Whether you are a student, professional, amateur or something in between, you have access to numerous e-learning platforms that offer whatever you’d like to learn. Companies like Khan Academy, Lynda.com, Udemy, Udacity, Coursera, General Assembly and a multitude of others, have opened up education to the masses.But… what about the athlete, the coach and the parents of the athlete? Can e-learning make the transition to sports and be just as effective?
Top 4 Reasons Why e-Learning is Important for Sports
Here’s why I think it’s important for sports to have robust e-learning platform tools:
- Accessibility to expert coaching
Location and monetary restrictions prohibit many from having access to expert coaching. What you are left with are young athletes that either can’t practice the sport they love, or are coached by volunteer coaches who they themselves don’t have a mastery of the sport in question. This is not due to any negligence by their part, but simply the accessibility to expert learning content is not there. Imagine every child, and for that matter every coach, having the chance to master the sports they want to play regardless of location and economic status. - Learning at your own pace
Traditional coaching, as with traditional education, is rushed and usually follows the pace of the fastest learners… specifically in group training. This leaves many young athletes to prematurely progress to the next level in order to keep up with the team. Eventually, because of this, the basic fundamentals that these athletes fail to acquire can hamper their chances of being successful in the long run. Again, this is not due to any lack of talent or drive, but completely circumstantial. An e-learning tool can allow these athletes to learn “at their own pace” and progress “step-by-step” by mastering all the necessary fundamentals. - Injury prevention and awareness
Let’s tackle prevention first. One cannot always prevent injury but can definitely decrease its likelihood. Athletes that have a better understanding and mastery of the fundamental skills of their sport… will reduce their chances of injury. For instance, if a young athlete has never been thought properly how to take a hit in football, going in line with the themes in the two previous paragraphs, he will be more likely to sustain injury rather than someone who has mastered that particular skill.What about awareness? Concussions are a huge problem in sports, specifically in noticing when they happen. Most athletes, coaches and parents are not aware of the symptoms and how to react to them. This is a danger for the athlete as he will have a harder time to recover, or may have a relapse, should he enter the field prematurely after a major injury like a concussion. Having a sports e-learning platform that gives you access to learning content on various injuries can be an indispensable tool to help manage injuries. - Freeing the coaches time
Having your athletes engage in pro-active learning through an e-learning platform can free up the coaches time to focus on refining individual skills, as oppose to completely teaching them. Furthermore, the coach will have more time to teach tactics and strategy as well as put more time into team bonding.
E-learning is here to stay
Sports e-learning platforms can help athletes excel in their sports, the same way traditional education e-learning platforms are helping students. Further, it can act as a complimentary tool for coaches and parents. Pro-active learning, easy access to expert learning content and mastering the fundamental skills will make young athletes better leaders in their sport and in life. Do you think e-learning can improve sports the way it has for general education?
