Question: why do you think that it's important for the children in south africa to learn about sport psychology?

Helen O'Connor answered on 14 Jun 2011:

Hi Frisobel…in South Africa the children I worked with (see my profile for some pictures!) were from the poorest townships, often didnt eat all day, some were physically abused, and many had lost both their parents. So considering all their problems, what I did was use topics from sport psychology that could help them more generally in other areas of their life – so we talked about confidence, how to handle anger, what its like being part of a team, how to cope with nerves and fear etc.
I tried to find real life examples for them: so we talked about how they could be more confident at school or be less angry at home with their younger brothers and sisters, how they could be less nervous speaking in public etc.