Here’s How Sports Develops Leaders of the Future

Over nine million children in the U.S. live below the Federal Poverty Line. We know that growing up in poverty has a lasting impact including poor health and lower academic outcomes, which in turn lead to trouble finding work and ultimately landing lower paying jobs. The cycle of poverty is extremely hard to break.

In a world where poverty, much like racism, is a man-made construct, it’s disheartening that individuals are born into a cycle of financial and social deprivation. The insidious truth is that some profit from this inequality, leaving entire communities trapped in the perpetual cycle of scarcity. It’s almost impossible to break this cycle without help from others.

It Is Hard, But Not Impossible to Break the Poverty Cycle

Like those 9 million children today, I was born into poverty. But, unlike others in my poverty-stricken northwest Atlanta neighborhood, my mom decided to sign me up to play organized baseball.  As luck would have it, my first coach was a big deal. He was the chairman of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. I got lucky, and the truth is, I still benefit from that access to power today.

My focus throughout my youth was to become a professional baseball player. I was talented, and by combining that talent with commitment, sacrifice and the help of several key mentors throughout my development, I did make it out of poverty and was ultimately hired as an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs. But when I had made it to the top, I realized it wasn’t baseball that I truly loved. For me, I was searching for significance and baseball paved the way.

Participating in Youth Sports Can Develop Future Leaders

After just two years in Minor League Baseball, I realized that I could truly make a difference by using my own influence to help kids just like me. Once I started coaching, I never looked back. I’ve discovered that we can use sports to help every individual win at the game of life. I’m not just talking about developing the next generation of professional baseball players. I’m talking about giving kids the skills they need to level up on and off the playing field.

Here’s 3 ways that sports participation can break the cycle of poverty:

1. Social captain gained through sports is vital to corporate success.
   When children who are living in poverty are given access to organized sports, they benefit directly from the social connections they make. Many of them don’t have access to adults or role models in their everyday lives who have connections and a network. Just having a role model and someone outside of your normal sphere of influence who believes in you and invests in your performance, gives kids confidence. Beyond that, they now have someone who can one day write a reference letter for them to get into college or make an introduction to an acquaintance to obtain an internship. The social capital gained through a coach/athlete relationship is priceless.
2. Social emotional learning capacities are KPIs to success in sports, career and life
   According to CASEL, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process by which we  acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. It’s not surprising, knowing the level of strategy and skill that it takes to play a complex sport like baseball, that many of the skills needed to be a good person are the same ones needed to excel as an elite baseball player. These include goal-orientation, positive identity, self-confidence, self-efficacy, self-management, social connection, social capital, and social skills.

   Numerous studies show there’s a strong correlation between sports participation and excelling academically. It doesn’t just stop at the classroom. It continues into the office or any work environment.

3. Progression To Performance(TM) is my mental model for baseball, character and life skills development.
   According to ScienceDirect, students with a task orientation recognize success as applying effort and learning something new. On the flip side, those with an ego orientation define success in terms of  being the “best”, outperforming their peers and demonstrating their superior skills. As a coach, I know a winning team is made up of both types of players. To be good at anything, you have to learn first. As a coach, I first focus on teaching my players to participate, then practice, then play and finally, perform. My players play games to learn but we perform to win.

   It’s no different in life. Participating in sports teaches children important lessons on how to learn a skill before they can excel at it. It’s impossible to go from 0-60 without the proper engine, and likewise, it takes hard work and dedication to first learn, and then master a task. This is a life lesson that will pay forward dividends in the future.

Today’s Leaders Can Take an Active Role In Supporting Tomorrow’s Leaders

At this point, I’ve explained how sports can help at-risk youth break the cycle of poverty for good. What’s missing is the fact that many youth living in poverty simply don’t have access to organized sports. That’s where today’s leaders come in. We all need to work together to help make this happen.

Here’s what CEOs and corporations can to do make a difference:

• Monetary Support for Youth Athletes
  This may mean being a corporate sponsor for a youth league in your community in need of uniforms, practice fields or anything else. It could also mean setting up a scholarship fund to pay the registration fees for kids whose families can’t afford it.
• Be a Mentor
  This is perhaps the most important way you can make a difference as a person of influence. Being a true mentor isn’t just showing up to an event to throw a few pitches, it’s having an invested interest in the athletes that you are mentoring.

This means finding a way to provide true life experiences to at-risk youth. This could mean creating a leadership program at your company, or providing internship opportunities to the athletes you sponsor. Entering into a mentorship isn’t the ceiling, it’s the floor.

Written by CJ Stewart.

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