Imagine your child is in a race, a 100 yard dash with 12 other children. She trained very hard for weeks. She finishes the race in last place, but runs the distance faster than she ever had before. Did she win or did she lose?

Now imagine your child is in another race the very next week, a 100 yard dash with 12 other children. But this time she comes in first place - faster than everyone else. You look at the stop watch however, and see that she ran much slower than she is capable of. In fact, she only took first because the kids she ran against were younger, smaller or just less skilled. Did she win or did she lose?

Your answers to these questions are important because they will help define values to your child.

If after the first race, you say she won because she performed her personal best, regardless of how the other kids in the race ran, you are defining wining as her current performance compared to her own previous performance. This is not the typical definition of winning. This definition places the value on effort, self-improvement and skill mastery, which are all within control of the individual.

But what about the second race? If you tell her "Congratulations on winning" what will she think of what you told her last week when she ran so much better, but came in last? Should she place value on the gold medal being placed around her neck...or should she value her performance above the medal? If you truly place the value on the individual performance then this is no time for a celebration.

Consistently placing importance on personal performance and effort is not always easy in the competitive culture we live in. We have to choose what we really want our kids to value. And we must be clear and consistent when teaching values. When we create the opportunity for everyone to win this doesn't mean everyone will win. It means that winning will be possible and achievable for everyone.

We live in a society where tremendous emphasis is placed on competition. Yet research makes two things very clear:

The main reason kids play sports is to have fun.

The main reason kids quit their favorite sport is an overemphasis on winning.

The noncompetitive developmental gymnastics programs offered at Gymnastics of Ashe helps children to define winning as "my personal best" as opposed to the traditional competitive definition of winning which is "be better than everyone else".

A non-competitive atmosphere allow students the opportunity to achieve a personal victory, and self-satisfaction and intrinsic values.

Gymnastics of Ashe wants children to develop healthy attitudes, self-confidence and exercise habits that last a lifetime!

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