With all the things school life brings for a students sometimes something has to give. There isn’t enough time in the day for them to play an instrument, play sport, be a member of a club or society and complete their studies. All before they just be a kid. But committing to a sports team is another story. Should they see it through to the end or can they come and go as they please?
This year I have coached two student athlete teams at my school. Firstly rugby in the second season. The commitment for the players was outstanding. Every session we would have 100% attendance. A squad of 30 players for a 10 a side team meant that some players wouldn’t get a game each week. But still they were committed and turned out to help the team. Rugby is a sport built on brotherhood and working hard for the guy beside you so it was easy to motivate them to be committed. It was also second season which has no major exams or other extracurricular activities clashing with it. I was a happy coach pleased with the commitment of my players.
However, third season is a different story. Firstly third season is the worst time of year to run a sports team. Major exams are happening throughout for a number of different grade levels. Cultural extra curricular actives are taking place and students are running on empty towards the end of the school year. My third season sport is also golf.
The team dynamic of a golf team is very different to that of a rugby team. Players seem to think they are individuals rather than a team and can blow off trainings and matches. As long as they get their personal training in they seem to think team trainings are optional. It’s been very hard to create a team culture when you never have every member of the team present at a training. Athletes reasons for missing practice include studying for exams, illness, weather conditions, extracurricular commitments and simply forgetting. If this is what I was getting from my rugby team I would be blowing my top. Why do I accept it from the golf team?

It’s simple. You commit to a spots team you should make it a priority and see it through.
But golf is a hard sport and you can’t just replace a quality player with a good athlete like you could in rugby and get away with it. Maybe even a half committed golf is better than no golfer at all? Should each sport be held to the same standards?
M y committed rugby team won gold and exceed expectations. Maybe the uncommitted golf team can do the same?
Follow the link to see the results of season 3 golf http://www.iasas.asia/golf-4/