Kids and Sports

A friend posted this story below on Facebook (although I am paraphrasing everything in the post and comments):

Daughter is on a volleyball team for 8 and 9 year olds (roughly 3rd grade). During the third game of a match last weekend, the opposing team's coach stopped the game and made her players do push ups. That team had won the first two games, but they ended up losing the third game.

I was just shocked by the post. I didn't start playing team sports (other than swim team and tennis) until fourth grade. You could do soccer or softball in our area younger, but basketball didn't start until fourth grade, and volleyball wasn't an option until middle school (seventh grade). Sports were always about fun for me. Yes, I really liked to win, but it wasn't what was most important (trying your hardest and doing your best while enjoying the sport was). I wanted to coach when I was in college (and before of course), but the summer between my junior and senior year made me reconsider. I decided to go to grad school at that point and just see where things led me after having a bad taste for athletics in my "home" state twice in three years. And it was all because winning was becoming too important. Oh, and as a coach, you also had to make sure you players liked you too. If your players didn't like you OR you didn't win enough, you could easily lose your job. I didn't want that pressure. And I think I made the right decision. This friend is in that same state. And think that at the 3rd grade level winning is that important already in the minds of some...