Otherwise you can ruin your child's fun and this is what's going to motivate him to play sports. At the level of playoff and championship games, adults often lose their perspective and focus solely on winning the game. The game becomes so important to the child that he believes a loss would let down not only his parents, but his entire hometown as well. This is a tremendous burden to carry. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association urge that recreational values rather than competitiveness be emphasized.
Studies show that the pressure to win is almost entirely an adult creation.
A survey of youth players revealed that 95 percent of the interviewees were more interested in having fun than winning and 75 percent would rather play on a losing team than be a winner and sit on the bench. Young people function better in programs where game scores and league standings are not kept. In such an atmosphere, competition, hostility, conflict and disappointment are minimized. The participants learn to enjoy the game for the sake of playing. They discover the beauty in catching a long pass, in hitting a solid backhand, in making an assist.