While I totally agree with your sentiment about the importance of competition and consequences for winners and losers, it is also completely fine to have different levels of competition, some of which that are low enough to encourage camaraderie without all of the pressure to play to win.
You probably had this growing up to some degree. Varsity, Junior Varsity and Intramural. Travel and non travel. And the group of kids who held their own sand lot or backyard gridiron sessions, with no officiants and no spectators.
It also makes sense to adapt the competition to be age and skill level specific. If all we had were high level competition tiers, it would discourage young or unskilled prospective players to try out.
Give them a training wheels tier where everyone gets a shot of confidence. The losers will still filter out but you'll catch a few hidden gems that might have not otherwise entered the competition.
You can really have both here. There is no reason to only have high level competition.
You have me nostalgic for being a kid and that struggle to be the best at everything. There is something about that challenge for that really drives us.
Few things are more satisfying than crushing that home run or that straight as an arrow 300 yard drive off the tee or that laser fast slap shot that blows by the goalie, with everyone watching.
While I totally agree with your sentiment about the importance of competition and consequences for winners and losers, it is also completely fine to have different levels of competition, some of which that are low enough to encourage camaraderie without all of the pressure to play to win.
You probably had this growing up to some degree. Varsity, Junior Varsity and Intramural. Travel and non travel. And the group of kids who held their own sand lot or backyard gridiron sessions, with no officiants and no spectators.
It also makes sense to adapt the competition to be age and skill level specific. If all we had were high level competition tiers, it would discourage young or unskilled prospective players to try out.
Give them a training wheels tier where everyone gets a shot of confidence. The losers will still filter out but you'll catch a few hidden gems that might have not otherwise entered the competition.
You can really have both here. There is no reason to only have high level competition.
You have me nostalgic for being a kid and that struggle to be the best at everything. There is something about that challenge for that really drives us.
Few things are more satisfying than crushing that home run or that straight as an arrow 300 yard drive off the tee or that laser fast slap shot that blows by the goalie, with everyone watching.