The ability to place yourself in another person’s shoes is an invaluable life skill. The strength of the relationships we develop in our families, at school, at work, and on our sport teams is greater when we can see the world through another person’s eyes. Empathy is an opportunity to step outside of our world and better understand the thoughts and feelings of those around us.
One of my favorite examples of empathy throughout the Summer Academy was when the girls’ basketball program and the girls’ soccer program joined to play the other program’s sport for a training session. The girls’ basketball program ended up playing an all-time favorite soccer shooting exercise, “power-finesse.” The girls’ soccer program ended up playing the basketball shooting exercise, “knock out.” To further emphasize the theme-of-the-day, the coaches literally put themselves in another person’s shoes and swapped gear for the training session. The basketball coaches were decked out in soccer shorts, shin guards, soccer socks, and cleats. The soccer staff could have fooled any b-baller as they were fashioning jerseys, basketball shorts, sweatbands, and basketball shoes.
~Coach Molly Arenberg
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