Marco

Marco is 16 years old. He enjoys running and is very fast. He likes to run long distances and seems hard to catch or stop. But Marco is not always willing to run when someone else tells him to. He is not even sure that he has understood the instructions when they explain to him where to stop and when to go. Marco is a young man with learning difficulties (intellectual disability), but this does not prevent him from participating in sports events and competitions or from being happy when he or one of his friends wins a trophy.

Marco is a young man who has great support from his family, but also from the community where he lives. He has a coach who understands his wishes, needs, but also the difficulties he faces in his daily functioning. Marco, like a large part of the population, needs additional support in most things he does, including the sports. The diagnosis of intellectual disability carries great challenges in life that a person and his family face. The present capacities, limitations, behavior of a person influence the daily functioning of an individual; inclusion in activities, but also in the social environment.

In addition to the intellectual deficit, there are often accompanying conditions that make functioning even more difficult. Associated conditions can refer to physical capacities (mobility), health conditions (epilepsy, diseases of the heart and blood vessels…), certain psychiatric conditions. Additional aggravating factors must be taken into account in every segment of the training process that we have planned, whether it is athletes participating in major sports competitions or those who are recreating. It should be taken into account that an athlete’s success and behavior are not only influenced by his intellectual abilities, but also by other mental functions (attention, memory).

An athlete from the general population plays sports for various reasons: because he loves sports, he enjoys his achievement and the recognition he receives. Motivation is both external and internal. An athlete with an intellectual disability primarily has an internal motivation. He likes to play football, swim, run, move and socialize. It is up to the coach (and the family) to persuade him to devote himself to what he enjoys. They should help him experience some sporting achievement and teach him to enjoy participating in the events and the achievement. In this way, he will develop additional self-confidence, and he will satisfy the need for self-proof and for proving to others. He will grow!

Therefore, a coach is not only a person who knows the methodology of working with young athletes. The coach of an athlete with ID must know a little bit about developmental psychology, to know and develop the motivation of his athlete, to know what problems he may encounter in the training process, but also a few steps further – in competitions.

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