Winning in sport and life in general is an issue that elicits both excitement and sadness depending on whether you are a winner or a loser. All of us are borne with a desire to be successful. For one to succeed, a number of challenges have to be overcome. Overcoming the challenges, both internal and external, therefore gives one excitement, satisfaction, and joy. In an effort to instill the winning mentality into children, parents urge their children to be number one in class. In sport, the same is insisted upon. One is told there is no place for losers! Unfortunately, for many, they finish second or even lower.

Pondering over this question of winning, authors Tutko and Bruns pointed out that many people would argue that winning should be the purpose of sports including striving for records, championships, Olympic teams and Professional careers. But the key questions they pose are:

• How many million youngsters are we sacrificing along the way so that ten players can entertain us in a pro basketball game?
• How many people are we eliminating who love sports but who never make the team because they’re not going to be a “winner”- they’re too short or too slow or too weak?

The trouble with winning is that it is so sweet and so conspicuous. Winning puts one at the pedestal, at the peak for all to see, notice, admire and hopefully emulate. But as we admire the winner, few ever spare a moment for the many good athletes that are scarred by injury or burned out psychologically by the time they get to 15 because they never succeed in meeting the insatiable needs of their parents, coaches, fans or one’s own personal obsession or who are rejected and made to feel ashamed of having limited athletic powers.

In countries such as USA, winning through sport is a major national and individual creed that is highly emphasized. Ward is one of those who concurs with a popular saying attributed to Jim Tatum, a former Maryland Football coach that “winning is not the most important thing, it is the only thing” (76). This saying was picked up and popularized by the Legendary Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packers in the sixties.

Ward (1978) goes on to say:

“It takes a brand of courage to take your chances in a contest before a crowd. Courage is what is learned in any competitive sport. It is necessary ingredient for success in any field. Courage is not a gift given freely to a few by some lucky chance of heritage or genetics. It must be learned; it must be acquired, for we are all basically cowards” (p. 76).