PhD, Associate Professor G.N. Bozhkova¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Bykov^1
1Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University, Yelabuga

Keywords: volitional qualities, honorary athlete, M.M. Dodge, skating sport, V.V. Medvedev, track and field sports, binary and quasi-motor methods.

Background. Social development potential on the whole is largely determined by the spiritual resource of the young generation [4] and this is the reason why psychologists, education specialists and sociologists the world over give an increased priority to the children’s cultural development issues; and we believe that the relevant encouraging fiction is to play a special role in this process. It is the adolescent age that is most sensitive to the role models demonstrating a variety of positive qualities including kindness, generosity, integrity, valor, determination, courage and devotion to love and friendship. Such characters are not unusual in the sports featuring fiction which is fairly popular in the foreign and Russian societies. Sporting characters are found in many best books including “The Fencing Master” by A. Dumas; “The Silver Skates” by M.M. Dodge; “The Mexican”, “A Piece of Steak”, “The Game” by J. London; “Taming the Bicycle” by M. Twain; “The Sun Also Rises” and “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway; “Rabbit, Run” by J. Updike; “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. Salinger; “Scrubs on Skates” by Y. Scott; “The Luzhin Defense” by V. Nabokov; “The Bout with own Self” by B. Rayevskiy; “Flute for Musician” by V. Medvedev; and “Three Cups of Tea” by G. Martinson.

“Modern sport science needs not only interdisciplinary connections of the sport research disciplines but rather super-subjective connections that are widely applied by the meta-subjective methodology of the modern education” [2].

Furthermore, there are quite a few sports-featuring films produced nowadays including “The Champions” by A. Aksenenko (2016), “The Undisputed” by T. Chapkanov (2016), “The Real “Rocky”” by Philippe Falardeau, “Tour de Pharmacy” by Jake Szymanski (2017) and many others. The interest in the modern sport computer games including FIFA Mobile (2017), EA SPORTS UFC (2017), “Flip Master” (2017) and others is still high. It should be underlined, however, that it is the sports featuring fiction that offers the best ways to popularize healthy lifestyle, sporting spirit and behaviour and competitive accomplishments due to its high positive effects on young readers. Audio- and video-books are increasingly competing with the traditional printed editions, with this process being called the “screen reading” recommendable to the 12+ year-olds. The article may be helpful for the sport coaches in every sport discipline and for school physical education instructors.

Objective of the study was to outline the ways to cultivate the best spiritual and volitional qualities in junior athletes via the best foreign and Russian sport fiction for adolescents.

Study results and discussion. Sport on the whole and each of its disciplines in particular has been subject to creative analysis in the world fiction since the late XIX and early XX century when the amateur sports were making a transition to the professional ones. The fiction of that time tended to view sports as a sort of refuge from family conflicts and misunderstandings (E. Hemingway, J. Updike); or one of the hero-characterizing activities (M.M. Dodge, J. London, V. Medvedev, A. Zhvalevskiy, N. Hornby, G. Mortenson et al.). The extensive toolkit of the best and highly artistic novels gives the means to highlight one or another aspect of each sport and demonstrate the best personality qualities cultivated by sports. 

In her “The Silver Skates” novel (1865), M.M. Dodge masterfully shows the life in the Netherlands in the XIX century that cannot be imagined without its channels both as the transport routes for the national economy and the places for winter skating highly popular there since the mid-XIII century. The skating sport for fun and success in the national skating competitions is perfectly described in the novel as an integral part of the-then national culture and lifestyles. The very name of the novel is highly symbolic since the silver skates are referred to through the whole novel as a symbol of victory and award in the Christmas competitions.

