The Lessons of Sport Taught (and Sometimes Lost)


The world of sport is a high-risk, high-reward kind of setting. But are we letting the certain risks run ahead of the rewards?

This type of article normally appears on this site in December when there is painfully little else to talk about, but there's just been way too much lately pointing to the need for a discussion on the topic. So, this article is happening today.

One of the primary arguments for scholastic sports, though certainly not the only argument, is that it provides a crucible in which young people learn to win graciously and lose with dignity. We deem it important that when we win we don't gloat about it and when we lose we don't pout over it or otherwise try to diminish the victor.

And, if we lose, we don't point the finger at the official or circumstances. Rather, we look inside and ask ourselves what we could have done better. We may, at some point, engage in a civilized conversation about the officiating or circumstances, but part of that conversation ought always to be what we ourselves could do better.

At least that is the ideal toward which we strive.

Each of those are laudable goals. These goals, if faithfully implemented and applied, would go a great distance toward healing much of the torn fabric of our society.

But, I see plenty of evidence that the goals of scholastic sports are more or less lost on large segments of our society. 

On Facebook, I have my friends on the left and my friends on the right, many of whom still haven't gotten over the November election. We eagerly invent nuance and embellish stories about the other side, and then turn hostile when the same techniques are turned back against whatever our side is.

Parents, when we come home after a contest, what is the content of our conversations? Is it about the lessons of the contest that would make us better individuals, or is it about somebody there who failed to live up to our expectations?

When I attend a soccer game or a basketball game, I overhear all kinds of uncharitable speculation about the intent of players and coaches, and the invective hurled at officials is simply unconscionable. And, in theory, most of the people hurling the invective have been through the crucible of high school sports themselves.

Did we somehow forget over the span of 30 years how humiliating it was as a player to have a parent berate a coach, a teammate, or an official? Or did we privately reap a little extra satisfaction from that spectacle while we were players?

How is the game, any game, ever made better by opposing sets of fans and parents heaping abuse on officials in hopes of turning a few more calls their way? How is society ever made better by opposing constituencies heaping abuse on the system--or on each other--in hopes of getting a few more things to go their way?

Is not the end result of all that more of mistrust, more of anger, and more of fear?

And, if we presume to feel superior because track and field and cross country have less of this than basketball and soccer, we do well to remind ourselves that seeds are characteristically small relative to the full flower. It is probably the case that our sports don't provide as much opportunity as some other sports, and it might possibly be that "losing" is so commonplace in meet sports that we learn to deal with it better--at least within the context of the sport.

A track meet or a cross country meet is not nearly as much of a zero sum affair as a football or baseball game, so it is probably less tempting to get wrapped up in the outcome. It also helps that officiating plays a comparatively smaller role in meet sports than in game sports.

But, I don't think runners, jumpers, and throwers are so fundamentally different as human beings that we need not bother to think about how gracious we are as winners or how dignified we are as losers. At the very least, the content of my Facebook feed tells me that we are little more gracious and dignified in other contexts than the rest of society.


So, let's make an extra effort this spring to double down on the positive lessons of sport. Be humble and gracious, whether in victory or defeat. Cultivate trust. Embrace adversity. Treat officials as we would want to be treated. Find something edifying to say to those who wear a different color uniform or root for a different team.