Ridger Sports — Playing to win: the value of competition

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

In these socially convoluted times, there has been a growing number of people who regard the pursuit of athletic victory or victories as somehow being wrong or “evil.” These folks are probably the same ones who have the mindset that businesses that operate for profits are evil as well.

Youth athletics have increasingly become a barometer for how many people view social order, or what is “good for society.” Those kind of people will talk about how it doesn’t matter who wins or loses with regards to athletic contests, and they are a big reason why more and more youth athletic contests have dispensed with scoreboards or with keeping track of which teams win or lose in a particular sporting contest.

It is true that there are plenty of examples of people who go way over the top when coaching or directing youth athletic teams.

Cheating coaches who go to extremes like illegal drugs to help his team win and parents who do the same or who abuse, assault or try to intimidate people they see as “threats” to their child’s athletic success really turn youth sports programs on their collective heads. But it is also true that people who deride or fear competition are as over the top as the other extreme.

I have been a youth coach since the mid-1970s and I can say without regret or shame that I have always coached to win. Athletic excellence was and will always be my ultimate goal for any kid thatI may coach or instruct. Having said that, however, I do not equate excellence with success.

Anyone can develop athletic excellence, but athletic success depends on factors athletes may or may not control. Usually excellence translates to success but it doesn’t have to.

I can remember the early 1980s and the girls high school basketball teams in Webb City, Mo., and McDonald County, Mo. For three years, those two teams were considered the top two teams in the state and for a fact, both teams had a level of excellence that I have not seen since. However, both teams inhabited the same conference/district. Over those three years, McDonald County defeated Webb City nearly every time they met, the only losses Webb City ever had.

Unlike Arkansas, only one team in Missouri districts advances on to regional and state competition. So while Webb City was probably the second best team in the whole state for three years, they never won a district or conference championship and never got to play for a regional or state championship. Even though they were excellent with a capital “E,” they were not successful in terms of honors won.

Off and on over the past 34 years, I have coachedyouth athletics in a variety of sports, but mostly basketball and track. My first goal for athletes that play basketball is to get their physical condition to a point that fatigue is never an issue while competing. My second goal would be to impart basic skills crucial to excellence, like proper dribbling, effective passing, correct shooting and above all, team defense. While no less important, my third goal was to induce the athletes to pursue excellence in all things connected with the sport, with sportsmanship no less important than any other consideration.

Everybody has their strong points and their weak ones.

Competition will usually make the aforementioned attributes discernible to both coach and athlete, which is where the value of competing lies. Discoveringweaknesses and working to make them strengths. Not in an atmosphere of fear or intimidation, of course, but in a situation that is both supportive and protective.

An effective and worthwhile sporting program as it relates to youth athletes ought to cover four areas.

First of all, participants in a sport need to learn the technical things that help bring about excellence. For instance, since running ability is mightily important when it comes to excellence and success, athletes need to know how best to mechanically move their body from point “A” to point “B.” They would also need to know how to better compete tactically.

In basketball, that would involve knowing where they should be or go when they don’t have the ball.

Coaches who do not address the physical state of their athletes will have a hard time achieving excellence.

Coaches who are not attuned to the psychological aspects of athletic competition may find success erratic or elusive at best.

All parents should take an active role in their kids activities. When your child comes home from a game, don’t just say “Did you win?” Ask him/her how they played.

Ask them if they had fun and no matter if they won or lost,ask him/her what they plan to work on so next time they could be better.

So sure, play to win. Coach to win. Realize that winning doesn’t always come but seeking it will make a person the better for it.

◊◊◊

Editor’s note: John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports, Pages 7 on 04/27/2011