Friday, March 21, 2008
Is Winning important in Sports?

Yes. Winning is important in sports. For many competitive sports, winning is the ultimate goal for most individuals and teams. It is no doubt that people train hard and play hard to win, which is the most important reason why they want to be involved in sporting events.
Sportsmen want to win to gain fame and recognition. In the world of sports, only the strong survives. Professional players train so hard to win and to gain their deserved recognition. When they win, they will be the centre of attention for the media and people around the world. Sports enthusiasts all over the world will be talking about them. Their victory will be reported on every form of media. They will be considered as a “celebrity” in their field of profession. This greatly increases morale and encourages players to perform better in the next season. This way, their level of expertise will be brought to a higher level. For example, in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Houston Rockets recently bagged a 22 win streak. This gave them recognition from people around the world through the use of media. They had since gained the attention from many people and it has been a hot topic on many internet forums. Even within a small group of people, being able to win will gain oneself recognition. Friends and family will recognise one as a winner within their own social group
Of course, sportsmen aim to win to gain the prize money. In many major events, the prize money is a very attractive. Money is always tempting to most people and that includes sportsmen. However, the prize money is more applicable for major events and not within a small group of people. In the recent HSBC’s Women Championship held in Singapore, the grand prize was US$2 million dollars, with the winner, Lorena Ochoa, getting US$300,000 and other prizes like jewellery. It is no doubt that the attractive prize motivated the golfers to play hard.
Although winning is important to most sportsmen, it is also to take note that one must win fair. In any kind of sports, there are always a set of rules to adhere too. Sportsmen must keep to the rules to ensure fairness. Play fair and win fair. Many organizations are very strict in this area too. For example, the Medical Commission of the Olympics will conduct checks to ensure that they do not take any drugs such they can perform better when committing. This anti-doping movement has been successful and players have been banned for playing if they were found guilty. In the recent 2004 Athens Olympics, 27 athletes were being banned.
However, to some people, winning is never important for them in sports. This has to do with their objective for playing a sport. For example, one may just be participating in sports to relax from a hard day of work. If they met this objective, they will be happy enough and glad even if they lose.
In conclusion, I feel that to most people, winning in sports is important. That is the reason why they play hard. Men are born selfish and they will expect something in return and that is to win. However, there can only one winner and athletes should be prepared to lose as winning is really a great deal. Maybe to some people, playing a sport is not just about winning, but, it is still important to a smaller extent. So, whether winning is important is relative to different individuals, but to the majority, winning is definitely important.

-Tan Wenjie (23)