Can we all learn resilience? In the TV series Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, the cricketer shows how taking part in team sport can bring out the best in everybody.
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The cricket team that won our hearts
Can we all learn resilience? In the TV series Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams, the cricketer shows how taking part in team sport can bring out the best in everybody.
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Freddie FlintoffAn English former cricketer and TV presenter. walks out onto a huge pitch. "When I look back on my life," he says, "I think, 'If I didn't have cricket, what would I have done?"
This is the opening of the first series of Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams, which aired in 2022. Launched in July 2022, it showed him returning to his home town, PrestonA city in Lancashire in the north of England. . His aim was to build a cricket team out of local teenagers.
Most had never played cricket, because most state schoolsUntil the 1870 Elementary Education Act, all schools in England and Wales were charitable or privately funded. do not teach it. Some of the teenagers had ADHDAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a mental health condition that can cause above-normal levels of energetic and impulsive behaviours. or autismA condition characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 160 children has an autism disorder.. But soon, they had a decent team.
Flintoff had another aim. He wanted to show that being in a cricket team could help people to reach their goals.
In the second series, which finished this weekend, Flintoff took the team on tour to IndiaA country in South Asia. It has the second-largest population in the world, with a population of 1.4 billion. .
In India the players had to deal with a very different country. Afterwards they spoke of how much their lives had changed.
Josh, who is autistic, has started his own business. Adnan, a refugeePeople who are forced from their countries because war or persecution. from AfghanistanA mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China., is now well on his way to becoming a professionalSomeone who does something as their profession, or job. E.g. playing music. cricketer. Eli, who left school without any GCSEsNational exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. , has trained to be a sports coach. Ben is becoming a teacher after taking an English class for Indian orphansPeople whose parents have died. .
Can we all learn resilience?
Yes! The more you have to face difficult situations, the more you will be able to cope with them.
No! It requires a mental toughness which you either have or do not have.
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Keywords
Freddie Flintoff - An English former cricketer and TV presenter.
Preston - A city in Lancashire in the north of England.
State schools - Until the 1870 Elementary Education Act, all schools in England and Wales were charitable or privately funded.
ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a mental health condition that can cause above-normal levels of energetic and impulsive behaviours.
Autism - A condition characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 160 children has an autism disorder.
India - A country in South Asia. It has the second-largest population in the world, with a population of 1.4 billion.
Refugee - People who are forced from their countries because war or persecution.
Afghanistan - A mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China.
Professional - Someone who does something as their profession, or job. E.g. playing music.
GCSEs - National exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Orphans - People whose parents have died.
The cricket team that won our hearts
Arise Sir Freddie: Now tipped for a knighthood, Andrew Flintoff (above) has been widely hailed for his TV documentary. “He himself has defied adversity and seems to have grown from it” says The Telegraph. Glossary
Freddie Flintoff - An English former cricketer and TV presenter.
Preston - A city in Lancashire in the north of England.
State schools - Until the 1870 Elementary Education Act, all schools in England and Wales were charitable or privately funded.
ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a mental health condition that can cause above-normal levels of energetic and impulsive behaviours.
Autism - A condition characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 160 children has an autism disorder.
India - A country in South Asia. It has the second-largest population in the world, with a population of 1.4 billion.
Refugee - People who are forced from their countries because war or persecution.
Afghanistan - A mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China.
Professional - Someone who does something as their profession, or job. E.g. playing music.
GCSEs - National exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Orphans - People whose parents have died.