“Play hard or go home.”

teach them young

When your child is young, it is very important to teach them about winning and losing. Only problem is that in today’s society they are taught we are all winners. And this is just not so. You have to work hard to become a winner and work even harder to stay a winner. But once that changes we fail them. Sports is a great life lesson at an early age. You learn about not just winning and losing; you learn compromise, team efforts, competition, and how to deal with not being chosen. Tough for a child to comprehend, but it’s best they learn sooner than later.

everyone gets a trophy

Playing and winning a championship trophy is supposed to mean something. But when you are given something for just competing and that’s it, you could be setting a dangerous precedent. A trophy means you accomplished something. You were able to take on the best and defeat the best. It’s supposed to build confidence. But what is the purpose in handing them out if we all get one. Sure, there are going to be kids not as good as others. Here is where you find out what you’re good at in life. This is where you teach kids to realize their strengths and weaknesses. Not give them a false sense of confidence with ribbons that are 10th and 11th place.

there is no i in lost

Understand that you lost, but it was a team effort. There is no single person responsible for the lose. That is something to communicate to children as parents. We make them feel like they were out there alone. And the reality is, they are not. Even in a singular sport like track and field. There is a point system that even your single event contributes to overall. With that team support system they are able to also take that lose with grace.

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