Competition can help you learn, grow, and become a better person. It’s not just about competing in sports, either. It’s why they call it “the game of life.”
Competition is all around us. It just doesn’t happen in sports.
If you’re coaching youth, I’ve found that most parents want you to make sports fun. But there’s a small group of parents who want their sons or daughters to beat the other team–and win no matter what.
The challenge for youth coaches is to balance things out. But that balance shifts when you coach at the middle school level or higher. It’s about having a winning program.
For kids, it’s about whether they’ll continue playing sports competitively. If a player (and family) have sights set on a college scholarship, then getting on the varsity–and earning a starting position–becomes critical. It boils down to being able to compete successfully with other youth for a reward that’s in limited supply.
Courtesy: VA4Business.com
That’s the very same competition they’ll face later in life–competing for that job, that contract, that promotion….
So the great thing about competing on the field, the court, or any other place sports are played, is that you have to embrace the challenge. Doing that successfully means working hard, trying hard, and being a good team player.
You’ll also learn how to how to deal constructively with failure. All athletes–but not all people–know how to move on after they’ve experienced disappointment. That’s because athletics have experienced success and disappointment. They’ve won big games and lost heartbreakers.
Competing helps you learn, grow, and become a better person. And it’s not a matter of just competing in sports, either. It’s why they call it “the game of life.”
