As I started this professional inquiry project I was mainly interested in the connection between

mental health and competition. As I narrowed my inquiry question down it became more
focused on the resources and materials that can be used within the middle school context in
order to facilitate an environment of healthy competition. This question resulted in the creation
and accumulation of various games, strategies, and materials for teachers to use when
implementing a rugby unit focused on competition within a middle school setting.

The inquiry question I centered my project on focuses on what resources, games, and activities
can be used to promote positive, healthy competition between students. As a result, the lesson
plans I developed used a balance of developing individual skills and using group competition to
fuel motivation for skill development. Included in the unit plan is also an activity guide that
thoroughly explains the details of each activity. Additionally, I organized the fundraising and
purchasing of twenty new rugby balls for the school I was teaching at, in order to ensure that
the materials necessary were available for the implementation of the unit plan.

As I searched for resources and materials with which to complete my inquiry project, I learned
more about the importance of competition and team sports in the middle school environment.
In addition to finding appropriate and applicable resources to bring into a school I also
conducted primary and secondary research regarding the importance of team sports and
competition, particularly among adolescents. I found various studies which suggested that
positive, team-based competition increases athletes’ self-esteem, self-perception, mental
health, and resiliency, all key building blocks that need to be developed. Participating in team
sports is beneficial to an adolescent’s development as it improves mental health, improves
resiliency, and improves their self-perception. The detail of that can be found in my research
paper that is included in my project.

The research that I found emphasized the importance of team sport, but a key aspect of my
project still missing was students’ own opinion of competition within a school setting. I then
created a survey for students to answer, gathering information regarding adolescents’ opinions
on participating in competitive situations, both individually and in a group. The surveys that I
created and conducted all suggested that adolescents enjoy and are drawn to competitive
scenarios. While these surveys were not highly scientific, the general trend revealed that
adolescents are indeed drawn toward competition, another pillar that supports the use of team
sport and competitive activities in middle school.

I created an inquiry project and not a goal statement because I wanted to investigate the
various aspects of the benefits of including competition and the benefits of team sport in the
middle school environment. Having grown up with the benefit of participating in team sport I
wanted to create a project that showed the concrete evidence of those benefits in order to
strongly encourage the development and use of competition within a school setting. As I
developed my inquiry project, I was able to take a deeper look into the considerations when
creating physical education lesson plans. I was also able to substantiate the importance of
competition and team sports within school settings. While students are currently unable to
participate in school sports, conducting this inquiry project created evidence and a means by
which to support the re-integration of school sports as soon as it has been deemed safe to do
so.