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Some followers of sports would say that it doesn't matter whether you win or lose as long as you ave fun. That belief has its place but can be delusional.
When legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi coined the phrase "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," more than a handful of reasonable adults became overbearing when it came to youth sports.
You see, as a society we think in terms of extremes. Those who are competitive automatically get persecuted by some people as being "over the edge" or "win at all costs." On the other hand, those who are not competitive in an outwardly demonstrative way get labeled as "soft."
As if there were no in between.
I consider myself competitive but I'm anything but win at all costs or over the edge. In fact, I think those who are over the edge should be barred as far away from youth sports as possible. In addition, I don't view everyone who is not competitive in an outwardly demonstrative way as soft.
On the other hand, I think the idea of "winning doesn't matter" is absolutely bogus. Those buying into that notion often believe that having fun matters more.
Some folks would even argue that the reason winning is not important is that one out of every 100 high school seniors in America are going to get a scholarship to play a sport beyond high school.
True, high school is going to be the pinnacle of most any athlete’s competitive career but I would argue that's all the more important reason to preach the importance of winning.
If a young man or woman has only one chance to play youth sports, why not make the most of it?
Having said that, winning and competition are indeed important but it falls on the adults to preach it in a constructive manner.
Contrary to what some may think, there are ways of doing it.
Certainly, an occasional loss can be a useful learning tool, but not preaching the importance of competition gives youngsters a delusional idea of what they will face in the real world.
The fact of the matter is that developing a winning attitude on the field helps you in real life. After all, when a kid grows up and applies for a job, there will be other applicants.
For those who truly think winning is not important, I present this situation to you. Take a high school basketball team that hosts a playoff game on the way to a state tournament that draws thousands of fans for the game and has to turn away several others because the crowd is “standing room only.” Then take another team that has a record of say 2-23 and draws maybe players parents. Is that a picture that winning doesn’t matter? I say BS, winning “does” matter because if it didn’t then why in heavens name are thousands of people showing up for the winning team I mentioned and thousands are staying away for the team that stinks? The fact is, when a team is really good, people who normally don’t care one iota come to the games.
From a player’s perspective, what’s a better situation? Playing in front of a standing room only crowd or having a crowd with maybe 15 people?
Again, an occasional loss can be a good learning tool if not a necessary one, but let's put it this way -- winning is much more fun than losing.
Contrary to what people think – winning matters. Anyone who says otherwise is delusional. The responsibility falls on the adults involved to preach it the right way.
Just win baby!
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