Aim
The aim of the Winner For Life program is to train and equip sport and school stakeholders and parents of athletes to teach the four life skills: optimal mental skills, healthy eating habits, safety behavior, and physical and mental recovery skills. It allows stakeholders and parents to work together to teach athletes how to develop these skills and transfer them to other life settings (classroom, training, home, etc.).
The ultimate goal of this program is to promote positive development in student.
History
The Winner For Life program is now in its second phase. From 2017 to 2021, a first version was launched and implemented in a Québec high school that offered a sport concentration program. This first version and a subsequent study aimed to assess the needs of athletes attending high schools in Québec (Trottier et al., 2021). The results were used to adjust and improve the program. The new, optimised version is currently running in a dozen Québec high schools that offer school sport programs.
Rationale
Although sports are known to be beneficial in many ways, competitive sports do not automatically have positive effects on student-athletes. The testimonies collected point some of the possible undesirable consequences, which include performance anxiety, sport injuries, and the adoption of risky health behaviors (e.g., eating disorders, alcohol and drug use; Trottier et al., 2021). Fortunately, student-athletes enrolled in sport studies and sport concentration programs can develop life skills that promote positive development.
Some testimonials
«Performance anxiety is a big problem [for student-athletes]. I know that nobody working in the field has the training to handle it. I’m speaking for the teachers, but students don’t know how to handle it either, and the parents should know how to handle it too. In short, there’s not enough training for teachers, students, or parents.»
Léonie, teacher
«Well, for sure you have to know how to concentrate in competitions, and how to have control over yourself, and how to get into the zone. We could really use some help with all that […] because right now, nobody’s really doing it.»
Albert, student-athlete, athleticism
«I would say that I worry mostly about the unhealthy relationships that student-athletes develop with food, with their bodies. This is the big concern for me in my job. I see it year after year.»
Mathilde, professional
«I think it would be helpful to know, first of all, what the different foods do. Sometimes, we know that something’s not bad for your health, but we don’t necessarily know what’s good for us over the long term. […] It’s complicated, and we don’t keep up to date on all that.»
Margot, student-athlete, athleticism
«There are some students who, when they’re not actually doing their sport, don’t feel like they have to do anything, so for them, recovery isn’t important. Athletes today don’t know how to recover. When I tell my athletes to take some time out and rest, they feel as if they’ve failed.»
Eugene, soccer coach
«Other than sitting or lying on the couch to recover, I don’t really have any other ways. For sure, I’d like to have some techniques to help me recover, because I really don’t know any. Because, later on, I could have lasting injuries and I’ll tell myself , “If only I had rested properly after that workout, maybe I wouldn’t have this pain now.»
Joaquim, student-athlete, baseball
«Concussions are often downplayed because there are no visible symptoms. Usually, when some people have serious aftereffects, yes, we see them, but for the others, sometimes they want to get back out there right away, and they don’t give themselves the time to recover, and sometimes athletes are also under pressure from their coaches and parents to get right back to their previous level, so this is where we really have some teaching and coaching work to do, to bring everybody up to speed.»
Léo-Paul, teacher
«Although, there’s a lot of fighting. You know, us, we’re all individuals, and there’s not very much team spirit. In the last two years, he [coach] kept getting mad at us instead of advising and supporting us.»
Héloïse, student-athlete, artistic skating