Dialogue: School sport has much to offer apart from winning

NICK McMASTER* says that if we could possibly see beyond winning as the main benefit of a sporting experience, the nature of modern sport could conceivably change.

Organised sport in schools and society has been a prominent topic of public discussion in recent months. There are concerns about parents' involvement, the intensity of competition, recruitment, attrition, the values conveyed, the behaviour of supporters and players, the focus on winning and the kudos associated with coming first.

There is also interest in the role schools and school sports play in encouraging personal values and individual growth.

At the same time the Hillary Commission is reviewing the nature of sport in New Zealand, and Netball New Zealand has controversially advised teams not to focus on results in junior grades.

The time has come to give more consideration to the purpose and place of school sport in our society.

From a young adult's perspective, participation in sport can offer the chance to compete and grow personally by facing a physical and mental challenge. It provides excitement, camaraderie, a chance to impress the opposite sex, improve skills, satisfy curiosity or simply to travel away and have fun.

Being first, heading the league, having the best defensive record or taking home a winner's medal are not considered to be strong motivational forces in the first instance. Few, if any, teenagers join a sports team to carry the expectations of schools and their supporters.

For most, breaking records, being the best or extending a winning sequence are consequences of participation, not reasons for participation. Usually such expectations and hopes are set by others vicariously involved in a contest.

Serious sports competitors understand that final results are not ultimately within the sphere of control of a team or individual, because it is not possible to control the ability of the opposition or a host of other factors that may influence a contest's outcome.

Therefore, to attach undue significance to the final results of youth competition may be detrimental. After all, school students are not paid professionals focused exclusively on results.

Paradoxically, a young person's own definition of success or personal intrinsic reward may have little in common with the significance given by others, including the media, to winning.

It would be worth considering how many teenagers would participate if the sole reward for competing was first place. Given the relatively small chance of achieving first for most participants in school sports, it would be justifiable for them to turn their attention to other activities, especially if the consequences of defeat are believed to include losing face or diminishing the reputation of a school.

None of that is to suggest that today's young competitors are uninterested in competing, results and winning. Far from it. Like their predecessors, they are intensely interested in giving their best on the day and enjoying the experience as well as the excitement of victory. In an increasingly results-oriented, competitive society the degree of specialisation, dedication and effort required is greater than it has ever been.

What teenagers tend to dislike, however, is excessive post-match analysis, the importance others attach to the final outcome, the feeling of unease that comes with not meeting adult expectations, the pressure to win next time and the derogatory labels that are often attached to those who finish at least one step behind the winner.

One suspects that the main reason for much of today's debate stems from the belief that winning is the sole measure of success in all levels of sport. If we could possibly see beyond winning as the main benefit of a sporting experience, the nature of modern sport could conceivably change.

It might just be that crowd behaviour would improve, referees would be regarded as the unquestionable judges of right and wrong, supporters would stay on the sidelines, illegal tactics would not be employed, team reserves would get equal playing time, pharmaceutical performance-enhancers and food supplement would remain on shop shelves and participants might just find the whole sporting experience in this utopia more enjoyable.

Winning in fact should be seen for what it is - coming first on a certain day in a particular contest. Apart from providing the excitement of the moment, winning does not in itself imply excellence, success, better character or superiority. Nor does it imply a greater level of sportsmanship, fair play, enjoyment, character-building, self-discipline or personal growth for those receiving the accolades.

So what are the benefits to teenagers that tend to be overlooked and how do they come about?

While it may not be apparent, the potential benefits of competition arise from striving to win a contest, not from the result itself. Assuming this to be the case, perhaps we should focus on evaluating a wider set of consequences rather than the mutually exclusive aim of winning.

This may sound like sporting heresy, but it should not be construed as an attempt to dismiss the winning objective. Rather, it is an attempt to recognise the wider potential for all competitive sports participants who focus their energies on competing to win.

A sporting contest should be considered worthwhile regardless of results if it provides the opportunity to express individuality, creativity and imagination. Countering these possibilities is the ever-increasing emphasis on quantifiable measurement, analysis, judgment and comparison of results as well as performance during training.

It would be a great pity if potential sports participants miss out on the exhilaration of competition, the satisfaction of mastery and the personal confidence that may result from accomplishment if they decline to be involved because they will be judged by their ability to meet standards set by supporters or compared with the standards of elite performers or the milestones of their predecessors.

School sport is justified for what it offers competitors, not supporters and sponsors. Sport promoted as a means to an end detracts from its quintessence. In its purest form, sport is concerned with the struggle to improve one's own level of mastery. It is a personal challenge involving self-discipline and striving for excellence which is recognised by one's own ability to improve self-imposed performance standards.

Adolescent vulnerability can be reduced by sports participation. It potentially offers the satisfaction that comes from instant feedback, personal development, reduced negative thoughts and feelings and can counter personal isolation and alienation. To emphasise the outcome of sporting contests as a means of dominance or superiority can only detract from the value of these significant benefits.

Bringing about a change in emphasis in youth sport will not happen as a matter of course. In a society concerned with youth suicide and identifying meaningful values, perhaps now more than ever there is a need to evaluate the impact that organised sport has upon the lives of teenagers in this country.

* Nick McMaster, a former provincial athletics representative, has coached sport in Auckland schools and clubs for 18 years.