BACKGROUND

 

      Could We Start Again Please?

         THE COOPERATIVE SPORTS LEAGUE

  (Non-competitive User Friendly Sports for Everyone)

 

It is the purpose of this guide to:

 

Analyze some of the disadvantages associated with the ways we “play” many traditional ball “games”, and to,

 

Offer specific ways in which these “games” can be “played” differently to increase their enjoyment and participation, and to,

 

Question the necessity/desirability of “competing” in these games, i.e., having “winners” and “losers”, and to,

 

Suggest organizational and implementation strategies to ensure that,

 

Every child and adult will have the opportunity to “play” similar “games” with others, for the sheer enjoyment of the process, on a regular basis, for all of their lives, and to,

 

Act as a catalyst in bringing people together to accomplish all of the above.

 

 

FROM THE NAVAJO BEAUTYWAY

 

I WILL BE HAPPY FOREVER,

NOTHING WILL HINDER ME;

I WALK WITH BEAUTY BEFORE ME,

I WALK WITH BEAUTY BEHIND ME,

I WALK WITH BEUATY ABOVE ME,

I WALK WITH BEAUTY BELOW ME,

I WALK WITH BEAUTY ALL AROUND;

MY LIFE WILL BE BEAUTIFUL.

 

“It is said that our leisure activities no longer give us a break from the alienating qualities of the work we do; instead, they have come to resemble that work.

The chief reason our recreation is like our work is that it has become more competitive. Sports, for example, have always been competitive and never really qualified as play in the first place. Although it's not generally acknowledged, most definitions of play do seem to exclude competitive activities.

In an experiment with five-and six-year olds, Janice Nelson and her associates found that "success as well as failure in competition produced consistent increases in aggression, as compared with the effects of noncompetitive play," although failure made the children more aggressive. Another study discovered that boys who won a subsequent competition were more aggressive than those who failed. Even winning is not enough to eradicate the frustrating elements of competition. The hostile act of competition, on the playing field and in other contexts, for both participants and spectators, leads us to become more aggressive.

Any activity whose goal is victory cannot be play, if you are trying to win, you are not engaged in true play.”

Adapted from No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn

“When a group of people get together to play, no matter how well-intentioned they may be at the start, they're probably going to wind up playing together the way that they've always been taught to play together, competitively and unsupportively, with a strong focus on individual heroics.

We believe that is not the natural way to play. It's just the way that everybody has been taught to play.

Most games, as they are played today, at best ignore the development of self-confidence, and at worst destroy self-confidence.

The noncompetitive approach to playing can "detoxify" some of these negative aspects of competitive group play. We want to help people feel good about themselves as they actively participate in their own recreation.”

Adapted from the book Playfair by Matt Weinstein and Joel Goodman

 

  WHY THIS GUIDE?

  

I think it best to speak of my own experience. As a child, I loved ball games (hockey as well – sort of a ball). Most of all, I liked pick up games of baseball, football, hockey and basketball with friends (soccer wasn’t around in the 50’s). What I remember most about these games, in addition to lots of action (always fewer players than the ‘real game’), were particular outstanding plays – not the score or who won or lost – but an exquisite play that rivaled anything ever witnessed in the pros. I was as good as any pro on certain occasions, only I was a lot smaller.

 

I tried my hand at organized youth sports in elementary and middle school as well. What I remember most about Little League was being hit in the stomach by a very hard ball thrown at me by a child half again as big as I was. Now I was a regular boy, doing regular boy things, so getting hurt was nothing new to me. But getting hurt in a supposed ‘game’, by someone who was trying to keep me from hitting the ball (when playing with friends, there were no strikeouts, the object was to hit the ball so that the fielders could participate, and we usually used a tennis ball anyway), didn’t make sense – that was enough for me.

 

Later, in middle school, I played baseball, football, and basketball. Football was rough and overly specialized (when playing in small groups with friends, I could both throw and catch passes – not so in organized tackle football). Tag football and even playing tackle among friends about the same size was much easier on the body. In organized basketball, there seemed to be two many people running around in a small space and I didn’t like sitting on the bench (I was good, so not much of that, but not the same as playing with smaller numbers of friends). In baseball, although I played the infield, the game moved slowly, I could only play one position, I had to wear a hot uniform, and quite frankly, practice seemed to be a lot more fun than the games themselves – lots of hitting, play any position, no real fast pitching and strikeouts, etc., etc.

