Brian Knapp, brother of Alex, argues that “Organized Sports Teaches Us Nothing” and, in fact, may be dangerous to civilization. His argument is that sports teach violence and the emphasis on winning encourages cheating. Further, the good things sports teach us can be learned elsewhere.
On the last point, at least, we agree. Nonetheless, I disagree that organized athletics under adult supervision is worthless.
There are, of course, bad coaches and, goodness knows, bad parents. They can ruin the experience for everyone. Then again, there’s tremendous value in learning to deal with jerks at an early age. Certainly, youth sports won’t be the last exposure to that phenomenon.
Learning to get hit in the mouth and continue moving forward is useful. Ditto losing and dealing with massive disappointment. Sure, there are other ways to learn those things. But a structured environment with a trained coach makes it more likely that they become teachable moments.
