Pressure to Succeed Mentality in American Sports Essay

Coming off the last pro where there are a lot of hard-working children. These kids could end up just wanting to find this level of success again and strive to reach it again. Winning something could easily cause a child to want to be in this situation once again. The feeling of achievement can be contagious to these kids everyday lives and can lead to major success for them in their

In his autobiography Life Lessons from Little League, Vincent Fortanasce says “Winning is never final, and losing is never fatal.” At the end of a game, one team will win and the other will lose. Failure to accept this concept has become detrimental to American youth sports organizations. Our society has become infatuated with winning, and all of the additional perks associated with it. What is considered the “best” for children as young as five years old has grown to an unrealistic extent. Parents want their children to be in a reputable organization, young athletes want to play with highly skilled teammates, and coaches want to recruit talented players all in hopes of being the absolute “best”. The amount of young athletes, ranging from five to fourteen years old, participating in local sports organizations has declined within the last two decades due to the highly competitive and unhealthy environments they are being exposed to.Taking pride in your local community has decreased form an athletic point of view. Representing the place I grew up in was a motivating factor when I put my uniform on for every single softball game I played in high school. I had the privilege to play on the field next to girls I had grown to love the sport with ever since our tee ball days. Today, young athletes are branching out from their homegrown roots to play for club teams who recruit players from a larger region. The popularity of traveling teams has substantially diluted the

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky argues that younger children should not be involved in overly competitive sports. Statsky wrote that organized competitive sports were to the disadvantage of children both physically and psychologically. In youth athletics, some parents and coaches put their own dreams in front of their children 's’ well-being by stressing winning. Statsky concludes “all organized sports activities” to be remade as a more enjoyable game regardless of each athlete’s ability and athleticism. The author states many issues that kids have when they are forced to play a sport just to win or that they don’t enjoy. Some kids just don 't enjoy sports, but their parents force it on them. Certain organized sports programs promote winning over physical skills and self-esteem. Statsky brings up valid points that early childhood shouldn’t involve intense physical competition, which is associated with the risk of injury to the body and mind.

In his new book Until it Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How it Harms Our Kids, author Mark Hyman shows how parents have turned youth sports into a high stakes game of poker at the expense of their children. Hyman’s explores the history of youth sports in our country and how it has evolved from a fun past time to much more intense sport with heavy participation of parents. This book not only takes a look into youth sports today it will expose a lot of the negativity surrounding it. Hyman does not just point the finger at other parents but offers his own account of

Sports can be viewed as a learning environment that helps individuals learn life lessons, foster strong work habits and develop core values all the while learning a sport skill. Youth sports that truly benefit young athletes should be structured to emphasize participation more than just competition. Children enjoy a sport more when they are able to have fun (Humpries). Despite many excesses some sport programs still manage to promote important virtues like self- confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility, coping skills, and persistence. Through sports kids can learn to stay organized and learn how to prioritize (Ferguson). Sports enables development of physical skills and increasing proficiency makes kids feel good about themselves. It teaches kids that failure is something to overcome and and not to fear (Meyerhoff 8-9). Youth sports has many aspects that are truly benefiting for children, but these benefits are slowly being clouded by the negatives that are prominent in today's youth sports.

Expectation is everything. I don’t believe that a person should go into something expecting to win or lose. The end is so important to me because it is the conclusion to something. Winning is great, it boosts confidence and brings so much joy. At the same time

In conclusion, winning is always a great way to end a competition but it isn’t the only option. By accepting and expecting defeat a person will learn to have self confidence. In which teaches them to never abandon hope. Hanging on to hope allows people to not be ashamed of losing. Without shame or embarrassment everyone is truly enjoying the time spent with his/her

Most people that win a game will have an emotional reaction to it. It is pure joy, a feeling close to something like being unstoppable. These are the moments where the only thing that matters is the win. Any other thought is pushed out of your mind. There are only roughly two percent of students in high school that even get a scholarship to play their sport in college. That makes this a privilege

As a matter of fact, one of my greatest baseball successes is winning an all-star tournament with my baseball team and fellow baseball players. Winning is really a better feeling than losing to me, I don't know about anybody else that plays baseball, but a win is a win to me. Winning will make anyone feel like they are sitting on top of the world, even if they are in the

No one really likes to feel defeated and it is in those times that we may think we want a participation award. Some think that the award will take away the sting. Unfortunately, it is through feeling that sting that we truly understand the sweet feeling of winning. It is only with feeling the exact opposite that we can learn and appreciate what a win is really like. Likewise, it is only when we understand losing that we can feel compassion for those that do not win. An attribute that can also come about is learning to be a good sport in times that we fail to

On the other hand sometimes coaches give their athletes awards to build up their self-confidence . In the article, " Pro's and Con's", Travis Armideo explains that , " Youth athletes say it is very easy to lose interest in a sport if they're not winning , which is why many leagues don't even keep score at young levels." This is why some coaches will give there player's participation trophies , so that they will be inspired to try even harder next time they play.

On the day of August 8, 2000, in the town of Middlesex, Missouri, a father was charged with beating up another dad to death in an argument over their sons’ youth hockey game. The next month his son pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for giving a rival player a paralyzing injury. A famous saying is that this apple did not fall too far from its tree. For example, an adult involved in youth sports (either as a parent or coach), already know that children today are a lot more involved in sports than they were when they were a kid. As a child athlete, their mind is set on one and one thing only, going professional. On the other hand, do the kids think of the cuts or bruises, the screaming of the coaches or even the pressure of their parents?

Unfortunately, involvement in youth sports has not had the effect most parents are expecting. Instead author Carey informs the reader with disturbing statistics. He asserts 84% of parents surveyed in an issue of SportingKid magazine have witnessed ‘violent parental behavior’ toward children, coaches or official at kids’ sporting events, 80% said they had been victims of such behavior. Violence makes headlines too, as Docheff and Conn speak about a father of a 10 year old ice hockey player ‘confronts’ a coach, engages in ‘some verbal sparring’ until asked to leave. Then ‘the stressed father returns to the rink, challenges the coach again, and begins beating him while young athletes yell helplessly for the crazed parent to stop. It's too late. Two days later, a spokesperson for the hospital announces that the coach has died (par 1).’

Development skills should be more important than winning. The development skills that I gained allowed me to play at a higher level than what I was at. As I progress in my sports in the near future, I will always think about process rather than about the outcome.

Think about it, if a person wins every time he/she compete in something, then the feeling of winning is neutral to them. On the other hand, if someone loses over and over again when they finally get that win, it is one of the greatest feelings in the world. They hold on to it, cling to it with everything they have, and they work twice as hard to get it back. Winning all the time does not push a person as hard to succeed, they do not try as hard, and they give up too easily.