Are We Losing Touch?

When I was a kid, I played football. Down in Corpus Christi, Texas in the south side youth league. Now, when I say I "played" football, there were plenty of days when it was anything but that. It was flat out work. The coaches hustled us up and down the practice field and frankly ran our little 10 year old butts into the dirt. Youth football was serious business back then. You should have seen the stadiums. Big bleachers (always full), lighted score boards, live announcers, cheerleaders, the whole nine yards!
I want to focus on the score board today. Back then, we knew the score. Someone won and someone lost. Winners and losers. We earned bragging rights at school from the previous nights win. We experienced the thrill of winning as well as the heartbreak of losing. I remember the clock ticking down on the final game of my youth football career. That night we lost the opportunity of advancing to the play-offs. I remember standing on the field and watching the final seconds run off the clock and the score. Aggies 14, Eagles 21.
There has been a trend for many years now in youth sports to eliminate score keeping. No winners, no losers. Just contestants. Everybody gets congratulated for playing and pats on the back all around. Its nice enough. All kids get to feel good about playing the game, and they should. Sportsmanship is truly a valuable quality and should be taught at every level. Still, the concept of "no winner" really takes something away from the game.
How do kids set goals or aspire towards a higher accomplishment if there is no winner? What do they work for all week at practice? What do they dream about at night? Being a good sport? I think this creates more problems than it solves. In fact, I believe it has created a whole generation of kids that think everything they do is a big deal. They have been praised from an early age for simply stepping on the field. Nevermind their dedication to the game or preparation or hard work. If they tried, they got a trophy.
Look, sports at the youth level is not important because we need more professional athletes. I have said it a million times and I will say it again. The world does not need another linebacker. It needs strong men and women that can run our communities and contribute to a better society. So if we teach kids that the truly important thing is that they signed up to play, how will we prepare them for the rough times in life? They want praise and reward for doing everyday, simple tasks. "Hey, I woke up today. Hey, I took a bath today. Hey, I didn't lie today. Hey, I showed up for work today. Somebody give me a cookie". That is the chorus of many of today's young adults. They never had to learn the concept of working hard to WIN. Now they are behind the curve because they cant understand why nobody is impressed.
Let's not lose touch folks. There needs to be winners in this world. The truth is that not everybody is a winner. We teach our kids not to look down on others and that is truly the right thing to do. However, its OK for a kid to feel good about him or herself because they performed better than someone else. Its healthy to tell a kid that they are the fastest, strongest, smartest, or whatever applies to the situation. It helps them with perspective and motivation and the concept of reward. Let's not belittle our kids but lets set high expectations and help them along the way. Then reward them when they truly accomplish something big.
Gosh darn it. Let's bring back the scoreboards!