 

When I entered high school, unless I tried out for varsity sports, which really didn’t appeal to me for the previously mentioned reasons, there was nothing else but pick up games with friends. Oh yea, the coaches at the high school level didn’t appeal to me either – I wasn’t into being yelled at or assigned a position to specialize in. Basketball was the easiest to get a game up because at least if you were waiting there alone for others to show up you could play by yourself. Football and baseball were a bit more problematic. With a bucket of tennis balls, two/three boys could keep themselves occupied for hours pitching and hitting. With three, football could be lots of fun – quarterback, receiver, pass defender.

 

These pick up games were much more satisfying than the organized alternatives. There were fewer players and therefore lots of action. You could play any position. You were with friends – there was little roughness. Tennis balls were easier on the body when you got a bad bounce. I could bat left handed and became quite adept at shooting baskets both right and left handed. A nerf turbo football could go a long way, was much easier to handle, and there were no dislocated fingers when making (or trying to make) spectacular catches.

 

There weren’t coaches yelling at you, crowds of spectators discouraging some and encouraging others, umpires (we managed to manage the games quite nicely ourselves – unresolved disputes meant “play it again Sam”), no bench warming – I LOVED it. The season was endless. It was great exercise. I wasn’t conditioned to “kill” the other team. It was peaceful – non-violent. I developed lasting friendships. It was pure FUN!!!

  

But now I am older. And some things have changed. I have

changed.

 

It’s hard to find people to play with. Oh, yes, there are organized leagues for softball and basketball and volleyball.  But they don’t suit me. Just like in Junior High and High School. It’s the same old story. The teams have two many people on them (both playing and sitting), a “softball” is not soft, when I start shooting baskets left handed, my teammates look at me in dismay (no fooling around please – we are here to WIN), I’m not really into having a volleyball spiked down my throat – I think you have already gotten the point.

 

And what about today’s kids? They aren’t quite as free to wander off and have pick-up games as I once did. They are playing organized sports, starting at a very young age, that have all the trappings of the organized games I found so distasteful at their age. And they are being pressured by hordes of parents and coaches to win. Things don’t seem to be all that playful anymore.

 

I’m bored. I’m tired of almost exclusively going inside to the gym to work out on machines. I can sometimes find one other person to play a variation on tennis or basketball with, but I miss those sports requiring more players. Where are all the other adults who used to play sports? And what about all the children who have been cut, burned out, whatever – where are they? I’m afraid that to many are playing these ridiculous video games, sitting on the couch, stuffing their faces with junk food and soft drinks. Can’t we do better than this?

 

 

 IN THE BEGINNING

 

 

In the beginning, there was a boy and a girl. They were like two playful otters, sliding down icy slopes, having great fun, laughing. It was such great sport.

 

“Sport” – pleasantry, jest (an act intended to provoke joy and laughter)

 

Then one day, their Mother made them a ball of yarn. And they began to play with the ball, rolling it back and forth to each other, tossing it in the air to each other, kicking it, and hitting it with a stick. It was such fun, interacting with this object, which moved through space like a bird. They played in the moment.

 

In the beginning, there were no words associated with play like compete, win, lose, better. Otters didn’t compete in their games – nor did these children. They were in the moment – they loved being playful.

 

To “play” - recreational (to refresh the 'spirit')  activity with the absence of 'serious' or 'harmful' intent

 

The children began to make up games, like hit and catch the ball. Other children began to join in, each child taking turns hitting the ball while others got to try and catch it. It was fun. Everyone had a great time.

 

“EACH PLAY IS THE GAME”

 

A “game” – activity engaged in for diversion or amusement (to entertain or occupy in a light, ‘playful’, or pleasant manner)

 

Then the children’s well-meaning Father came along and decided to TEACH the children a new way to “play” their “game”. (It is not exactly understood why the Father chose to structure the game the way he did – I’m sure we could go on and on about this question.)

 

He decided that they should structure a ball game in which there would be an objective of scoring runs, keeping track of those runs, and at the end of this different activity, declare a winner. It would therefore be presumed that the winners were in some way better than the losers. He decided to call this form of “game playing” a competition. (Prior to this time, these concepts and words for them were not even part of this culture’s heritage).

 

To “compete” – to consciously (perceiving with a degree of ‘controlled’ thought) strive for an objective that only one can possess

 

To “win” – to be the one who defeats an opponent (enemy)

 

To “lose” – to fail

 

“better” – superior

 

And so it began. The children, once laughing and playful like otters, soon began keeping score, and determining a winner. And those who won began to feel they were better than those who lost. And those who lost felt sad and downhearted. And some of the joy of playing the game began to disappear. It wasn’t really a game anymore - it was more like work.

