pupils?
Everything we do at CLC is led by research and best practice. We know that too great an emphasis on outcomes can harm motivation, increase anxiety, and trigger burnout and dropout. In contrast, focusing on process and performance fosters resilience, motivation, long‑term engagement and better develops talent.
Sport England’s sector-leading ‘Under the skin’ research gives a much deeper understanding of young people’s lives and their relationship with sport. It’s a wonderful guide on how to engage, deliver against expectations and keep them coming back for more - whether they’re a super talented sport enthusiast, a confident intellectual or a cautious introvert.
So, we know that we need to have a truly differentiated offer. We also know that for long term engagement and fulfilling potential, having a process and performance focus is crucial. In practice, this means pupils involved in sport are given a ‘process’ or ‘concept’ aim for each fixture - something they have been working on in lessons and clubs - a measurable indicator of their ability to improve and apply learning into a fixture or game.
The most important takeaway I can give is to discuss learning with young people. After training and competitions, or even school in general, help them reflect on what they have learned. Before asking about the result, why not try some questions that can help reflection:
What was your focus today?
What new thing did you try?
What are you proud of today?
We are relentlessly focused on being the best school at supporting student-athletes. That means ensuring a lifelong love of activity, helping pupils fulfil their sporting potential and balancing that with fantastic academics and a rich life. Our approach to sport brings long-term success with dozens and dozens of current pupils and recent leavers progressing through elite sporting pathways. Many have gone on to compete at junior and full senior international level in a range of sports including Netball, Lacrosse, Eventing, Dressage, Triathlon, Fencing, Skiing, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, and many more. Anything is possible!
For those who want to hear a bit more then I’d recommend the podcast ‘Sport at CLC: Lessons that last a lifetime’. Or, get in touch as we love to chat!
Alternatively, listen on...
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