In terms of Ignatian Pedagogy, experiencing one or more sports is a significant stepping-stone along the Paradigm trajectory in that it requires a very specific kind of emotional response (passion, sentiment, experience, etc…) involving a physical commitment and constituting a prime and most essential phase in the learning process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This aspect of physical exercise is in fact directly referred to in St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, evoking the nature of its experiential dimension, which can subsequently be an initiation into journeys of contemplation. Reflecting on experience is indeed an essential opportunity for transitioning from simple physical exercise to a recognition and appropriation of values, serving to enhance personal growth. Taking a pause after a training session or after a match in order to understand what just took place not only in terms of the sporting results, but also with regard to understanding the personal or societal implications, can be extremely formative. This kind of meditative reflection helps one to understand one’s individual talents and personal characteristics and allows one to come to terms with one’s own limitations and weaknesses; in other words, it is very constructive for one\u2019s overall personal development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This process of experience and reflection can then be translated into physical actions: that is to say, it can become a blueprint for sporting activity and life experiences that are better informed and more individual. It is fundamental that Ignatian institutions help young people formulate their own personal life projects, which are the end result of the process of self-awareness and discernment fostered by the Ignatian paradigm and its spiritual beliefs: i.e., a life plan in which the individual personally plays a role that reflects his or her vocation and uniqueness, and which will enable him or her to live a full life that is not one of self-absorption, but is one experienced with and for other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This then involves the juxtaposition of the three phases of practicing sport: namely, \u201ctraining and competing\u201d, in other words, the period of time when the experience <\/strong>takes place, when the powerful emotions of practicing the discipline that the athlete has chosen are indeed experienced, providing the all-important motivation to improve and grow; the \u201crelationship\u201d with the coach (or manager), which corresponds to the period of reflection<\/strong> regarding the activity recently undertaken, when a quest for meaning and self-awareness come into play; and last but not least, the \u201coutcome\u201d, the inevitable synthesis of the action<\/strong> embarked upon and completed, which is a useful and important basis for repeating the whole process. It is also important to understand that there is a circularity implied in this schema, that the nature of these phases is systemic and that the different steps do not necessarily follow a temporal sequence, but are part of a continuum that is repeated and becomes a “way of being\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every sports\u2019 practitioner must also always be mindful of having an accurate picture of the context<\/strong> in which the sporting activity takes place: its values, the cultural aspects and the background history of the reality in which he or she operates. An understanding of the context in which one operates is an absolute prerequisite and must thoroughly permeate every stage of the processes described above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, evaluation <\/strong>requires full awareness of the developmental journey. It does not simply concern the results of the sporting activity per se<\/em>, but attention must also be given the path chosen and, as was the case for St. Ignatius himself, a consideration of what elements worked well and which areas were perhaps not so successful. It is precisely for this reason that it is not a specific phase of the Paradigm journey, but on the contrary signals the entire pedagogical path and thus incorporates all the different moments, including those relating to sporting activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n