 

To “work” – serious, sustained, physical effort to achieve an objective

 

And as winning became more and more important, soon only the best players got to play, the kids specialized at playing certain positions, they no longer dared to hit both right and left handed, the other teams became vengeful adversaries, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., and etc. The children had been taught to structure their play in such a way that there was an overall objective – they began losing site of joyfulness in the moment – they started keeping track of the past. And before long, they thought that this was what sport, play and games were all about – competing to win. They had been conditioned to compete – they knew of no other way. It was a given – to think otherwise would be heresy.

 

“conditioning” - to mold, so as to conform to an environing culture

 

You've got to be taught, to win and lose,
You've got to be taught, its not yours to choose,
It's got to be drummed, in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught, before it's too late,
Before you are six, or seven or eight,
To intensely compete, in the “games” that you “play”,
You've got to be carefully taught.

 

 

“DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK”

 

 

MAKING CHOICES

 

 

I challenge what I was taught. Competing, winning (all keeping track of the past) in what are supposed to be games makes no sense to me. I want to PLAY, nothing else. I think our children should be given the opportunity to do the same – be playful in their games. It seems inappropriate for us to refer to these competitive activities we engage in with moving balls as games or play. What we are doing is not playful – it is WORK. Lets call a spade a spade. When it comes to recreational activity, which seems basically intended as a diversion from work, I want to play.

 

To me, it is the process that counts. Each play is the game. There is no need to keep track of the past. I don’t need to feel superior. I already love and respect who I am. I like the challenge of each play. I like the exercise. I like my friends. I like playing with new friends. I like treating others as I in turn would like to be treated.

 

And I have learned something else. When I used to play competitive league games, when I was victorious, I actually felt some remorse for the loser. I knew in my heart that oftentimes the outcome of the game had nothing to do with skill – it was pure random luck, or an incorrect umpiring call, or a shift in the wind. How could I possibly get so pumped up over winning or losing when a poorly hit blooper ended up scoring the winning run? And if I lost, why was I feeling bad? This was supposed to be play, having fun, getting exercise, and not feeling bad.

 

The rush to compete meant giving up far too much – freedom, diversity, eligibility, and laughter. And it added some things I really find repulsive – injury, violence, depression, exclusion, obsession, jeering, hatred, etc., etc. I want nothing more to do with it. I choose to do something different. And I am not alone. I want to play, but in a different way. I would like our children to be given the opportunity to do the same.

 

You needn’t think, “but if I choose to be different, what will this mean to me and my children, and my company and my country, and on and on? This can’t possibly work.” My suggestion is, don’t worry about what will or won’t work for others, just be yourself.  Try it on. It may not be easy at first – change usually never is. There will be some ego issues to deal with, and years of conditioning to overcome. Give it a chance. Give your children a chance. See how it really feels to be “playful” and not burdened with the baggage of winning and losing. See how much more fun your old games, slightly restructured, can really be. RECREATE YOURSELF. Lets honor our differences and stop trying to be better than others.

 

“different” – partly or totally unlike in ‘nature’

  

 

REALITY CHECK - WHO IS PARTICIPATING?

 

 

Doesn’t it seem strange that most of us who played these ball games as children no longer do so? Doesn’t it seem strange that by high school age, 70% of the children who once participated in organized sports are no longer doing so? Doesn’t it seem strange that we are conditioned to hate the rival high school across the town that we both call home? Doesn’t it seem strange that there is always an ambulance in the ready position at every high school football game?

 

Why aren’t we all still playing? Mostly, because in our rush to compete and win, we weed out the less adept and/or the smaller and less strong. So all this energy goes into supporting a very few in the name of enhancing some school’s or pro team’s prestige, while the rest of us get fat, dumb, and happy (or very sad if our team loses) watching from the sidelines. We glorify the high school, college and pro standout. We see instant replays of their amazing feats, as if they are superhuman. I have seen near replicas of every amazing sport play ever witnessed on TV performed by myself and/or my peers. The only difference oftentimes is that they are the biggest (not even necessarily the most athletic), while we are just of average size and strength.

 

I wish I had a regular place to go, on a weekly basis, to “play” some “ball games” with others. The basics of baseball were a game I always loved for example. But the co-educational softball league in my hometown doesn’t really appeal to me. The ball is not “soft”, and when some huge male hits it my way at shortstop and it takes a bad bounce, my inclination is to play “dodge ball”. The rest of the team, hell-bent on “winning”, doesn’t appreciate that. I only get three at bats in a game (less if we have to take turns sitting on the bench), I have to play one position, the ball rarely comes my way if I’m playing second base or right field, we seem to spend more time changing sides back and forth than actually playing, etc.

