Why Winning Matters (More than it Should)
“The most important thing … is not winning, but taking part” Baron de Coubertin
For more than 100 years, Pierre’s observation has confused the landscape of sport, and inspired strong and conflicting opinions. This is less the case in North America, which is more comfortable with the summary dismissal of this sentiment. But in Britain, and especially in schools, it continues to create confusion.
At an intellectual level, it is easy to articulate benefits of sport, and to advocate the primacy of participation. In the cold light of day, it all makes perfect sense. But then Saturday comes along, passions are roused, and the true capacity of sport to inspire strong feelings is everywhere. The quality of Saturday evenings can be determined by the number of points and goals scored many hours earlier. Nothing feels better than winning. And not just for the players.
Competition is exciting. The evolving contest brings rising tension, which is increased by uncertainty of outcome. Competitive matches are best, because the thrill is greater, and the final verdict is delayed longer. The tension explodes into relief (for one team or competitor) at the final whistle, and that feeling is a better drug than most; it lasts a long time, and wears off slowly. Moments of sporting magic can be clearly recollected many years later by former players (and spectators), long after they have lost the capacity to remember the names of the people they met the previous week.
That’s why any sporting team or programme needs a minimum amount of winning. The experience of the victory high is an essential part of sport’s appeal, and a motivator to keep working towards the reward of another hit.
If that was all there was to sport, it would still be a wonderful thing. And for some people that is all there is. But the full richness is the potential to work at two levels.
Nobel prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahemann identifies what he describes as two types of thinking. Type One (fast) thinking is immediate, emotional and instinctive. Type Two (slow) thinking is slower, more measured and more cognitively demanding. The immediate reaction to a situation is a Type One rapid response based on emotion. But the more important, and enduring, conclusion is the considered and intellectual one. Sport reflects this.
No one jumps up and down spraying champagne because they have improved their emotional intelligence, or because they have developed resilience or courage. Or because they have suddenly come to love physical activity, or playing with their friends. These are medium term impacts. But they can be more influential, and more enduring. They might lack the instant appeal of a last minute winner, but few would underestimate their value. But it requires a more demanding, intellectual response to recognise this, which explains why not everyone gets it.
The pursuit of victory is the purpose of sport. If defeat is not attended by elation or despair, then the value of the activity is undermined. The potential of sport is to operate at two levels, reflecting Kahemann’s levels of thinking. There is an immediate emotional response, and a longer term personal one. Winning doesn’t matter, intellectually, because it doesn’t create anything. Nothing is left after the game finishes. But emotionally, however, its importance is massive, and its legacy is great. Winning is an important part of the sports experience, just not all of it.
But the two can support each other. The high of winning can produce moments of magic that last a lifetime, and should not be underestimated. The excitement of competition can stimulate long term involvement in physical activity, which increases the likelihood of medium term impacts developing.
We have clearer strategies for pursuing winning than developing character, but that doesn’t mean that their value is greater. Coaching courses, and teacher training, are stronger on technical and tactical outcomes, than on personal ones. The challenge for coaches, and for schools’ programmes, is to produce both. Side by side. Equally valued. The challenge for parents is to understand that.
So winning matters. A lot. Emotionally. But there are some good intellectual consolation prizes when it doesn’t happen.