Building Leadership Skills in Middle School Girls Through Interscholastic Athletics (continued)

Start Early: Atheletics and Leadership Abilities in Middle School Girls

Middle school is the typical time for introduction to competitive sports for most adolescents. Thus, research collected at the "start gate" of middle school, if you will, will establish a benchmark of the impact of athletics on the development of leadership skills in girls. Yet, although Title IX has existed for over 30 years, limited research exists in examining this impact (Dobosz & Beaty, 1999). Leadership skills that are instilled during early adolescence in girls evolve throughout adolescence and into adulthood (Dorrance, 1996; Simon & Martens, 1979; Shields & Bredemeir, 1995). In fact, 80% of the female executives in Fortune 500 companies self-identified as having been athletes and/or "tomboys" in adolescence (Feminist Research Center, 2001).

Membership on an athletic team is one avenue to acquire, assess, refine, and demonstrate leadership skills developmentally appropriate for middle school students.

Participation in sports extends the nurturance of leadership by teaching girls to cooperate with their teammates and opponents as well as abide by the rules (Horn, 1985). Girls learn about taking turns, sharing play time, and valuing rules. A sense of fair play is instilled. They learn that without rules and regulations, the game would become unfair. If the players believe that everyone contributes to the team's success and feel as though they are being treated fairly, then each player's athletic ability and
psychological stamina are maximized (Gregg, 1999).

Athletic team membership enables girls to control and shape their lives, to feel empowered, in ways that other middle school girls feel that they cannot (Dorrance, 1996). Through participation in sports, girls tend to have higher levels of self-confidence, increased self-esteem, and lower levels of anxiety compared to non-athletic girls (Simon & Martens, 1979). Furthermore, the athlete's competitive spirit steers many team members to vie for student leadership positions such as team captain or to seek election to the student government (Dobosz & Beaty, 1999). Hart (2002) found that, in a sample of 108 girls in one middle school, girls on the soccer team held more leadership positions in school organizations and attained more leadership positions within the student council compared to non-athletic girls. Hart concluded that for the middle school-aged female athletes, confidence and empowerment are acquired through competitive sports and school leadership.

Learning effective time management is a major step towards leadership development for the middle school female athlete. She must learn early that time is finite, that she must set priorities, and that she must sacrifice experiences enjoyed by her peers. She must manage an athletic schedule, fulfill academic and extracurricular demands, participate in family activities and responsibilities, and attend to personal needs during the after-school hours. The mastery of time management, setting priorities, and multitasking are early stepping-stones to leadership.

The effects of self-esteem in student athletes and non-athletes have been investigated in relation to age, gender, and type of sport, among other factors. Findings are relatively consistent in demonstrating that self-esteem for athletes is higher than for non-athletes (Simon & Martens, 1979). For instance, Hoganbruen (1999) developed a 4-week sports camp for young adolescent girls to determine the effect on self-esteem. Significant and positive changes in global self-esteem were found. Moreover, improved self-esteem contributed to the perception of personal competence.