Teen Contender - Learning from Sports
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This is an award winning radio piece from Radio Diaries about Cleressa Shields, the youngest athlete to compete for a spot on the first ever US Olympic Women’s Boxing Team in 2012. At the time, Claressa was a 16 year old junior at Northwestern High School in Flint, Michigan. She went on to win a gold medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics!
The story is a great reminder of the power of sport. It is inspiring that Claressa has achieved so much as a boxer but I am even more impressed by the impact that boxing has had on her personal development.
Claressa embodies the growth mindset. She has faced some significant challenges in her life and has learned from sports exactly what she needed to in order to overcome those challenges. Her levels of focus and grit are off the charts. Sports are powerful because they can teach these things in ways that few other activities can.
We just started the MetroLacrosse season. When I look out at the faces on the field, I wonder who will be the Claressa Shields of our group. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my life than using lacrosse to develop young people like Claressa.
