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Healthy
Balance
Needed
To the Editor:
This is in response to last week’s Letter to the Editor entitled “Winning Not All” by Mark Wallace.
Although 1 respect Mr. Wallace and his. opinion, I am compelled to reject his premise that an emphasis on winning in sports is inappropriate or unhealthy.
As both an RAA Tee-ball coach and head baseball coach at RCHS, 1 believe it imperative that we teach our children, no matter how young they are introduced to sports, the basic fundamentals of the game. I know of no organized sport in which the fundamental concept of win and lose is not the ultimate objective. Please do not misunderstand me. I support and appreciate all of the values to playing sports referenced by Mr. Wallace. Teamwork, exercising, skills development, confidence and a genuine love for the game are all critical components to effective coaching. However, I believe Mr. Wallace underestimates an effective coach as well as our child/student athletes who certainly have the ability, regardless of how young, to win or lose with dignity.
We should not deny our young children an understanding of winning and losing in organized athletics. However, we must take seriously our responsibility not to over emphasize winning at the risk of compromising the many values that go into a healthy American ball game.
We do not need to eliminate keeping score or the declaration of a winner and a loser in order to shelter our young athletes from this reality. Introducing and reinforcing the concept of winning and losing does not compromise the fun, learning experience- all players should receive in playing sports. I have enough confidence in our coaches and players to believe that a healthy balance of both can be achieved.
DONN HACKNEY
Washington
The Lovin'
Of the Game
To the Editor:
A line in a 70’s tune about gambling by Rosallie Sorrels goes “. . . the pleasure’s not in the takin’ but in the lovin’ of the game.” As debate arisen about the merits of a cosmic scorekeeper, 1 think of Joe NovelJo, a 44 year old kid living in Santa Cruz, California. Novello, who incidently has an entirely responsible real life, recently underwent an ACL knee reconstruction to enable him to continue playing pick-up soccer on the UCSC Campus with players less than half his age. “1 was given the choice by the doctor who did Joe Montana’s knee of being able to walk normal or playing... Man, I had to do it, 1 wasn’t
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