I have watched my two oldest boys grow up in the touchy feely world of youth sports where everyone gets a trophy and everyone gets equal playing time. This is great for very young athletes in recreational leagues and I have no problem with it. However, at some point the mentality of kids has to change. I have watched my 14 year old son and his classmates grow up in and progress through this modern day world of youth sports. By the time they got to around the 4th grade, and began competing in competitive travel basketball leagues, the equal playing time and it's ok to lose as long as everyone has fun mentality was actually a detriment. These kids had a difficult time transitioning from this mentality to one of a competitive, winning nature. If they won it was great. If they lost it was ok. But they were playing against kids that wanted to beat them in every aspect of the game. Their opponents wanted to win and they were willing to do whatever was necessary on the basketball court to make that happen. It was a rude awakening.
In the game of basketball, the team that is the aggressor and the team plays harder, especially during the grade school years, is usually the team that wins regardless of talent. We had talented kids, but the will to compete and to win had not yet been instilled. On a similar note, we had great kids with great parents. Their parents had done a wonderful job of teaching each and everyone of them to "play nice". However, this was a problem on the basketball court. The kids were too nice. This issue was made worse by the fact that our kids were from a small school where there was not alot of competition for spots on the team. They didn't have to compete for a spot and they could be nice on and off the court because they were all friends. This was clearly a disadvantage when our kids started competing against kids from bigger schools.
Thus began the process of trying to teach these kids one of the most difficult mental concepts in sports. They had to learn how to switch their mentality, from playing nice to being a competitor. They first had to learn the difference between playing nice and being a good sport, which is a subject for an entire blog in itself. There is no room to play nice in the world of competitive basketball, however being a good sport is always possible and expected. The game is rough and physical and not for the timid. A player has to be tough, both mentally and physically. The game brings out the best of the competitive nature in each player as long as they are willing to compete. The manner in which games are officiated in today's game makes it absolutely necessary to be tough, to compete and to scrap and claw on every possession. In other words, what I call "not playing nice". It is not advisable to be nice on the court or to take plays off. Some of the kids caught on right away and were able to make the switch. Others are still trying, and continue to struggle with this concept over five years later.
Being competitive and wanting to win is a difficult concept to understand and accept when you have been raised to play nice. However, it is a concept that must be accepted if a young athlete hopes to compete in the rough and tumble world of competitive basketball when there are so many players out there. Kids have to realize that it is ok to "not play nice" during the game, and switch back to being nice after the game. And I am certain that their parents will understand and accept this fact as they grow older and continue their playing career.
No comments:
Post a Comment