Now more than ever, coaches of young athletes are not keeping score in elementary school recreational sporting events.
The reason behind this trend in athletics is no child leaves with a broken spirit. Supporters of this concept believe that children should not be told if the result of their game is a win or loss in order to spare feelings and keep every child wanting to play the game. The logic behind this is pretty clear — if you never lose a game it is hard not to love every minute of it. However, this can create problems for today’s youth.
As kids, most of us learned what it was like to lose. It is easy to remember what it was like to stand in a huddle after the game, listening to your coach give a disappointed talk to your team standing in a big circle waiting to get your name brought up for a missed goal or dropped ball. Even sitting in the dead silent car going home wondering how much your coach would make you run and train to make up for the loss.
This may seem like a harsh reality in childhood athletics but it is the moment most young athletes learn to thrive in their favorite sport.
Young athletes today have no motivation to get better without knowing the score in a big game or getting a motivating talk from the coach. Not having the tough-love or harsh motivation ultimately ends up only harming these children.
Learning how to lose is not only essential in the world of athletics but in other facets of life as well.
Learning at a young age that some things don’t always result in a positive outcome prepares people for real life situations. For example, someone who is more than qualified will not receive a job offer following every interview they have.
Athletics are meant to instill life values into the young minds of those taking the field. Without the key aspects of competition as well as the understanding of what it means to win and lose, children will not learn as much from playing for a team as prior generations have.
Marisa Lloyd can be reached at [email protected]