Half of the participants shared their experiences with winning and losing, which
provided support for the creation of this theme. They spoke of how the importance of
winning for themselves personally, but also for the kids. Most were less interested in
winning games for themselves than they were for the kids. They provided myriad reasons
for what they thought kids learn from winning, and what they learn from losing.
When asked about winning and losing games, Coach B said, “last week is gone,
it’s history.” No matter what happened, “you have to move on.” Sometimes, team lose
simply because they are “just kind of outmanned,” so he wants his players to know that
sometimes a loss is inevitable and does not reflect how they played the game. In these
cases, he teaches his players to “just fight,” because even if the team is down by several
points in the last few minutes of the game, “people will recognize” that they fought, and
Coach E believes that there are always lessons to be learned from winning and
from losing. Of winning and losing he said, “you ain’t [sic] going to win every game and
hopefully you won’t lose every game.” Whether his team wins or loses a game, he said,
“learn from whatever you didn’t do in a previous game and try to do it in the next game.
Winning is important, but he does not believe that his players should be upset if they
don’t win every game.
“I love winning. Everybody loves winning,” Coach F declared. This declaration
came with caveats, however, because Coach F. believes that there is more to sports than
just winning. He said he teaches his players that “winning is what our goal is, but should
we not win, it’s okay because life is a bunch of, is, ups and downs.” He sees the benefit in
winning in terms of providing motivation for his players. He thinks that winning “keeps
their attention, uh, on practice and doing what they need to do,” but said that in the end,
“fun is what it’s all about.”
Winning and losing games provides motivation for players, according to Coach
G. He said:
Whether you take it and yell, scream, and act a fool or you sob about it and decide
you’re going to give up or you’re going to take that as motivation to work harder,
so you don’t lose like that again.
He believes that learning how to handle a loss is an important lesson for players.
Coach G also shared that winning is important for him because players see their
success through winning. “If the kids lose every game,” he said, “they’re not gonna feel
Coach H does not believe that winning is the most important aspect of sports but
does admit that it is somewhat important. He said, “It’s really not as important to win
necessarily, but when we do win, I love watching their faces, I love seeing the, the
excitement and, uh, accomplished feeling that they have.” In the context of
accomplishment, winning does become important. Playing sports also teaches kids that
there will always be a winner and a loser. He thinks that this is a fact of life and lesson
that kids should learn and that “just because you won or lost this particular game, does
not make you better or worse than any other player.”
Coach K expressed mixed feelings about the importance of winning in youth
sports. He shared that winning is “pretty important because you, you know that if you’re,
uh, you’re, if you’re not wining, then the kids, uh, they get into a, a way of losing and
then they almost think that it’s okay to lose,” and he thinks that this can continue if it
goes unchecked. Instead, he wants his players to “have a winning mentality.” However,
he recognizes that winning certainly is not everything when it comes to playing sports. If
his team wins, he feels that it is important to “put your head up and, and, and go on to the
next, uh and, and go on to the next game,” recognizing that teams “can’t win ‘em all.” As
long as his kids are having fun, this is the most important thing to him.
Summary
In this chapter I presented the results of the data analysis. Themes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and
6. I addressed research question 1, which asked: How do you youth coaches perceive
their role in a young person’s decision to continue participating in their sport of
preference? Youth sports coaches believe that they play a significant role in keeping kids
in, an atmosphere that fosters development of the child’s skills at sports and in life. They
believe that youth sports are about so much more than sports, and as coaches they are
able to use this medium to teach their players what it means to be a good teammate, to
build communication skills, and foster lifelong friendships. They see the opportunity to
keep players engaged in sports through providing them with a positive environment that
is encouraging and motivating.
Theme 4 addressed the research question 2 and its associated subquestion: How
do youth coaches perceive the attrition of youth in sports? and what explanations do
youth coaches provide as the reasons for youth attrition in sports? While kids do
sometimes elect to drop out of sports, coaches do not think that this is inevitable if they
are dedicated to their players and take an interest in their players’ lives and ensure that
their players are having a good time and reaping the benefits of their hard work through
winning. In the next chapter, I will discuss the implications and applications of these