Friday, March 21, 2008
Is winning important in sports?

Yes, I feel that winning is important in sports, especially for professional athletes. Most professional athletes start an intensive training from a very young age. Some of them even forgo their education and just concentrate on their sport, for example, Wayne Rooney joined Everton for a youth contract and began training at the age of 10. At the age of 16, before his 17 birthday, his professional career as a soccer player started when he was sent on in a match against Arsenal where he scored the winning goal. At such a young age, he definitely has not completed his studies and as a professional soccer player, it would be extremely difficult to find time to study since he has to train as well. After spending so much time and effort on his sport, he will naturally want to win something to show for all the hard work he put in. By winning something, on top of the prize money if there is one, he would also gain recognition and fame like when he scored a winning goal against Arsenal the first time he played. He became famous overnight. Nobody cares about the other people in a race, they only care about the winner, even if you come in second, nobody will know you. All your time and effort would have gone to waste. What is worst is that more and more athletes are starting to train from a very young age to excel in a particular sport like Wayne Rooney and Maria Sharapova, totally giving up on their studies. They have dedicated their whole life to a particular sport and if they do not win, it would all go to waste. Therefore I feel that winning is very important in sports.

By Benedict Chua