Winning isn't the only thing

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 12, 2000

It's okay to win in high school sports. But when we start to assume it's the only reason for even stepping out on the field or courts, then we've lost perspective.

The conversation was simple enough at first: two teenage girls chatting in a grocery checkout line early Sunday afternoon.

Then the conversation took a turn toward sports, about the state track and field finals last Saturday in Gainesville.

"Did you see the paper today?" one asked. "Our team choked. Nobody won state."

It doesn't matter which of the county's high schools she was referring to. What disturbed me most was her attitude. It is one that has become all too common: the idea that winning isn't just everything, it's the only thing.

"Unfortunately in sports, people equate success by the score," Citrus track coach Tom Darby said.

"I think our group had the most wonderful success story this season and it was not based on scores. The reason is, we started off with over 100 people participating. That's far more important to me than where one or two or 10 individuals finished the season. The fact that we can involve 120 kids in a very healthy, competitive environment and that each one of those kids will take something positive from that, that's what it's all about."

At least that should be what it's all about.

Having covered college, professional and high school sports over the past seven years, I'm often asked the difference among the three.

I used to answer that high school sports was the last bastion of "pure" athletics -- where competition, camaraderie, friendship, teamwork, learning and all those things old-time coaches preach are still the most important thing.

For the most part, that is still true in places like Citrus County, where kids continued to show up for practice with optimism and good attitudes this season despite being members of baseball and basketball teams that had earned just six, seven or 10 wins.

But sadly, that's all changing.

Last fall, I overheard a conversation between a few parents who were lamenting that Crystal River's football program had become routine. The Pirates had several consecutive nine- and 10-win regular seasons, then always got eliminated in the first or second round of the playoffs.

None of them stopped to consider that only six teams can earn a state title in football -- six out of the more than 500 schools that participate in football in Florida.

Where is the shame in winning nine or 10 regular-season games then losing to a better team in the early rounds of the playoffs?

Before last Saturday's Class 2A state track and field finals, Darby kept cautioning that while Cory Presnick and Brent Mobley were top seeds in their respective events, the state meet is so competitive that anything can happen.

"Blink and it's over," Darby said.

He was right. Neither Presnick, who is the reigning Class 2A state cross country champion, nor Mobley won a state title.

Mobley finished fifth in the 100-meter race, while Presnick earned a third-place medal in the 1,600 and a fifth-place medal in the 3,200.

Yet maybe those two girls in the checkout line and probably more than a few opponents felt as if the two had failed.

"That's the nature of the beast," Citrus athletic director Vicki Overman said. "Everyone wants to look at it from the winner's side, and if you didn't win you fell short."

I'd beg to differ with that idea. Every athlete who competed in the state meet succeeded because they were good enough to make it that far. A lot of athletes didn't make it out of the district and regional competitions.

Where is the shame in being the fifth-best Class 2A sprinter in Florida? Or the third-best 1,600-meter runner?

There is a reason high school sports are considered extracurricular activity. It isn't the most important aspect of the high school experience. The sports are there to give students an opportunity to participate, to compete and learn. A few athletes will be able to use their talent to help defray the cost of a college education. The rest will walk away with just memories.

Professional athletes often get slammed when they don't perform at a certain level or when they don't win a championship during their careers. I have no problem with that. That's what they get paid tons of money to do -- win.

High school athletes don't get paid to participate. And for every superstar on a roster, there is a kid with less talent who nonetheless works just as hard and gains just as much from the experience. His or her name may never make it in the paper, but that person is no less a part of the team.

It's okay to win in high school sports. Let's face it, everybody loves a winner. When it happens, it's good. But when we start to assume it's the only thing, the only reason for even stepping out on the field or courts, then we've lost perspective.

The Olympic code has a portion in it that essentially states: What is of utmost importance is not to win, but to compete.

Next fall, when area football players lace up the cleats, volleyball players put on the knee pads, and cross country runners start logging dozens of miles in 90-degree heat, let's all try to remember that.

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