In true competition, there are no losers
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
The word competition often draws to mind hard-nosed athletes and coaches who will do anything to win. We imagine the tough business executive who will eliminate all adversaries to make the greatest profit.
But in fact, the win-at-all-costs attitude brings only short-term success. In order to win in the long run, one needs a much healthier perspective. Great athletes and leaders have shown us time and again that success often has little to do with the numbers on a scoreboard.
A memorable example happened during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner was on her way to a gold medal in the team sprint when her ski pole broke. Without it, her team had no chance of winning. Seeing this, Norwegian coach Bjornar Haakensmoen gave Renner a new pole and she and Beckie Scott were able to finish the race with a silver medal.
The Norwegian team came in fourth. In other words, had Haakensmoen not given Renner a pole, his team would have won an Olympic medal. When asked about this later, Haakensmoen stated:
“Our policy in Norway is we should give poles or skis to everyone. We talked about it at our team meeting the night before. We are a country which believes in fair play. I like to be somebody of fair sportsmanship.”
Though the Norwegians lost this race, it’s clear they were true winners. The incident was one of the highlights of the 2006 Olympics.
In order to make sense of this, we need to look at the root of the word ‘competition.’ It doesn’t mean to win. It comes from the Latin word ‘competere,’ to strive after something together. The Norwegian coach understood this. He knew that a bronze medal would mean nothing if his team had not earned it. The Canadians clearly deserved to complete the race ahead of them; on this day they were better. At the same time, when every athlete in an Olympic race is competing at their highest level, often achieving personal-best scores, is it really even possible to call anyone a loser?
All coaches and athletes know the value of competing in order to become your very best. You can do drill after drill, but it means nothing until it’s used in a competitive setting. After a game is played, good coaches talk to their players about what went well and what didn’t, and they come up with a practice plan to get ready for the next competition. Without the challenge, we can’t improve.
A good coach also knows the value of a loss. In fact, it’s much more difficult to be your best and stay focused on constant improvement if you’re always winning. In true competition there are no losers, only constant improvement.
Examples of this can be seen in all aspects of life. During the Cold War, there was intense competition in the automobile industry in West Germany, while in East Germany there was only one car maker. As a result, while Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen produced technologically-advanced, world-class automobiles, all the East Germans could come up with was a slow, polluting, unreliable, plastic (the body really was made of hard plastic) car called the Trabant.
Needless to say, production of the Trabant stopped shortly after German reunification, while the West German auto producers continue to advance on the global market.
Life is a beautiful and exciting thing when we seek constant improvement. We’re all meant to develop our own talents, and we’re better able to achieve unimaginable heights when we don’t strive to win, but to truly compete with our sisters and brothers.
Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. He is a teacher and Troy Media columnist. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com
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Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
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Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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