Everyone plays, everyone wins

Life is full of competition and conflict. When you are 4 years old the last thing you need is to deal with competitive attitudes. You have plenty of time to deal with those issues as you get older. A 4 year old should be spending their time doing what 4 year olds do best-playing and having fun. That's what being 4 should be all about.

Our local YMCA* uses the philosophy of "Everyone Plays, Everyone Wins!" for their kids team sports leagues. It's a philosophy that is highly valued with the families that participate. It is why we signed our 4 year old up for this season's flag football league with the Y. Yes, they have a league for 4 year olds. Actually it's 3-5 year olds. No one keeps score, no one tackles. Everyone does play (including girls-which is important to this feminist) and everyone wins, because everyone is having fun. At the end of the season all the kids get a trophy.

I normally work on weekends, but as it happens I had today off. So I went with my men (husband and son) to the game today. Watching 3-5 year olds playing team sports is funny and cute. Halfway through the game one player ran over to his mom on the sidelines announcing, "Mommy, I have to go potty!". (I'd love to see a pro-football player doing that!) In between plays the kids do things that little kids do, like picking their nose, staring into outer space singing and shuffling their feet. During one play, one boy made a touchdown and he just kept running past the endzone, and running and running...with the other kids following him. Most of the game they just run around the field with happy grins on their faces experiencing the sheer joy of playing.

The kids are there for an hour. The first 20 minutes they practice. The game lasts about 40 minutes. During the last 10 minutes you can see they are all getting tired. They cry much easier if they fall down, bump into another player, or have their flag pulled. But they leave feeling proud of themselves and they are in the process of learning a very valuable life lesson-they are learning about fair play.

I am not into sports. I sat on the sidelines today glassy eyed and ready to fall asleep. It didn't matter that my kid was out there playing. I don't "get" sports. But I get the concept of "Everyone Plays, Everyone Wins!" I also understand the concept of fair play. So I'm glad my kid was out there playing today.

*Our local YMCA doesn't have a website I could link to.