Talk at Universities’ Rowing Race Culture Development Forum 2015, August 20th, Wuhan/China. Abstract: Sports can fulfil various functions in the context of university; as occasion and subject of collegiate communication, as a projection surface for identification with the own campus or as an object of linking course content. In addition varsity sports has also an impact on students personal development. So called „soft skills“ are not only relevant for academic studies but as well for future careers. In this talk the particular suitability of rowing will be discussed by the example of team building.

1. Andreas Hebbel-Seeger
Universities’ Rowing Race Culture Development Forum 2015 | August 20th, Wuhan/China
Functions of rowing race to the forming of
college students’ personality and competence

2. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Macromedia -
University of Applied Sciences
• Media School, Business School and School of creative Arts
with Campus in Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg
• Bachelor and Master programme
• Some programmes entirely in English
• Top position in CHE-Ranking 2014/15*
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*Centre for Higher Education, www.che.de

3. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Macromedia -
International Network
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4. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
(Rowing) Sports at
University: Objectives
Outer view:
Transfer of athletic performance
on the University as a whole.
Differentiation from other
universities.
University sports as
supplementary communication
content for collegiate marketing.

5. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
(Rowing) Sports at
University: Objectives
Inner view, adressing the
entire student body:
Sport team is causing
varsity indentification.
Rowing team and it‘s
activities as an object of
linking course content.

6. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
(Rowing) Sports at
University: Objectives
Inner view, adressing the
collegiate athlets:
Reflection / classification of
own experience on the
framework of study-related
content; from marketing to
personality development.
Supporting personal
development in addition to
knowledge, because
proficiency needs more than
just knowledge.

7. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Soft skills...
...are not everything within
management major, but
without soft skills everything
is nothing.
(Doppler, 1998)
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8. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Why Rowing?
Rowing has a special suitability:
amateur sport, team sport,
incomparable academic tradition
(even in Hamburg as the "cradle" of
rowing on European mainland).

9. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Rowing Attributes:
power, endurance, hard
training, teamwork, ...

10. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Rowing:
Synchronization and coordination as an
ideal-typical model for effective action at
university as well as on the job.
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11. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Rowing...
...as a model for
HR management.
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12. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20 12
... refers to the development and
promotion of mental, cognitive
and physical abilities and skills; -
of students as well as of
employees.
Human Ressource
Management...

13. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
The example of team building
A team is an active group of people who...
l is committed to a common goal,
l is working harmoniously together,
l has pleasure in their work and
l is accomplishing excellent results.

14. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Objectives of team building
Improving
understanding of roles
Improving team
communication
Strengthening mutual trust
and support
Enhancing conflict resolution
Improving decision-making
Increasing creativity
Improving individual and
collaborative productivity and
performance

15. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
Forming Storming Norming Performing
Performance
Time
Phases of
team building
(Tuckman, 1965)

16. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
(Varsity) rowers...
...have learned
l to long term focus on a goal.
l to assess their own performance.
l to deal with defeats – and to try harder subsequently.
l to orientate on individual performance and even so
collaborating for success.
l to use their personal ressources (eg. time, efforts, ...) effectively.

17. Hebbel-Seeger: Functions of rowing race to the forming of college students’ personality and competence | Wuhan/China 2015-08-20
It‘s not surprising...
... that successful athlets
tend to be successful in their
jobs as well.
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18. Thank you for listening!
For more information
www.macromedia-university.com
eMail: a.hebbel-seeger@macromedia.com
Slides: de.slideshare.net/ahsHH/
Feedback: speakerscore.com/Wuhan2015-ahs