Wednesday, October 22, 1980
daily nebraskan
page 7
Panel discusses stress on children in athletics
By Ward W. Triplett III
The effects of stress on youths competing in sports and
its danger on their self-esteem were the key points of a
panel discussion Tuesday afternoon at Mabel Lee llall.
The featured speakers were Tara Kost Scanlon, an
associate professor in the department of kinesthcsiology
at UCLA, and Roland Smith, a psychology and kinesthc
siology professor at the University of Washington.
The speakers were part of a two-day symposium spon
sored by the Carlos L. Wear Lecture Series program.
Scanlon told the audience of about 150 that children
are bound to develop stress if they compete a lot. Indica
ting studies her department had made on children compet
ing in soccer, stress comes from pre-competition feelings
of inadequacy, post-competition feelings of failure and
the pressure to win.
"When children first start out in sports, it is not regu
lated. In a more organized activity, the pressure on them
becomes a social evaluation, a source for significance,"
Scanlon said.
"What we need to do is balance the unbalanced and
make, children feel that goal setting, development and im
provement is more important than winning."
Reasons and solutions
Smith brought up other reasons and solutions for ath
letic stress.
By intervening at any one of four stress building fac-tors-the
situation, the individual's self appraisal, physio
logy or behavior-one could change the level of pressure.
Smith emphasized the point that a positive approach to
the "fear of failure" behavior pattern would be an im
provement. "A child is not told often enough about the good
things he does. They are usually ignored, and taken for
granted. However failure is means for punishment. This
creates anxiety, and in his effort to do as much as those
persons with small anxiety, the more likely he is to
fail.
"liven if he does do well, they've got so much nega
tive reinforcement by then, it is never quite good
enough," Smith said.
Smith said that in Washington, the football team,
as well as children involved in sports, were subjects of
several stress management tests.
One was a rehearsal phase, where shortly before com
petition, the participants would imagine the worst pos
sible situation that could occur, and therefore handle it
more calmly if it should happen.
"The idea is to learn to cope with the stress that natur
ally will come about in sports," he said. "This way one
can keep arousal in focus without letting it affect the
performance."
He urged that winning not be de-emphasized, only that
it be taught that winning isn't the only goal.
Both panelists agreed that the self-concept that sports
can given children is one factor that makes youth compe
tition important.
Important role
"Sports are going tobe important in roles of develop
ment," Smith said. "If a child is unsure of how valuable
they are as people, and he is placed in generalization
through sports, it could affect concepts he'll carry all his
life.
"A person who can recognize his or her own strengths
and weaknesses is the one who will know their capabili
ties, and not expect too much or too little of themselves.
"It is interesting to look at the course of upsets," he
said. "Kansas State could be playing a great ball game
against Nebraska, and hold a lead going into the last quar
ter. But, all it would take would be one collapse on their
part and the whole thing would come down," Smith said.
"They would say, 'We have no business being ahead of
these guys,' and gradually that low esteem would show. It
sems that we're only comfortable achieving in a certain
sphere, and we go out of that, we throw ourselves all out
of course. It's amazing how people will sabotage them
selves to be back in that comfort zone, and it shouldn't
be that way," Smith said.
"Some people have such an inflated view of them
selves, they can't see the bad things they do. On the other
hand, some people have such a poor view of themselves,
they can't sec the good. This is why a child should be
taught to deal with failure early, so he can appreciate and
determine success later on."
"We are never going to be able to escape stress, Scan
lon said. "The idea, is to learn how to manage it."
Information packets aid
for off-campus students
Packets with information
on saving money and mak
ing decisions when moving
off campus are being put to
gether by ASUN, according
to ASUN Sen. Tim McAllis
ter. ASUN will appoint a
committee tonight to work
on the packets, which will
include pamphlets on ener
gy conservation, food buy
ing, bike routes, house buy
ing, apartment renting,
alternatives to car transpor
tation, and home services
such as trash collection and
Cablevision installation, Mc
Allister said.
The packets will "give
students something tangible
that ASUN is doing,"
McAllister said. He said
most of the action consider
ed by ASUN this fall has
dealt with personal philos
ophies instead of practical
action to help students.
McAllister said ASUN
often considers the needs of
residence hall and Greeks,
but the off-campus student
is rarely considered. By
offering the packets, he
said, ASUN will recognize
that the off-campus stu
dent is the majority.
He estimated the cost to
ASUN for the packets at
$100, $60 for first-run ad
vertising. He said 100 pac
kets will be compiled at first
to test their success.
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