Decisions Decisions Decisions

This decision making is all about defining and controlling our immediate environment for our own benefit, so how old are we when we start to exert control over our own environments?

9 or 10 years old? Older? Younger? …………………… Try about 9 months old. That’s right – 9 months, so indulge the writer here and stop to consider how things develop from thereon in.

Very young babies don’t do much because they simply don’t know what’s out there. Once their eyesight develops they become aware of their own limbs and start to have fixations with mobiles but once they gain sufficient strength their first reaction is to sit up so that they can see more of this big new world. It is not long before they start to try and exert some control over it and once they do, they discover they like being in control. In short they get a kick out of it. In other words a benefit!

Laughing happy babies aren’t happy because someone has told them a joke. They are laughing because they are power drunk so to speak, usually because they have just managed to get that big thing out there – It’s Mother! You! – to do something they want you to do ………….. “feed me”, “change my nappy”, “pamper me”, etc.

Happy baby is really a victorious baby and this sense of being in control, through making decisions affecting ourselves, stays with us for the rest of our life. It is a driving factor for much of what we do throughout our lives and it is also the first thing you need to be aware of when attracting new supporters at a young age.

This basic form of communication continues on through the tantrum years when toddlers find out that they can’t always have the degree of control they want, eventually giving up when they discover they can get what they want by other means. This realisation is gained from playing with other children and soon a sense of community or extended family starts to develop when the child realises the benefits of being in a social relationship. This is the second point you should bear in mind when attracting youngsters.

Next they start school and it is not long before defining their environment in their own terms starts to develop. “my favourite colour” ….. “my favourite song” ….. “my best friend is” ….. etc. At this point many adults could be forgiven for thinking that the child’s thinking and reasoning ability is less sophisticated than an adult’s or that the child’s intelligence hasn’t developed.

This is a big mistake and it is the third point to remember. Assuming that a child is develops normally then, the fact that they do not express themselves as adults do is simply down to a lack of vocabulary and nothing to do with a lack of intelligence. In fact, at this age, they are as fully possessed of cognitive ability as you or I and have had this ability for a good couple of years.

They know exactly what they want and why they want it. It is therefore when they are at the ages of about 7, 8 or 9 that they are likely to decide to become a supporter of your football club, but what you have to understand is, that they do so on their terms – not yours.

So what are you doing to help them make those decisions that will form a lasting bond between them and your club?

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