The True Meaning of Sports

Many would be believe that the only thing that matters in sports is winning. Actually, winning is the least important thing. Do not get upset, there is more to the story.

Let us consider this small example of a sporting event I love. I love March Madness! Let's say that 64 teams are invited to the tournamet. Well, if winning was the only thing that was important then we could say that only one team is a winner and 63 teams are losers. This is far from the case. First of all, if the other teams did not show up to the tournament, who would play?  Secondly, we must also applaud all the hard work each team displayed throughout the season to be invited to the tournament. (Plus, all the hard work all the other teams demonstrated who were not invited to the tournament.)  And lastly, we can not afford to overlook the personal satisfaction that each of the men and women achieve by improving each game, learning to work together as a team and learning life lessons. They learn about committment, displine, dedication, perserverance and desire just to mentiontion a few. These lessons are far more important than the game itself.

So, is it the winning that matters? I would say no. Winning is only the decoration on the cake. Preparing the cake is what is important. (Although, we do love the icing!)

Submitted by: Michael Poole- Junior High Teacher and Athletic Director at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes