When Does Winning Become Important?

[Rocketech1]

I often hear the phrase "winning doesn't matter at _____ age". So my question for you is, at what age is winning important?

6U rec?
8U rec?
10u rec?
10U, 12U, 14U all-stars?
10U - 18U travel ball/select/tournament teams?
Middle School?
High School?
College?
NPF/National Team?
It's not really important at any age?

 

[NorthMS]

I'm old school, so I'm sure I'm in the minority, but a winning mindset matters at a young age. We "win" and "lose" daily in our lives. Might as well learn how to do both at an early age.

Our Rec league starts keeping score at 6u. The kids do fine with it. It's the parents that lose their minds.

 

[canyonjoe]

The first time you start playing by real rules. No run limits, no pitching limits,etc.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

The kids do fine with it. It's the parents that lose their minds.

That about sums it up.

IMHO, winning should be important any time two opponents meet in any game, at any age.

I haven't coached 10U travel ball in quite some time. But when I did, if I didn't have winning teams, I would have lost my job. I am completely OK with that.

Things are no different now when I coach my 12U and 14U teams. No success, no "Head Coach" title. Pretty much like life, I think.

 

[NorthMS]

DD#2 cheated at her 1st game of Sorry at the age of about 3-4. hahaha

 

[AndyS]

This question is interesting. I think it is a continuum. And in my experience at 14u travel and on there is a real shift and focus on winning. Just my take.

 

[Lobster Birch]

I would never say winning isn't important; everyone like to win. But is it the most important thing? Never.

In rec ball, the most important thing is that the kids are involved and that they are learning.

In travel ball, winning is the main object, but it's never so important to win that you would cheat or try to injure an opposing player to do so.

In my experience 8 year olds want to win, but not so much that they will bother to know what the score is. You could tell them after every game that they'd won and they wouldn't know the difference most times.

 

[Rocketech1]

In my experience 8 year olds want to win, but not so much that they will bother to know what the score is. You could tell them after every game that they'd won and they wouldn't know the difference most times.

Interesting. So last night, what happened at DS baseball game got me thinking about this very question. 8 & 9YO (PONY Mustang) Score tied 4-4 after regulation 6 innings. We bat first, and put up 9 runs in top of 7. It's getting dark, so our coaches have our players purposely get out at this point so the game can we get to the bottom half of the inning and home team gets their last at-bats (otherwise score reverts back to 6th inning, game is tied and has playoff seeding implications). Home team batter pops up for the 1st out. Umpires call game due to darkness, and award our team the win. Other head coach is protesting the game and wants to play the last 2 outs before our next game with them or have the score revert back to the tie.

I can assure you all the kids on our team knew the score and were excited about the "win" especially since we have been beaten by 1 run in the last few games.

Anyhow, was just curious what others thought the appropriate age is to worry about winning?

 

[guero_gordo]

Good question. Players should always strive to win, but that should be tempered by coaches with considerations of development and learning the game at all ages.
I'll say that no later than second year 12U Sunday lineups should be your stone cold kilers, but there can still be time on Sat. for bringing some less seasoned players along.

I'd say at any age that a team of players new to TB should be still weighted towards development though.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Not sure it can be answered in such simple terms.

To me, it matters at 8U rec, when the score and winning/losing provides some realistic feedback on how you are progressing.

But how much does it matter? That is the question.

With that in mind, at what level does winning become so important that I will ...

Keep score (8U & above)
Spend hours worrying about the draft, hoping to the best rec players (never)
Spend hours worrying about finding good travel players to come to tryouts (10U)
Have fairly set positions for most players (12U/14U travel, plus high school & above)
Decline to take players back at the end of the season because of their ability/performance alone (12U travel, but depends on goals of team)
Bat only 9 (12U, national qualifiers, if that's what it takes to get to nationals. Otherwise, keep roster small & bat them all except school and pro ball, IMHO)
Sit players for whole games w/ good attitudes but poor performance (same as above)
Have a big roster as a way of extending tryouts for 3 months in order to cull the herd (never)
Play down in level (maybe once/twice for a start-up team, or a team on a losing streak, but rarely)
Make roster additions in mid-season that displace current players (Very highest levels of travel, but only if stated clearly at start)
Use guest players while full-time team members sit the bench (never, except to replace key missing piece, like no pitcher or catcher)
Use gamesmanship, like working the clock (never, except in fairly innocuous situations)
Ride the umpires (college/pro, without crossing the line)
Not tell the other team they're about to bat out of order, hoping to get a cheap out later (college/pro, unless it's a team/coach I don't like)
Cheat (never)

Based on that, I probably don't want to win as much as some coaches.