The narrative tells the story of the Brinkel’s family with a brother and sister dreaming about qualifying for and winning the Christmas skating race. Hans Brinkel is a good, caring son, loving brother, devoted friend and honest, determined and brave young man who makes skates for himself and his sister with his own hands. The author makes a special emphasis on the sporting aspects of the Hans’ character and physicality: Broad-shouldered, strong, sturdily-build boy with somewhat like an inscription on his forehead “all well and good inside” [1, p. 26]. The physical credentials of the character are of no sacrifice for the other precious qualities including the ability to appreciate other people’s gifts. Hans in his fifteen years of age perfectly knows the Gretel’s natural gifts as an excellent inborn psychologist, and that is why he is prepared to sacrifice his own potential victory to give way to the competitions for his beloved sister. Gretel hates the nickname of “geese-made” from her classmates and is strongly determined to win both the competitions and respect of her surrounding, and this is the only thought she is driven by prior to and during the race. However, her core motivation is to justify her brother’s hopes rather than only prove that she is the best (like her rival Katrine does). These two characters are perfect for cultivating a good athlete – with their devotion to fair competition, natural physical gifts, good mental qualities and motivations.

Due diligence in the training process is no less important for a junior athlete, and the author makes a special emphasis on this quality. It is the persistent and systemic work that Hans gives the top priority to in the willpower building process, and the hard work helps the young people build a team and jointly come to success. Hans turns to be an excellent coach much because of no tension or misunderstanding between him and Gretel, only good trust and support. That is why he is proud of his sister’s accomplishments as if they were his own: “In whole Holland you could hardly find a more happy young man than Hans Brinkel” [1, p. 178]. It is the must-win mindset of the hero that drives his sister Gretel and helps her win. The scene of the celebration of the young fragile girl’s victory by the audience is arguably the strongest in the novel: “Oh, Gretel <...> Gretel <...> light-legged elf, the fastest girl of all who have ever skated on earth. She was only playing at the start of the race, but now she is doing her best: she decided deep in her sole to win at all costs!” [1, p. 254]. Her win means that she is not only the ice queen, but a real sporting character.

No less interesting in this context for adolescents may be the novel “Flute for the Champion” by V.V. Medvedev written back in 1980ies soon after the Summer Olympic Games. Understanding the time gaps of both of the novels, we just want to underline the eternal importance and effects of the motivations they give for the young athlete’s mentality reinforcement mission. Medvedev appreciates the competitive accomplishments of the Russian track and field athletes who won more than forty medals despite the boycott of the Olympics by the US to undermine the competitiveness of the event.

The narrative is highly allegorical and designed in the way that closely resembles a real competition. It starts from the traditional enthusiastic “hurrah”, with the author himself describing the novel design as a sort of “fiction marathon” and “physical warm-up” philosophically stating that “every forecast in sport or life is very relative” [3, p. 15]. The narrative then gives a “start” introduce to the reader the senior schoolboys ready for an ambitious experiment. The tension of narrative mounts with the preparations for the hero’s jump and heads towards the “finish” with its clear win greeted by the Greek ambassador’s words “Enjoy our win!” (Medvedev, 1981, p.15).

The above novel is still highly topical today in the context of the scandal with the Russian track and field team barred from participation in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. It should be noted that its narrative is highly prophetical for both the sport and education situation in Russia. In his “Flute for the Champion” novel, Medvedev makes a special emphasis on the moral standards and willpower building in the senior school age since the author believes that high competitive accomplishments in any sport discipline are possible only when the athlete is duly motivated and mentally fit. Coach of very gifted junior athlete Veniamin Larionov (holder of the 260cm high jump record) eases a training burden on his trainee prior to the Olympics to give time to a binary conditioning system for the sport and school activist. The writer contemplates on the importance of mental rather than purely physical fitness for a top sport event, and that is one of the reasons to remind of the ancient messenger who was physically strong enough but still collapsed after he made a 42km race to let the compatriots know about the Persian army defeat under Marathon village. It may be pertinent to mention in this contest the success story of Bolotnikov, a renowned national racer who reported in his memoirs the mental and physical sufferings he had after every marathon race; and it made him understand how critical it is to be able to form a right mindset and assess own physical and mental resources both in life and sports.

