Yesterday was a delight day for me. It was bounded by two great examples of playfulness.
The first was at 7.00 am on a cold and windy morning at the Braidwood swimming pool. It was my grandaughter Ivy’s first morning with the swim squad. Ten young swimmers and the coach got the pool ready for the start of the session.
It was the kind of morning no one wants to be first in the water and so all ten jumped in together. They set up the lane ropes as a group with older swimmers helping younger swimmers.
The session got underway with some organisational directions from the coach and then she was able to make observations 1:1 throughout the session. What struck me about the session was the wonderful technical, personal observations the coach was able to make to bring about behavioural modifications but also the joy the eleven participants had on what was a cold, windy morning.
The hour’s session flew by and ended with a mixed-ability relay that the coach managed to equalise perfectly through her choice of swim teams. It was Ivy’s first day, she swam further than she had ever swam in our 18 metre pool. Her only regret was she has to wait five days for the next squad meet up.
The second playful jolt came from a report of a community football team in Sydney in an SBS news report. Dunbar Rovers are a “grassroots club which pioneers fee free football for youngsters” and has a “no-pay-for-play credo despite escalating registration fees”.
One of the club members observed “we have no full time paid staff with people magically doing things. It’s about all working for the common good”. The club has 600 members who have the opportunity to play in one of the 18 senior teams or in one of the 18 junior teams.
Braidwood swimming squad and Dunbar Rovers are 300 kms apart but are very closely connected in playfulness. I think they exemplify the hopes Mark Upton expressed in a recent post. Both clubs do “co-create ways to help people be more human through sport – living and working in fellowship”.
Photo Credit
Dunbar Rovers Juniors full of smiles (Eastern Suburbs Football Association)
