“HappyFeet” Sources of Motivation
1. Enjoyment and play: This is the primary impetus to activity of a non-survival nature and must be the major emphasis of any pre-school fitness program. John Huizinga (1949) defined play as, “Free activity standing quite consciously outside ordinary life as being non-serious but at the same time absorbing the child intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest and no profit can be gained from it”.
Enjoyment is central to the concept of play and must be seen as one of the major priorities of the proficient pre-school teacher. As a motivational factor there is possibly none greater than the enjoyment provided by the satisfaction of the play characteristic. Towards this end the HappyFeet session for players between the ages of 3 & 6 should include soccer related games, stories, songs and nursery rhymes of a fun nature. The emphasis of these fun elements should be primarily on amusement and pleasure. Should the young child be feeling any pressure from specific skill demands the fun game will help him relax and motivate him towards a more conducive attitude. The adept pre-school teacher will structure pre-school activity sessions for maximum enjoyment on every occasion, thereby ensuring that the young child acquires and retains the skill benefit but learns that the outcome of the activity is not as severe as feared. The “HappyFeet” approach focuses on the two most fun skills of all team sports, i.e. dribbling and shooting. Because of this the motivation of participating children is increased exponentially.
“It is not enough to make someone learn, you must make them want to learn!“
Author Unknown
With the “HappyFeet” method it can be legitimately reasoned that players develop much more specific and beneficial levels of fitness, while enjoying the motivational benefits provided by working in the vastly more enjoyable situations that comprise the fun core of this philosophy. Therefore, it can be seen that by encouraging play and enjoyment the skilled pre-school teacher reduces the negatives involved with fear or dislike of practice content and maximizes enjoyment based incentive, making it possible for greater intrinsic learning to occur.
“Why we play as children is not because it is our work or because it is how we learn, though both statements are true; we play because we are wired for joy, it is imperative as human beings.”
John Thorn
The HappyFeet philosophy is the passionate, fun-filled experience that advances creative skill acquisition and provides the motivational and neuromuscular base that maximizes early physical potential. The most successful soccer country in world history is Brazil. A young Brazilian sociologist, Gilberto Freyre, published a book in 1933 that championed playfulness and mischief as national Brazilian characteristics. In soccer terms the Brazilian took an orderly British game and turned it into a “dance of irrational surprises”. In 1938 he wrote, “Our style of playing football contrasts with the Europeans because of a combination of qualities of surprise, malice, astuteness and agility, and at the same time playfulness, brilliance and individual spontaneity…Our passes…our dummies, our flourishes with the ball, the touch of dance and subversiveness that marks the Brazilian style…seem to show psychologists and sociologists in a very interesting way the roguery and the flamboyance of the Brazilian that today is in every true affirmation of what is Brazil.”
“Surprise, astuteness, agility, playfulness, flamboyance, brilliance, a touch of dance and individual spontaneity” are all essential components of the “HappyFeet” curriculum.
The following table suggests appropriate fun/learning ratios:
· 3, 4 & 5 year olds - 90% fun and 10% pure technical learning
· 6 & 7 year olds - 70% fun with skill conditions and 30% pure learning
· 8 & 9 year olds - 50 % fun with skill conditions and 50% pure learning
· 10 & 11 year olds - 40% fun with skill conditions and 60% pure learning
· 12& 13 year olds - 30% fun with skill conditions and 70% pure learning
· 14 & 15 year olds - 20% fun with skill conditions and 80 % pure learning
· 16 and above – 10% fun with skill conditions and 90% pure learning/competition
“If we enjoy what we do, we will be successful. If we do not enjoy what we do, we will not be successful. Our success in any occupation depends upon enjoyment. Loving our work makes the difference. He who finds joy in his work, has found success at last”.
Author unknown
2. Movement: This is perhaps the single major component of a young person’s existence therefore it holds a leading position in the ladder of pre-school teaching priorities. Although the majority of motivating factors influencing an individual to participate are learned, one of the foremost conditions that drives a person to physical activity and which directs his interests to the acquisition of physical skill is unlearned, i.e. the need for a certain amount of muscular exercise. The human being derives pleasure from muscular activity because the young body reacts favorably to dynamic exercise. This kinesthetic sensation is a muscular force that has been called muscular sensuousness. The goal here is the immediate one of enjoying movement for movement’s sake. Therefore, simple participation in movement activity provides intrinsic motivation and what the individual does or learns is a by-product of the desire to engage in the activity for its movement satisfaction and rewards.
The “HappyFeet” coaching philosophy satisfies this need for activity by keeping the pre-school class as dynamic as possible. In this phase optimum use of movement can be achieved by keeping any story, song, nursery rhyme or fun game demonstration and verbal instruction brief, before allowing the players to join in and attempt the highlighted physical skill component. Once the children are actively participating the coach should deal with individual technical refinement on a one-to-one basis so that the rest of the group can maximize the motivational benefits of a dynamic practice.