Maybe the first question becomes “Do amateur sports have a purpose?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The numbers fluctuate but there are AROUND 1 million high school football players each year in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 7.8% of those high school football players will play in college (at any level).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than 0.5% of those college players will make an NFL roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For baseball the percentages are even worse – 1 in 200 high school players will get drafted to play “professional baseball” (around 0.05% – yes, that means “minor leagues”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 1% of high school basketball players will play Division I college basketball. Out of every 10,000 High School basketball players 2 or 3 will play in the NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point being that if “getting a scholarship” or “going pro” is the “purpose” of playing amateur sports – then a large number of athletes are chasing a fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BUT are those “ordinary players” wasting their time playing a sport? Oh, and what about those sports where “going pro” isn’t an option?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the U.S. “organized amateur sports” tend to be associated with secondary education\/”high schools.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “why” sports are associated with high schools has a lot to do with “organization” by proximity. After the Civil War “disorganized” sports began popping up. Those early ‘amateur athletics’ weren’t much more that ‘pickup games’ with the teams representing “communities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “point” of those games was simply friendly competition and entertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does “competition” have a purpose? Well, the short answer is “yes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.<\/p>Proverbs 27:17<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n BUT there are “healthy” and “unhealthy” variants of “competition.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of ANY competition is NOT just to “win” but to “win within the rules.” HEALTHY competition will make everyone involved “better” – in that Proverbs 27:17 way. To be clear, there is a BIG difference between “competing hard” and “winning at any cost.” Wanting to win isn’t wrong, but being so obsessed with winning that you are willing to “cheat” is missing the point of the competition. The players will change but the sport and\/or team will continue. Which means in the grand scheme of things victory is never “total” and defeat is never “final.” In the middle of the 20th Century the post WW2 baby boom and economic prosperity helped create a new demographic called “teenagers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, there have always been 13 to 19 year olds – but in the 1950s they got disposable income and cars. Along with rock & roll music came “organized high school sports.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n In general terms the core motivation of ‘administrators’ organizing those high school sports was (and still is) the welfare of the “student athlete.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Establishing “rules” for sports, certifying “officials” to enforce those rules, and then providing a structure for HEALTHY competition required “organization.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n i.e. the students were going to compete, “organizing” the competition helped keep that competition healthy. To keep competition “fair” things like “divisions” and “age restrictions” were also required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fast forward 70+ years and “scholastic sports” is a massive industry. However, the PURPOSE of that industry is still healthy (fair) competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The joy of competition comes from preparing and then competing. Having a competition goal, putting in the time and effort to prepare for that competition, and then competing teaches a long list of positives. Winning a close contest against an opponent of equal ability is satisfying BUT losing a close contest to “honorable opponent” is NOT dissatisfying (disappointing? yes – but the “joy” comes from preparing and competing hard – “winning” is a byproduct of the process) Respecting and liking an opponent just makes beating them more fun. If the opponent is inept or “out of their league,” then beating them isn’t particularly satisfying …<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve thrown that term “fair” out there several times – what does it mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, “fair competition” is between “peers”\/equals. This is obviously why there are “weight classes” and “age divisions” in sports like boxing and wrestling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, the point of “competition” is to push each other to higher levels NOT just “winning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n An athlete that intentionally goes in search of “less skilled” opponents for easy victories will never be forced to “push themselves.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n One more time – no human beings “purpose” is “beating up on lower skilled opponents.” The “athlete” that INTENTIONALLY seeks out a lower level of competition has once again missed the point or lost their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am always quick to point out that the most valuable thing I learned from “amateur sports” was that “success” is a process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting a goal, coming up with a plan to achieve that goal, and then following through on the plan are “transferable” life skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course OTHER folks doing the same thing will mean that sometimes you get knocked on your duff – however you get the chance to get back up or you can stay “knocked down.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard himself as being.”\u00a0<\/p>Theodore Roosevelt<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Healthy competition in TEAM sports provides obvious life lessons – with positive socialization, and working together towards a common goal immediately coming to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BUT remember UNHEALTHY competition involves trying to “win at any cost” and disrespecting the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Winning by cheating” is by definition self-destructive. Unethical competition might work in the “short term” but “being a jerk” will catch up with them eventually …<\/p>\n\n\n\n I understand there are “well intended” folks that push various flavors of “non competitive” sports. If the goal of the “event” is “socialization” and\/or “exercise” then running around on a field for 40 minutes might be useful. I’m not a big fan of “organized youth sports” (whatever age that may be). Organization will always imply competition of some kind. If the lesson learned is “I win by doing nothing but showing up” then “they” are creating self-esteem sinkholes not healthy individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But of course “youth sports” can be a good or a bad experience for the “youths” BUT the “youths” should be the focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n random thought: From an “athletic standpoint” – the “future professional athlete” is probably exceptional at every level they participate. However that doesn’t mean that they are exceptional BECAUSE they started playing “sport ball” before they could walk …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sports was\/is the original “reality” television – amateur sports have a larger purpose only to the point that the teach a work-ethic and social skills. Participating (or NOT participating) in “sport” will never impact the “value” of an individual as a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opportunity to compete against peers is “positive” on a grand scale. While claiming that “unfair competition” must be allowed so that “fraction of society” can feel “good” about themselves is counter-productive on a grand scale ….<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe the first question becomes “Do amateur sports have a purpose?” The numbers fluctuate but there are AROUND 1 million high school football players each year in the United States. Around 7.8% of those high school football players will play in college (at any level). Less than 0.5% of those college players will make an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=823"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
UNHEALTHY competition is the “law of the jungle” or “winning at any cost.” This isn’t just “cheating” but also potentially trying to harm the opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An individual’s “self worth” should NEVER come from winning an athletic contest. The individual has inherent worth because they are a human being NOT because they are good at “sport ball.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Losing a “sport ball” contest does NOT diminish a human beings worth. Winning does not excuse bad behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTeenagers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile dominating an outclassed opponent is about as satisfying as taking out the garbage. Something was accomplished, but there isn’t a great deal of “joy” involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFair?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lessons learned from competition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There is no reason to keep score at such events OR give EVERYONE a trophy at the end of the year. Non-competition means “no winners” NOT “everyone is a winner.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nANYWAY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n