You Can't Spell Success Without a 'W'

I was recently talking to someone who I consider to be the epitome of physical education. The man has done everything from being a Jr. High PE teacher, to instructing at the University level. From coaching a local school team to leading a National team to a gold medal.

He told me "If you're coaching Jr. High volleyball and you want a perfect season, just work on serving; all practice, every practice." He went on to explain his argument. "It doesn't matter if the other team starts with the ball and your team has no idea what to do when it comes over the net. Eventually the other team will miss the serve, and then it begins. 25 straight points by picking the right spot on the court to put the ball. You'll win every game, it won't even be close." The point of this hypothetical coaching plan was obvious; don't do it. Are the players happy? Sure. Are the parents happy? I'm sure most would be. Is the coach happy? They shouldn't be. Not a single athlete developed their game. At the beginning of any season, I tell my players one thing. I've had seasons where we've qualified for Provincials, and seasons where we've failed to come anywhere close to even qualifying for Cities. Seasons where we've lead the league in goals for, and seasons where the mercy rule prevented our goals against from entering triple digits. Then I ask if they can guess which season was more successful. The obvious answer is always the season with the most goals, the most wins, the most medals. That's always the benchmark for success. As if some imaginary 'W' means you succeeded, and anything else is clearly failure. From day one, I try to change my team's view on success. I explain that I've lost games where we were clearly the better team, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I've won games that we had no business winning. As the season goes on I reward my team for playing a game the right way, all game long, no matter what the final score was. I go into every season with one goal: Leave the season with better athletes than I started with. I think it's time young athletes entered their seasons with the same goal.

I have no problem with winning, or the culture of sports altogether. I don't believe teams should stop keeping scores or stop rewarding young athletes for winning. Half the fun of sport is the competitive element.

What I do have a problem with is the dichotomy of success and failure. Changing the culture of what constitutes a successful play, or game, or season, starts at one place and one place only; the coach.