Alicia DelCupp Xavier University Sport Leadership True Competition Book Review I have always been a very competitive

person. There are a few instances growing up where I can distinctively remember acting in a decompetitive way, but overall, competition has played a positive role in my life. At the beginning of the book, the authors present Alfie Kohns research on the effects of competition. While I agree with parts of Kohns argument against competition, overall I think the effects depend on how an individual decides to react to competition. I believe the reason we have come to view competition in a negative light is not because sports are inherently bad, but because our society allows outside factors to affect the true purpose of sport. If there were no sports at all, there would still be competition. When we talk about competition most people automatically assume sports, but there is competition in every aspect of our lives. If sport administrators can get participants in the right state of mind about competition, sports can play a critical role in preparing individuals to deal with competition in non-sports related situations. I liked the concept of competition vs. decompetition that was presented in chapter two. This would be a good concept to teach young athletes because it gives them a way to identify right from wrong in a sport setting. In chapter two, the authors stated that genuine competition has great potential to enhance and enrich human life. In order to do this, however, athletes need to understand what genuine competition is. The responsibility for teaching them lies with coaches and sport administrators. I think the field guide presented in this book could be a useful tool for coaches. Coaches spend a lot of time learning about their players as

athletes, but not as much time is spent learning about who the player is as a person. An easy way for coaches to implement the field guide would be to come up with a questionnaire regarding the categories of the field guide and giving it to players at the beginning of the season to fill out. Not only will this give the coach a better idea of their players reasons for participating in sports, it will give them a better idea of the individuals morals and values. The questionnaire would also provide the coach with potential learning opportunities to capitalize on during practice or a game. Coaches are not only benefitting their program by understanding how their players view competition, they are also giving their players an opportunity to challenge their own ideas about competition. By gaining this understanding, coaches can better teach the differences between competition and decompetition to their players. One of the ideas presented in the book that I think can be really effective is letting teams govern themselves. Our society believes that sport should build character and youth should learn certain values from playing, but then too often coaches rule over their teams and tell their players what sport should be teaching them instead of letting them find out for themselves. When athletes have choices, it is easier for them to identify between competition and decompetition. The basic metaphor of competition being a partnership is exemplified when athletes are given the choice to work with their teammates to problem solve instead of being told the solution by their coach. No one likes to be told what to do, and frequently coaches get into mindset where they think their way is the only way. The pressure society puts on coaches to win is enormous, and they sometimes forget they are developing people along the way. Growing up basketball was always my passion, but in high school I actually enjoyed track and field more than basketball because of my coach. I threw the shot and discus and originally

started the sport based on a suggestion by the coach. I dont think in my four years of throwing for him he ever told me once that I HAD to do something. There was a four women relay team for the shot and disc at multiple track meets, so I had to work closely with three other people all season in order for our team to be successful. He let us make decisions about when to train, what to do at practice, even which meets we wanted to participate in. I had never touched a shot put or discus before my freshman season, but coach made it easy to want to learn about the sport. Part of the reason he was pretty laid back was probably because its hard to find women that want to participate in these events, but I also believe that coach really understood what sports should be about. He gave me every opportunity to learn from him and improve my skills, but he never demanded that I do so. It was always my choice. I never ended up being great at either event, but I improved drastically from my freshman to senior year and I was good competition for others at meets. Coach recognized my improvements and no matter what place I came in, he always had constructive and positive things to say about my performance. I can honestly say that track and field, a sport I had zero interest in, was one of my favorite parts of high school and it was due to the coach. In chapter five, the authors discuss a book by Ron Berger where he suggests that much of our current educational policy focuses on artificial and external forms of accountability and these directly interfere with building a culture of excellence among school communities. I think the same can be said about sports. Winning is the biggest artificial form of accountability in sports. It should be part of an overall participation experience, but it has become the reason for the experience. People are so quick to look to a teams record as the only indicator of how good a team is, when in fact that are many other indicators that can and should be taken into

consideration. Performance based forms of accountability are necessary, but they do not give us a good idea of whether or not the process was understood or valued. By placing so much emphasis on winning, we are showing participants that the process doesnt matter as long as they get the desired results. People cannot always win at everything, but focusing on the process rather than the results puts them in a position to be prepared to win in the future. I have noticed throughout this book and module that sports situations are frequently related to classroom or educational situations. While researchers have made it clear that sports can play a critical role in the development of youth, it doesnt seem like the industry takes that as seriously as they should. Much of what participants learn playing sports is applicable to and influences other aspects of their lives. Because there is such a connection between education and sports, the industry should be more concerned with developing outstanding citizens and not just outstanding athletes. In 2011, the NCAA responded to a push to from the U.S. Secretary of Education to increase graduation rates by requiring all teams to meet a 50% graduation rate, with failure to do so for three straight years resulting in potential bans. It is great that the NCAA is trying to increase graduation rates, but the point of going to college is to graduate, and 50% is failing by educational standards. My question is why the required rate was so low before, and why is a rate of only 50% acceptable now? Obviously things happen in life that can effect ones ability to graduate from college, but if schools are setting the expectations low, how can they expect their coaches and student-athletes to strive for success? Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though most of the book is sports related, the authors have made is easy for the reader to apply the information to non-sport situations. In the last chapter, the authors discuss the importance of embracing the challenge

as part of an ideal contest. To really maximize the potential of competition, one must first be able to define their reasons for participation. The field guide challenges the reader to identify these reasons and apply them in a way that fosters an environment of true competition.