• About the programme
  • How does Choices work?
  • What will Choices involve?
  • Getting started - what happens?
  • How can Choices help a young person still attending school?
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  • What part will they play in the Community?
  • Sport, teamwork and self esteem
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Sport, teamwork and self esteem - spiralling upwards

Sport

A project developed by the Youth Sport Trust gave young people who were having difficulties at school the opportunity to take part in extra sport. At the end of three years teachers reported that attitude and behaviour had improved, but also attendance, punctuality and social skills. Taking part in sport gave the young people a sense of achievement as well as teaching them the importance of following instructions, working as a team and ultimately leadership and responsibility.

We find this is also the case with the young people who attend Choices, which is why we place a lot of emphasis on sport, not only does this give the young people something positive to focus on, but gives them personal goals to aim for and the sense of achievement when they are successful, helps to build their self esteem.

Teamwork

The sporting and outdoor activities also rely heavily on the young person learning how to work as part of a team. These young people often have difficulties with communication and by working together to overcome sporting challenges they learn to listen to each other and eventually to make their own contribution. Again, being aware that they can make valuable suggestions helps the team members feel better about themselves.

Self esteem

Many of the young people joining the Choices project have low self esteem, this means that they not only feel inadequate or incapable, but they feel that their actions or behaviour whether good or bad, have no effect on what goes on around them. They see no point in attending school because they think they won't learn anything and that even if they did, it would be of no use to them. By showing them that they can succeed at sport if they try and that they can do even better if they work with others and listen to what they have to say, they begin to realise that the skills they have learnt will be useful in other areas and gradually they can get caught on an upward spiral and turn their lives around.