In Support Of Extracurricular Activity
A great piece on WHYY's Radio Times show this morning caught my ear. It was about the program in Venezuela called "La Sistema" in which kids are exposed to a highly organized and methodical training program in...classical music. Venezuela, of all places!
What struck me most was that Stanford Thompson of Philly was making comments throughout the show that not just echoed a lot of what is being talked about in youth soccer, but was almost verbatim. At one point I had to chuckle when Thompson was talking about the West Philly kids he works with, and the methodology his organization uses to advance the kids abilities...He could have switched seats with me and I could have given the answers; the approach to learning music, I gather, is essentially the exact same as football. Perhaps intuitive enough, but it's awfully nice to hear some other idealistic slob out there (who knows his stuff, probably more than I know mine) pushing the same agenda.
I especially liked his all-comers approach. No child is turned away, all are seen as having the potential to be anything they hope to become in the musical world. A big part of my hoped-for change in youth soccer; take 'em all in, and give them all the same chance, and see where they end up when they're 18! Or, better, yet, help them get there...
At any rate, if the player development movement is of interest, here's a couple links from today's story that parallel the approach soccer is slowly coming around to. Is it not a little crazy that the arts, as well as athletics are only now, in the early 2000's coming to be seen as endeavors within which every kid has equitable potential? I agree with Gandhi; Western Civilization would be a good idea!
Radio Times Links
http://stanfordthompson.com/heart.html
http://elsistemausa.org/el-sistema/venezuela/
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2012/12/07/changing-lives-el-sistemas-transformative-power-of-music/
192 Square Feet Player Development Series
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Addendum I
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