When Winning Isn’t Everything

We all want to win. But if we’re not careful, we’ll raise a generation of players who think winning justifies bad behavior.

Stealing signs, heckling the other team, celebrating errors—none of this makes a team “competitive.” It just makes them unpleasant. Real competitiveness means playing hard, staying focused, and pushing yourself without putting others down.

Softball is a game of mistakes. What makes it beautiful is how players respond—to failure, to pressure, and to each other. The goal should never be to embarrass the other team. It should be to outplay them with skill and class.

Let’s raise athletes who know how to win with character, not instead of it.