Medvedev shows the reader the surrounding or his hero, the Soviet-time classmates who do their best to make him immune to the excessive pride by making posters with his image, by the words of love and appreciation from the best-looking girls in the class etc. Larionov was wise enough to both overplay his friends in this game but also found by the way a new prospect for the sport in Gusev, Goose by the nickname, a young bandit always wanted by the local police. The Goose’s jump over a fence with a suitcase packed with heavy silverware surprised Larionov so much that he did his best as an amateur coach to lure the bandit into sports by quasi-motor methods, by rob-and-run situations with increasingly higher fences to test and improve the natural gifts and skills. Most important in this story that the champion not only noted the Gusev’s high physical qualities and speed-strength gifts but also realized his own blunders in the jump technique. Their partnership facilitated their mutual progress, particularly in the moral qualities and willpower, with the bandit coming to understanding that it was the life purposelessness and inactivity that forced him into the petty crimes. They both hugely benefited from the mutual support and, as a result, Gusev came second in the Olympics with a score of 228cm after the champion who made 260cm – and was more proud of his trainee’s than his own success.

Conclusion. The sports-featuring novels demonstrate that high competitive goals can never be attained unless an athlete develops great willpower, courage, determination, initiative, endurance and self-control. Willpower and its development ways have always been in high priority in sport psychology and fiction of different times and peoples. Modern athletic training systems make a special emphasis on the most efficient and practically tested methods to shape up and build volitional qualities in the personality development process [5]. It is well known that volitional qualities are formed when an individual has to face and conscientiously overcome a variety of objective and subjective difficulties and barriers. The novels by M.M. Dodge and V.V. Medvedev recommend giving reasonable freedom to an athlete with the systemic activation and binary quasi-motor training models being applied for the mental and physical conditioning in the critical periods. Hans (in the “Silver Skates” by Dodge), the Larionov’s coach and Larionov himself (in the “Flute for the Champion” by Medvedev) acting as a coach – tend to give certain freedom to their trainees in the precompetitive periods with a special priority to the cooperation and mutual understanding to help them develop the right mindset and willpower and put themselves into perspective.

The analyzed novels demonstrate the need for special attention to be given to the adolescent (16-18 year-old) athletes’ willpower building methods with a special role played by the encouraging sports-featuring fiction to reinforce the relevant binary and quasi-motor training models.

References

1. Dodge M.M. Serebryanye konki: khudozhestvennaya literatura [The Silver Skates: Fiction]. Moscow: Makhaon publ., 2016, P. 26, 178, 254.
2. Lubysheva L.I. Sovremennaya sportivnaya nauka: ot stagnatsii k novoy paradigme razvitiya [Modern sport science: from stagnation to new development paradigm]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 5, P. 4.
3. Medvedev V.V. Fleyta dlya chempiona. Khudozhestvennaya literatura [Flute for the Champion. Fiction]. Moscow: Detskaya literatura publ., 1981, P. 15.
4. Panfilov O.P., Borisova V.V., Morozov V.N. et al. Detsko-yunosheskaya akademiya ‘Zdorovye, obrazovanie, sport’ v formate antropoekobioritmologicheskoy modeli [Children's and Youth Academy ‘Health, education, sport’ in the format of anthropo-bio-rhythmical model]. Mater. vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf. s mezhdunar. uchastiem 'Innovatsionnye tekhnologii v fizicheskom vospitanii i sporte' [Proc. nat. res.-practical conf. with intern. participation 'Innovative technologies in physical education and sports']. Tula: Tolstoy TSPU publ., 2015.
5. Peredelsky A.A. Fizicheskaya kultura i sport v otrazhenii filosofskikh i sotsiologicheskikh nauk. Sotsiologiya sporta. Uchebnik [Physical education and sports in philosophy and sociology. Sports sociology. Textbook]. Moscow: Sport publ., 2016.

Corresponding author: bozhkova.galina@mail.ru

Abstract

The study analyzes an athletic physical fitness improvement concept facilitated by the relevant fiction literature to help form a mentally balanced and broadly developed personality and, hence, contribute to the competitive successes. Objective of the study was to analyze the adolescents’ willpower building methods with the role models provided by the heroic characters in the Russian and foreign fiction for the last centuries. For the purposes of the study we selected the “Silver Skates” novel by M.M. Dodge, the writer from Holland, and “Flute for the Champion” novel by V.V. Medvedev to find and explore benefits of the binary and quasi-motor methods for the athlete’s mental development process. The study shows that the best sports-featuring novels may be applied as efficient tools for the sporting adolescents’ willpower building purposes.