THE COMPETITION DEBATE
IT seems like we are at a crossroads in youth sport.
The opinions of how sport should be played appear to be polarising many.
Attitudes have been growing for many years.
What’s better for a school and club? Competition or participation?
Do we encourage competition among individuals and teams? If so, at what age?
It seems there is an ongoing debate worldwide about competitive sports in schools and clubs.
Competition can be healthy. It can be a motivating influence to try hard, it can build morale, it can encourage athletes to develop better skills and most of all, can still be enjoyable and fun.
Positive competition involves determined but, crucially important, friendly rivalry.
Values such as perseverance, respect, consistency, being humble in victory and gracious in defeat are all essential and important lessons.
When the competition involves teamwork and communication, important life skills are taught.
Everyone knows or should encourage the team to be more important than the individual. Together they can achieve so much more.
PARENT BEHAVIOUR
One of the issues enveloping competition is the parental behaviour on the sideline.
Participation can also bring people together. Many schools and clubs (and parents) expect children to participate in at least one cultural and/or sporting activity.
In participation, new skills are learnt, new friendships are made and hopefully, lessons are learnt.
There is a sense of belonging where everyone knows they are part of one team.
Learners should be guided to get a balance between competition and participation in their lives.
Although a learner might only want to participate and not compete in an activity, the learner should still be encouraged to set personal competitive goals along the way.
In America there is one train of thought that believes there is a “wussification of American children leading to adults”.
It is felt that children are given ‘too much’ for just being involved and participation trophies are creating generations of American’s who don’t know how to win and compete.
I am not sure whether this is the case in Australia as yet. Let’s hope we do not follow this line of thought.
Along with the term “wussification”, this group of researchers also believe that success, failure, and the lessons learnt from all experiences bring out the best in our children.
Depending on how old you are and what school you went to, you may recall a time when scores were kept at school sporting events and medals were handed out for first, secdifferent ond, and third places in many sports.
This does still happen and athletes are awarded age group placings.
Even in the classroom, you may also remember a time where you were given an “F” for failing and, depending on how good you were, an “A” for being exceptional.
TROPHIES FOR ALL
It is very common now for teachers to give a simple “E” for effort and “P” for participation.
During the 1990s and in early 2000 experts collaborated and decided to rewrite textbooks, to review all forms of education and how learning should be approached.
There has also been long debate in many sports at many age levels on what should be offered. Trophies for everyone? Trophies for performance?
So how has it all worked? I am talking about the “effort for participation” theory, which states that kids should not be made to feel like they came first or last, won or lost, or passed or failed.
This theory allowed kids be made to feel that participation is more important than competition, and what matters most is the effort they put in.
While I wholeheartedly agree with reward for effort, has anyone ever stopped to think about the kids who actually tried hard and were encouraged to do their best?
The kids who gave their all because they were motivated by the idea of receiving a first place and achieving. You could call this “old school”. There are SO many areas in life that require us to be competitive.
Are we softening up on our future leaders and creating a less competitive culture?
So, who is right?
Well, both trains of thought of “schools’’ believe our children may not be learning as much as they should.
And I am not sure either is wrong. I don’t believe in “old school”, I don’t believe in “new school”, I believe in “right school”, and figuring out what mix of the past and the future is best for the present.
Clearly, this is a topic that will continue to garner attention and changes will be made in the time ahead.
Whether, the emphasis for change needs to be solely on increased competition or participation, perhaps, like our politics, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
John Shindler, a ‘Transformative Classroom Management’ executive (a mouthful in itself) gave an astute observation about competition, “Winning is not the point and losing is not a big deal. What is meaningful is what we learn about ourselves in the process, how we treat each other, and what we learn about our skill level.”
Maybe it is the task of the parent to take the time to sit and discuss this issue at home and not leave it up to teachers and coaches.
I feel very strongly that kids should “participate” in sports, but they should also be encouraged to try to win, be the very best that they can be.
“Try” being the operative word. Trying to win may be more important than the act of winning. But when we take away a child’s desire to try for something then what does he or she have to strive towards?
GIVE IT EVERYTHING
The great NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said: “The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel – these are the things that endure and these are the qualities that are so much more important than any of the events that occasion them.
“There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
“The score on the board doesn’t mean a thing. That’s for the fans.
“If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.”
In 2018, Time magazine wrote an interesting article, The Me Me Me Generation.
It outlined what society had hoped to achieve with this 1990s experiment of rewarding participation. Only now are we starting to see the results of the “effort for participation” theory. For me it should be given a big fat “F” for fail.
Let your kids participate and compete. The score will take care of itself.
LET YOUR KIDS PARTICIPATE AND COMPETE. THE SCORE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.