Hotshots: Dedication

more by Jason Gardner | Youth

Title: Dedication.

Preparation:

3 mini remote controlled cars, Powerpoint slide show featuring British formula One driver Lewis Hamilton (use variety of images with at least one from his go-karting success aged 14,  a picture of a remote controlled car and a picture of a McLaren formula one car).

Activity:

Get three volunteers and get them to have a race with the remote controlled cars. (hint: if you think racing with the cars is too risky/ time consuming then use wind up snails www.initialideas.co.uk/product.php?prid=271) If you want to create a bit more atmosphere why not hook up a camcorder to a data projector and show the race on the big screen?)

Give prize to the winner.

Talk:

Sometimes winning takes a bit of skill, sometimes it takes a bit of luck, but as most people dedicated to their sport will tell you, dedication plays a huge part as well.
Take Formula 1 Driver Lewis Hamilton for instance. (show picture if you’ve got it)
Now not only is Lewis the first black person to have taken part in a Formula 1 Grand Prix but in his first ever Grand Prix race in Melbourne Australia in March 2007 he came third. That’s the best ever debut by a British formula one driver.
What an amazing result but as Lewis would tell you his success isn’t just down to his dedication but the dedication of his family as well.
They fully supported Lewis throughout his career and his obsession with motor cars.
Now Lewis started off really small when it came to cars. He appeared on Blue Peter showing off his skill at racing radio- controlled cars. He was only five at the time but he was already beating adults in races.
Then he moved on to Go-karts at age 8 in 1993. Now Go-Karting is a really expensive sport but Lewis’s Dad took on extra work in the evenings and weekends to pay for his son’s racing career.

Lewis soon began getting second and third place in Go-Kart championships and at one award ceremony, when he was nine years old, he introduced himself to Ron Dennis, the head of McLaren formula one racing and told him, ‘I want to drive for you.’ Dennis told him to come back when he’d won something so Lewis started winning every Go Kart competition going and Dennis signed him - the youngest ever driver to receive McLaren sponsorship.
Lewis was definitely dedicated, he obviously had a lot of skill and he had his family behind him which always helps, but he was always focussed on what he knew he could accomplish.

An old time film director once said this:

‘Most of us serve our ideals by fits and starts. The person who makes a success of living is one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.’

But the thing is it doesn’t matter if it’s trying to achieve a big sporting prize, trying to do well at school or being devoted to our family or a relationship, being dedicated being focussed on our goal will always accomplish big results.

So what are you dedicated to achieving?

For Further Illustration:

Christian Perspective:

1 Corinthians 9.24. ‘Run in such a way as to get the prize.’ Paul often compared the dedication of following Christ to the dedication of Athletes.

Film Clip:

The World’s Fastest Indian
DVD Ch 19 New Zealander Burt Munro builds his own motorcycle and uses it to set a world land speed record in 1967 at the age of 68!


Weird Records:

Top Ten weirdest world records from Guinness book of records:
http://uk.askmen.com/toys/top_10/50_top_10_list.html