On Target
September 9, 2005
Education and sport – ideal blend for youth

The emphasis attached to education is recognition that life must proceed with enhancement. For with the trained mind receptive to methods of practicability, options and benefits will always be manifold. It has often been pointed out the correlation between physical fitness and mental alertness.

Even if you are not physically trimmed, or cannot move around, there is still the need to keep the mind busy in whatever form the individual thinks suitable to their circumstances. {{more}}

Games like chess, draughts, dominoes, scrabble, word games, puzzles, have an important part in helping even active athletes to keep focused.

That would form a field attention for those engaged in robust endeavour, and refine the wits which are needed in delicate situations.

So with the new school year on, with a widespread calendar, opportunities are available for youngsters to take advantage of the choices which can provide them with a balanced curriculum.

As much as the emphasis is on academic achievement, that will be enhanced with good physical and sporting prowess. The earlier students accept those traits, the firmer they will be able to shape their foundation.

Opportunities abound for scholarships in tennis, football, basketball, athletics, swimming, and rugby; but the applicants have to be qualified.

Don’t think that the field is limited to active events. Sports have become its own gambit of operations.

Sports medicine, administrators, stadium managers, website designers, internet technicians and a proliferation of technical experts will be required in a variety of areas. And those with a sporting foundation will have an advantage in whatever scope they decide to share their skills.

The staging of the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean will provide avenues for creative and innovative entrepreneurs.

Already, partnerships are being forged which are strengthening the regional entity. The school population must be encouraged to play their role in the region’s future development. For there are tried and proven proverbs like “the children today and the men and women of tomorrow.”

Tomorrow breaks as rapidly as those tsunamis, or as deadly as the Hurricane Katrina proved in the United States recently.

We must be prepared for the fragility of our very existence, but we have to carry the fortitude to pull on reserves of strength that will push you on, even in the most dismal circumstances.

Those are areas that can hardly be learnt on any field of play, or instilled by any coach. It has to be drawn from within. Those can come with physical and mental toughness. They have to be part of the original psyche which will be part of the individual kit. It will always be survival of the fittest. No matter how much ethics we may try to instill, there is the open and distinct possibility of bad influences having some effect.

Persons have to be prepared to preserve themselves and learn by natural instincts, observed in a systematic and scientific manner.