Final+Proposal

When I was ten years old, I joined the Oreland Swim Club swim team. Before that, I did not enjoy any of the organized sports I had been involved in and I was not very social. The first year that I swam competitively, I was awful. But I truly enjoyed the sport and felt that I could improve. The next year, I put forth more effort than I ever had in any activity. I pushed myself beyond my limits and did exceedingly well, and much better than anyone thought I could, except for Steve Duncheskie. Steve was my first role model and he inspired me and instilled a determined, hard working attitude in an eleven year old Genevieve. He truly changed my life and perspective. I honestly believe that involvement in athletics can change one’s life. The question that I am looking to answer is what specifically is changed in a child by being involved with athletics. **Vision** This project will make a difference to me when it’s over because it is a way for me to share my own positive experience and to encourage others to participate in athletics. It’s a way for me to give back to an experience that helped to shape my character, a way to pay homage to show that I am grateful. Hopefully I will be able to convince and educate others on the benefits of sports in adolescents’ lives and will be able to show that it is not only a positive influence, but a deterrent of negative influences. This project will address the influence of athletics in the lives of children, whether it is positive or negative, and if they experienced any personal changes as a result of their athletic participation. First, I can take a survey of students in our school to see how many students participate in sports and how they do academically to see if there exists a positive correlation in our student body, as generalized statistics have shown. Second, I will videotape interviews of high school athletes and younger local athletes to determine the affect of athletics in their social and academic lives. **Goals** **Products** To show that I have met my goals, I plan on interviewing athletes. Specifically, I will interview students from the Springfield Aquatics Club to ask them questions about the influence of sports on their social and academic lives. I will also ask these students to complete an anonymous survey questioning negative behaviors in the hopes of proving that athletics deters negative behaviors. Finally, I plan on organizing a swimming clinic to help young athletes to be passionate about their sport and to make good life decisions. **Task Analysis** There are several resources I will need to help facilitate the easy passage of my project. These include guidance from coaches Dan Bell and Steve Duncheskie. Dan has already agreed to help. I can also rely on friends who have continued to participate in collegiate level athletics like Melissa Otterbein (Towson), Reece Chandler (Brown), Lauren Chandler (Hofstra) and Colleen Wolgast (Millersville). The high school pool can be made available through planning which I can organize with the help of Steve or Dan. By November 1st Final Draft of Survey(s) By November 13th Compile Data from Surveys By November 20th Start Filming High School interview Start Filming Once SAC meets begin (dates not yet available) http://www.springfieldaquatics.org/index.htm Finish paper, filming, and presentation before Christmas break begins **Conclusion** The personal significance of this project is the influence which athletics has had on my own life. Swimming has helped to shape my character and changed my life for the better. As a result I have become much more social and happy in general. I would feel privileged to be able to help someone else experience what I have as a result of athletic participation and the team environment. Necessary things to complete this project will be an outgoing attitude and willingness to work with others, as well as the obvious time management.
 * Background**
 * Prove that there is a correlation between participation in athletics and good grades
 * Help inspire kids to become involved/more involved in athletics or helping local sports teams to give back to the local, athletic community
 * Show gratitude to those that helped me
 * Instruct athletes to improve their physical skills
 * Help to improve self esteem in the aforementioned young athletes