Week 1 – Theories in Action – Social Identity Theory

Week 1 saw me act as a camp administrator for our annual youth summer camp. With more campers than ever before the coaching staff put together an unbelievable staff for camp. The staff featured current players but also professional players. It was extremely important to set the tone early with young campers on what is and what is not tolerable during camp.

Lacrosse is for everyone. Over the past year, this has been emphasized at all levels. It is important to emphasize this amongst all players, especially the next generation. The Social Identity theory was on full display amongst all campers. The Social Identity can be broken down into two separate categories. The first category is social categorization meaning that people categorize almost everything, including themselves into different groups. This occurred all week at camp for two main reasons. The first main reason being the age gap as we had campers ranging from third grade to ninth grade. The second main reason being skill level. Campers place themselves and others in different groups based on skill levels. At a young age, players tend to be immature and gravitate toward other players with the same and even better skill levels. This is not inclusive.

The second category of the Social Identity Theory is social identification. This means that people, or in this case the campers, accept their position and or classification and therefore become members of a specific group. While this may be okay depending on age group this becomes more difficult when looking at skill level. The entire coaching staff made sure that any player who felt more comfortable playing at a higher level should feel free to do so and vice versa. All in all, it was very nice to see the entire coaching staff emphasize the importance of family in lacrosse and that lacrosse is for everyone. I hope that these campers remember the lessons learned both on and off the field at camp this week and help to create an inclusive environment within the game of lacrosse. While there is much more work to be done this is a step in the right direction.