Keeping Winning in Perspective Remember that striving to win the game is an important objective of the contest, but it is not the most important objective of sport participation. Winning or striving to win is never more important than athletes well-being, regardless of the mixed messages our society sends. When winning is kept in perspective, sport programs produce young people who enjoy sports, who strive for excellence, who dare to risk error in order to learn, and who grow with both praise and constructive criticism. When winning is kept in perspective, there is room for fun in the pursuit of victory - or, more accurately, the pursuit of victory is fun. With proper leadership, sport programs produce young people who accept responsibilities, who accept others, and most of all who accept themselves.
Successful coaches help athletes develop physically, psychologically, and socially.
And successful coaches strive to achieve their personal goals without jeopardizing their athlete s well being. The devastating result of this belief is that athletes can maintain their sense of self-worth only by making others feel unworthy. The most important thing you can do as a coach to enhance the motivation of your athletes is to change this yardstick of success. Winning is important, but it must become secondary to striving to achieve personal goals. Success must be seen in terms of athletes exceeding their own goals rather than surpassing the performances of others.