Competition by kids is a subject that is loaded with strong opinions on all sides. Competition has gotten a bad reputation because of external forces. You currently see games canceled because there are no referees or umpires. This is impacting the youngest kids all the way to high school. I coached baseball for many years and a little softball in my career. I have seen poor officiating but never to the point that I was ejected. In all of my years, I only received one ejection and that was trying to protect another coach and keep him in the game. Competition is not bad as an ideal but I fervently believe that it is the adults and external forces that have given competition the current visual. Competition can be a strong motivator and can give children a positive self image. Like with many other areas, extremism has created a toxic environment. The opposite extreme has been the belief that by eliminating all competition kids will be better off and more successful. I disagree because I see simple competition permeate every adult situation. From getting a job to the success of a small business, competition is at the core of our everyday lives. As a teacher, my job is to help students navigate competition and provide a safe environment for success and failure in equal measure. For example, when we ran a race in class I was always aware to put kids of similar abilities against each other. It allowed for kids to compete but not feel like they were devastated by the race. I had very few tantrums or kids feeling bad over the years. Success and failure have always been discussed openly in my classes. I have had a motto for many years that covers what I ingrained into my first-grade classes all the way to my high school teams. “People will not judge on your failure or mistake but you will be judged on how your respond” If you have ever been in my classes or on my other teams, you have heard this and know that I truly believe it.
After about nine years in elementary, I decided it was time to move to high school. One of the deciding factors was our annual field day. We were told that it would be different moving forward. We changed it to “Discovery Day.” We were instructed to create activities that in no way expressed competition. The first year, I decided to create sand candles. I really enjoyed the activity but the loss of field day tugged at my heart for the kids. I knew that we were doing a disservice to the kids by not helping them navigate competition and use it as a life-long lesson. We did have some physical activities but there was to be no hint of competition. My last year of elementary I discovered 4-sided soccer. It was a game from Africa and a really fun way to play soccer. We split into very even groups and started to play and have fun. No matter how hard I tried, the kids kept score and as kids rotated through my station they all kept score. I was fighting the score keeping when I was told by the principal to see them after discovery day. I thought it was a fun day and the kids all had a blast. However, I was reprimanded for allowing the kids to keep score. In spite of my protestations that I wasn’t keeping store, I was still in trouble.
That discovery day taught me that staying in elementary was going to be tough. This may have been my biggest push. I loved the work I did with kids but I knew I was going to need a new environment. I did find a location and even found a great outlet for those other activities. Later in this journal I will go into Intersession at Rangeview which was the high school equivalent of Discovery day. I liked the concept but not as a replacement for field day. I have not told this story to many people and may come as a surprise to those I taught with in elementary. I still hold to the ideal that competition is not bad but how it is handled can be a detriment to our kids by those who are anti-competition to those who are overly competitive.