winning v. competitive excellence

When does winning really make a difference? We can point to business, or politics.  In school, when competing for grades and college admissions. Elite level athletes focus on winning, since that's what they get paid to help their teams do. Notice that most of these things are high-teen/adult endeavors, and those skills are cultivated through development as youths (13-under). Additionally, at this point, winning is the expectation, since requisite skills have been developed, as has a winning psyche. The question is, however: can we hold these expectations for youth athletes? I certainly do not, nor do I think anyone who is involved with youth athletics should.

Consider for a moment your experience in school. When you were studying math, did you multiply before you could add? Did you do fractions before you worked with whole numbers?  Of course not, that's ludicrous...but why? Most of you will probably say, "well you need to know how to do addition before you can multiply!" Yes, exactly. How can we expect young people:

• who do not have the fundamentals mastered, to pass their tests?

• who are not confident in their abilities to perform, to be able to work independently and learn from their mistakes?

• who are from different backgrounds to work together to solve a complex problem at varying, low, skill levels?

Now, that's a very loaded set of choices and a very loaded question. Now, consider this - substitute youth sports in for school, basketball in for math, etc. Are you getting the point? If we don't expect our kids to master material the very first time they see it in school, how can we expect them to WIN if they have no fundamental skills?  That's like expecting a kid to ace every single math test without having a strong understanding of the material. Probably not going to happen. 

Kids have a strong disposition to want to please, and to want to learn. We as coaches, parents, administrators, and supporters, have a responsibility to teach competitive excellence as a substitute to a "win-at-all-costs" mentality. We are responsible for developing people first, because believe it or not, one day the kids we coach/parent/support will be impacting society with their choices and how they react to situations.  If all we've ever done is teach them what winning is and that it is of utmost importance, but not HOW to compete to win, we have failed them.

If an opponent (read: adversity/obstacle) is bigger, faster, and stronger, players will sink to the level of their training and being resourceful enough to face that challenge head on. When a young person is 10, putting in a zone defense for them because they can't compete man to man is not helpful. It hinders their ability to learn competition and perseverance. They'll get their head beat in 10 times, and that's OKAY. But, on that 11th time, they'll realize they really do need to take a deeper angle and work their butts off, and that by being one step ahead they can negate their opponent's advantage. 

"Failure" is a relative term - I don't consider it failure if one of my young kids gets beat off the dribble, or can't multiply because they've never been held to high standards of personal improvement and accountability. I consider it a learning experience, and by teaching the skill and creating an environment where they are active in their own learning process (just like in school), kids will respond and that training level will go up.  Only when those students have those requisite skills can competitive excellence be the ultimate expectation. And when students/athletes are held/hold themselves to that high standard, winning can follow.  BUT, winning must NOT be the focus for young student athletes - it robs them of their developmental phase as players and people.

Learning to persevere, to show grit, and to keep a positive, upbeat attitude throughout competition is truly what winning is about. If we can show our young people how to compete with class, work tirelessly on their fundamentals, and believe in themselves, we can create a new generation of winners. Toughness is not developed by winning every single game or challenge. Toughness is developed by enduring failure with enthusiasm knowing that the struggle, while real, is the pathway to ultimate success.

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#StayEssential

Aseem