Winning - It Is More Than Trophies and Medals

Everyone likes to win and in youth sports there is a tremendous amount of pressure to win from parents, coaches, and the kids themselves. One thing I have learned in more than 20 years of coaching young athletes is that some of the biggest victories in a given competition are not recognized on the award stand.

As parents, coaches and educators we need to teach kids how to identify and be proud of those lesser noticed victories. By doing so, we will teach them some very good life skills, too.

Winning occurs when you:

• Reach a personal goal during a competition - like sticking a beam routine, scoring a single goal, reducing your time in the sprints, or mastering a new skill.
• Help your team. A gymnast who performs first and successfully completes her routine is helping her team tremendously by instilling confidence in her teammates. Defending the puck, guarding the ball, or breaking up a key play are other ways kids win, yet go unnoticed.
• Overcoming a unique circumstance. Whether it is battling back from an injury, competing in less than perfect circumstances or overcoming a fear, the victory is the same!

By not winning kids also learn!! Really.

• When kids are not recognized on the award stand they learn that not everyone will be a winner (in the traditional sense) - it just isn’t possible, nor is it preferable. Not everyone can be the star at everything they do!!
• They learn from their mistakes. Athletes learn to go back to training and keep working to make corrections, fine tune, and then go back out and try again. Important life lessons, I tell you.
• When kids don’t win they learn to go back and reevaluate their goals and develop a new plan of action.
• They learn that hard work pays off! Nothing really worth doing comes that easy.

Next time your child loses a game, doesn’t make it to the finals, or misses out on the awards stand, remind them of the hidden victories in their performance. After all, the little victories don’t collect dust like trophies do!