How Important Is Winning?
The answer to this question depends upon who is answering. For the young athletes themselves, the answer obviously is, “Not very.” When a national sample of youth, aged 10 to 18 years, were asked why they took part in sports, “to win” was not among the top ten reasons for girls and was only seventh on the list for boys. Moreover , when these same young people were asked what they would change about sports, “less emphasis on winning” made the top ten on the list for both genders. Attitudes about the importance of winning change with the athletes’ ages. Younger athletes are more interested in the “fairness” of their games, while older athletes become more interested in winning. But even then, many young athletes say that they would rather play on a losing team than “sit on the bench” on a winning team.
However, if coaches and parents were asked how important winning is to their child’s success in sports, many of them clearly would answer: “VERY!” Even when program directors refuse to keep game scores or won-lost records, the other coaches and parents know exactly what the results are. For them, winning in youth games is important, and so quickly it develops that “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing,” as football coach Vince Lombardi has observed.