SPORT
Athletics – Guildford ’ s Gold
Gold . It ’ s shiny , metallic and melts easily into bars , coins and jewellery . It doesn ’ t rust , corrode or decay . It ’ s scarce , but not rare . In fact , because it ’ s so chemically uninteresting , this is the reason it is precious and desirable . Despite its allure , gold was not the sole focus of our first co-educational Athletics team .
With all its challenges , 2020 motivated the staff and student leaders within the Athletics team to identify what makes a team successful , and then to execute this accordingly to ensure we stood the best chance of putting our best team forward in our three inter-school competitions .
So , what makes a good team ? Naturally , one may assume excellent coaching and elite athletes – surely this would ensure success . Though this may be accurate in the short term , depending on the competition , we determined success can be achieved and more importantly sustained through the following qualities :
• Communication and organisation – sharing thoughts and ideas with members of the team , as well as taking into consideration other team members commitments , and sustaining organisation . Communication was key to remaining on track ( particularly in 2020 !) and working together to put forward our best team .
• Focus on goals ( not just results ) – setting and committing to a training schedule and determining individual and team goals gave us a clear direction to aim for collectively .
• Everyone contributes their share – each member of the team was valued and expected to contribute their share to the team . It would not have been possible to achieve the overall results we did without everyone ’ s contribution .
• Support – teams are most productive when they assist one another to achieve a common goal .
• Diversity – everyone is unique and will offer skills that others may not possess . Diversity is needed so that all the required skills ( and events ) are covered by someone in the team . A variety of personalities , cultures and age groups also make a team environment more interesting and fun .
• Good leadership – a strong team usually has leaders that they trust and respect . Our student and staff leadership group focused on offering encouragement , motivation and keeping everyone focused during training .
• Having fun – this is the final and most important element for success . Teams who do not have fun together often lack motivation and do not progress . Creating a culture of positive relationships and ensuring everyone was able to participate in the events that they enjoyed , helped us to achieve success this year .
The 2020 Athletics team were ‘ gold ’ in their commitment to the above qualities , and despite the condensed season and lack of time permitted to prepare , their enthusiasm and willingness to commit to the plan resulted in a number of excellent individual and team achievements – most notably , placing 1st at the Associated & Catholic Colleges Division D Interschool Carnival .
Congratulations to all athletes and we look forward to continuing this success in 2021 and onwards .
Ms Jennifer Patriquin Teacher-in-Charge Athletics
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