Our goal for youth sports is that children shall enjoy their experience in the sport by their development physically, psychologically and socially through the activity. A quality experience can be achieved if the coach, parents and leader applies four principles. Those principles are participation, sportsmanship, team play, and teaching the fundamentals of the activity.
Our youth sports program strives to promote the philosophy that the enjoyment of participating in team sports is of fundamental concern, with competition a natural growth of that involvement. There must be a mutual respect for all teams and individuals involved on the leagues; because without them there would not be a program. Striving to win is fundamental to any enjoyable competition, but it must be kept in perspective.
Although skills are important in sports, leading to great satisfaction, feelings of accomplishment, and carryover into later life; the leader must always remember the fun of participation must never be sacrificed to the perfection of skills. All who desire will play in every game; in recreation the goal is for a satisfying activity for every individual rather than victory and accolades for the few.
A word about winning: To create the most valuable experience for young athletes, adults should help them to understand that there is more benefit from sports than just a winning and losing record. If children leave your team enjoying their relationship with you and with their teammates, feeling better about themselves, having improved their skills, and looking forward to future sports participation, you have accomplished something far more important than a winning record or a league championship. Winning is a part of the game and should not be removed, however, we do de‑emphasize winning.