Alfie Kohn and Youth Sports

It’s hard to imagine living life without engaging in some form of play. Whether one enjoys reading, hiking, sports, or video games, everyone has things they enjoy doing in their off time. As kids, we are often quite familiar with the concept of play, as many participate in youth sports at a young age. However, in Alfie Kohn’s No Contest, Kohn asserts that participation in youth sports is inherently harmful to one’s self confidence saying, “Sports not only reflect the prevailing mores of our society but perpetuate them” (Kohn 184). Yet Kohn falls short in his argument against competitive youth sports because he fails to acknowledge that not all youth interpret failure in the same way and that youth sports are a great model for their future as an adult. Before even exercising emotional appeal, let us consider some raw data. A 2001 study by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) looked at the academic differences amongst a large sample size of 125,000 high school students. What they found showed a large advantage in academic achievement and performance among those who chose to participate in sports. The mean GPA for a student athlete was 2.98, compared to the non athlete whose mean GPA was 2.17. They also found that the dropout rate amongst athletes was merely 0.6%, while the nonathlete’s dropout rate was 10.32%. The study additionally found that athletes tested higher in both Algebra and English finals than nonathletes (Overton 2). This obviously isn’t to say that nonathletes can’t be successful in school, but this study is evidence that there is a clear correlation between academic performance and participation in youth sports. A point that Kohn attempts to hammer into our minds is the narrative that failure in its essence is almost always harmful. In addition, Kohn ties that notion into failure within youth sports. Despite this, we shouldn’t see failure as an entirely harmful process. Kohn doesn’t attest to the fact that many,