Who Won? Who Cares?

By Kevin Salisbury 

Self improvement, not winning, is the big motivator among our country’s youth.

When we think about competitions, we often think in terms of winning and losing, even though the experience can offer much more than that. But though we may value dance competitions as learning experiences, we can’t ignore the fact that an awards system means someone wins and someone loses. How do these outcomes affect the attitudes, emotions, and work ethic of dancers and dance teachers? How do they affect parents’ attitudes and emotions?

According to a 1990 study called “American Youth and Sport Participation,” winning, the most publicized and sought-after goal in sports, is a relatively poor motivator for most youth athletes. The study’s results suggest that the path to excellent performance lies in motivating young people to embrace self-improvement.

Among the students polled in the study, winning never ranked higher than seventh; having fun, self improvement, skill improvement, and other categories consistently ranked higher. For example, one question asked students to think about a single experience in sports that made them feel successful and then rate 20 statements according to how well they expressed what they experienced. The

highest rated was “My performance made me feel good.” “I won” was ranked thirteenth.

Even among the most elite athletes, winning took a back seat to self-improvement and competition. We see this in the professional sports world, too. One example that comes to mind is a story about someone who understands excellence and its relationship to failure, a person who has won many times over—basketball star Michael Jordan. During a pre--game broadcast, Jordan attempted 29 “swish” shots in a row. Oddly, he seemed to be more and more upset with every shot he made. His team, the Chicago Bulls, won the game, with Jordan leading the way with 40 points. In the post-game interview, commentator Bob Costas asked him why he seemed so discontent with himself during the warm-up. After all, he had made 29 shots in a row and followed it up with a win for the Bulls. His reply? He wouldn’t be satisfied until making that shot came as naturally to him as breathing. That is what winning is for Michael Jordan.

Dancers should be no different. They can learn the correct attitude along with the correct physical and mental training. If that attitude comes from their teachers and parents, dancers will have a positive experience in a competition, whether they win or lose. Students can be taught that the ultimate prize is having the confidence that comes from knowing that they trained hard for this moment, they danced like it was as easy as breathing, and that they could not have danced better. With that kind of preparation, they will win no matter what.

Teachers and parents need to base their behavior on the results of several studies that identified the following “truths” about children and sports (Ewing and Seefeldt 1990):

• Fun is pivotal. If a sport isn’t fun, young people won’t play it.

• Skill development is a crucial aspect of fun; it is more important than winning even among the best athletes.

• The most rewarding challenges of sports are those that lead to self-knowledge.

• Intrinsic rewards (self-knowledge that grows out of self-competition) are more important in creating lifetime athletes than are extrinsic rewards (victory or attention from others).

According to Ewing and Seefeldt, here’s what teachers and coaches can do:

• Become a communicator (a listener and a giver of feedback).

• Recognize the needs of your kids and balance your needs with theirs.

• Develop perspective: Remember what you were like at their age and what you could do then; don’t judge the kids by what you can do now.

• Remember the “big truths” and plan activities always bearing them in mind.

• Seek out workshops and educational programs that teach not only sports-related skills but also communication and interpersonal skills that will help you work with parents and get the most out of your kids.

• Try to work with parents and make them part of the team rather than viewing them as critics to be avoided.

Parents, too, need to keep those “big truths” in mind, support the teacher’s efforts, and gear their expectations according to their children’s ability levels and goals in dance.

As Jacques d’Amboise once said, “Enjoy the process of learning to dance. The process of our profession, and not its final achievement, is the heart and soul of dance.” That’s great advice for both students and teachers.

References

M.E. Ewing, and Seefeldt, V. (1990). “American youth and sports participation: A study of 10,000 students and their feelings about sport.” North Palm Beach, FL: Athletic Footwear Association.