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It's Not Whether You Win or Lose...

May 08, 2009

by Richard Pound, consultant and author of Packaging Academics with Athletics

I feel like Rip Van Winkle! You remember him, the old man who settles down under a shade tree and falls into a deep sleep only to awaken 20 years later to return to a village he no longer recalls. Did I fall asleep back in 1985 and wake up to discover the concept of youth sports and the philosophy of our young people changed beyond all comprehension?

In the mid-1980s when I was being recruited in football and lacrosse out of the Watertown, NY area, no one had ever heard of college recruiting services. The idea of a “dedicated travel team” for every sport was equally unknown. And the high-pressure recruiting tactics to get talented student-athletes to commit before he ever visited the school were way out of bounds.

I’ve spent the last two decades educating students to have balance in their lives and to develop a well-rounded character. And yet, I am faced with the reality that our society has lost its perspective on why we participate in youth and high school athletics in the first place. Aren’t we supposed to have fun? Don’t we enjoy the idea of working as a team to accomplish a shared goal? Aren’t there lessons to be learned in the art of competing well regardless of wins and losses?

Maybe it’s my old-fashioned upbringing or my passion for seeing student-athletes grow and develop in their sport. But it seems that our society is fast losing its grasp on why children are playing sports in the first place. I understand the allure of the supremely gifted athlete who converts his skills into fame and fortune. The majority of us, folks, are not nearly as gifted.

The NCAA's Role in Recruiting

The NCAA is the governing body of collegiate athletics in the United States, and represents the institution in which we place our trust to set the standard for balancing academics and athletics. Still, even the NCAA appears to contradict itself.

A January 16, 2009 AP article, “Got game in 7th grade? NCAA says you’re a prospect”, describes an NCAA ruling giving in to the youth movement in college basketball recruiting. The NCAA has changed the definition of a “prospect” from 9th grade to 7th grade—for men's basketball only—to nip a trend in which some college coaches were working at private, elite camps and clinics for seventh- and eighth-graders. One member of the committee was quoted as saying, "The fact that we've got to this point is really just a sign of the times."
Let me tell you: when I was little, the adults in my life used to change my behavior and never once did they let it slide because it was a sign of the times!

Mr. Joe D'Antonio, Chairman of the 31-member NCAA Division I Legislative Council, had his philosophy right when he stated, “It's a little scary only because where does it stop?" Well Mr. D’Antonio, I will tell you, the late great sports commentator Jim McKay once stated, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition! This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!”

Such a simple statement embodies so much of the philosophy we need to get back to.

Only Four Years, No Sure Things

I regularly remind high school kids and their families: you have only four years to create memories for the rest of your life; what do you want them to be?” I was blessed to play three sports in high school and two in college. I have no idea what our W-L records were, but I can vividly tell you about the relationships I developed with people and the select memories of games won and games lost.

It saddened me to hear what transpired to one of my favorite young athletes while I was talking with his parent the other day. Paul played on the AAA Travel Hockey program in a local community and his experience has left him discouraged to say the least. In the high stakes world of 12 year old travel hockey, Paul and other young men like him are losing the passion for the sport they love because the game itself is no longer fun. Overzealous parents and coaches feel that it is based on the win and not so much on the struggle and hard work to get the win. This is where we lose site of the importance of youth sports.

Check out the April 2009 edition of Lacrosse Magazine, and an article whose headline read: “Be True to Your School?” The article centered on the dilemma faced by some student-athletes of abandoning your high school team in favor of the visibility that comes with playing for a “select” travel team.

The part that bothered me most was not the words used, but the punctuation at the end of the statement—a question mark—as though demonstrating loyalty to one’s school was being called into question and had somehow lost its appeal.

You have only four years to create memories for the rest of your life. If you're playing sports to get the benefit of athletic competition and to have fun, what better way than to compete for your high school with the friends you have grown up with your whole life?

If you are looking for a shortcut to get that golden opportunity of the “DI” scholarship, then I have a bridge to sell you! Remember, there are no shortcuts in your quest to achieve your goals, no miracle remedies, and certainly no sure things. The only things you can control as an athlete are your attitude, work ethic, knowledge of your sport, and a sound understanding of what goals you hope to achieve through athletic competition.

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It's Not Whether You Win or Lose...

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