 

(Note: Please do not interpret what is being said here as a complete condemnation of how things are or an attempt to eliminate the status quo. Each must make his/her own choices. My choice is to not compete, nor to participate in games, which I find uncomfortable. I would like to “play” in a “different” way. And I wish we could give our children the option of doing the same. I have stopped watching most sporting events on TV or keeping track of sports in the newspaper. Most is too fraught with violence and anger. And what difference does it make, really? I will occasionally watch a little golf and tennis – since I continue to play these games in a different non-competitive form, I pick up some pointers in watching others at “work”.)

 

  

SUMMARY

 

THE MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH OUR

“TRADITIONAL BALL GAMES”

 

                                

WINNING/LOSING – this is a contrivance of the mind. Games can be played without having to win or lose. In fact, they are more fun and more inclusive when winning and losing is not part of the mix. Many of the problems, which follow, stem directly from the assumption that we need competition in sports to make them worth doing. That is what we have been taught. It is not a given. This may be hard to accept at first. Give it a try – you will be amazed.

 

LACK OF DIVERSITY – in order to maximize the probability of winning, we are oftentimes forced to specialize on one sport and on one position in that sport.

 

HURT BODIES and FEELINGS – specialization and taking chances in order to win, results in injured and overtaxed bodies. Sometimes in the passion to win, we are even encouraged to intentionally try to hurt others. Having loser’s sets us up for disappointment. Emphasizing winning results in coaches and fans yelling at us, and our peers being disappointed in us, with the resultant feelings of humiliation and failure. Is this really any fun?

 

INAPPROPRIATE PLAYING TOOLS/DEVICES – a “softball” is not soft, hitting with a bat is difficult for some (why not use a racquet), etc., - let’s let go of some of the adult game tools/rules that make our games to difficult for some and injury prone for others.

 

INEQUALITIES – the “better” players are at the top of the lineup, get more playing time, get the better positions (e.g., left field vs. right field).

 

LACK OF FREEDOM and SPONTANEITY – for most, forget about developing ambidextrous skills, going for it (play it safe – don’t make an error), modifying the rules to accommodate “differences”.

 

INAPPROPRIATE ATTITUDES and BEHAVIORS – despising others, wishing them ill, yelling at them, machoism, sexism, elitism (acting as if superior), hazing, conformity – these come with the competitive/winning/best mentality - what is going on here?

 

STRESS and ANXIETY – “performing” in front of yelling spectators, meeting the “expectations” of coaches and peers, put stresses on participants that are never experienced in real “play” situations. This can lead to an increased incidence of inappropriate and addictive behaviors.

 

THIRD PARTY OFFICATING, COACHES, and SPECTATORS – why aren’t we all playing? Adults can play along with children and act as mentors in the process. Did your parents come to watch your pick-up games with your friends? Wouldn’t adult needs for recreation be better served if they were given a chance to play as well?

 

PARTICIPATION – as children get older, the less competent players are cut, benched, etc., so that by the time teenagers enter high school, 70% who once participated in organized sports are no longer doing so. And what about the adults. They have very limited opportunities to really be “playful”.

 

TOO MANY PLAYERS – most of our traditional ball games involve too many people in the game at the same time. This reduces the number of opportunities to be actively engaged in the process, adds to the likelihood of collisions, takes up more space, etc. (It will be demonstrated in the next section that changing to smaller teams playing on smaller fields usually actually facilitates play by more people.)

 

 

 “COULD WE START AGAIN PLEASE?”

 

GENERAL GUIDELINES for RESOLVING THESE PROBLEMS

 

  

NO WINNING, NO LOSING, and NO KEEPING SCORE – keeping track of the past (the score) is simply a contrivance of the mind. Creating an objective based on keeping track of the past need not be a given. The objective could just as well be, “EACH PLAY IS THE GAME”.

 

SMALLER GROUPS PLAYING ON SMALLER FIELDS/COURTS, etc. – this surprisingly results in more people being able to play in the same space required for the traditional game, and a lot more action for all those participating.

 

EVERYONE (ALL AGES/ABILITIES) INCLUDED – no one is cut or benched. Games can be played with intergenerational participation, by skill groupings, by age groupings, etc. Playing opportunities persist for a lifetime.

 

SOFTER/SMALLER BALLS, LOWER GOALS, etc. – a baseball and “softball” are much too hard – it is not fun being hit by one. A regulation football is hard, heavy, and for some, difficult to hold. The height of a basketball goal, even for adults, should not be a given (I like slam dunking too). All of these “standards” need to be re-examined, with new choices made to maximize comfort, safety, and playability.

 

EQUALITY – EVERYONE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY EVERY POSITION and HIT, SHOOT, PASS, etc., APPROXIMATELY THE SAME NUMBER OF TIMES – seems fair, doesn’t it?

  

NO ERRORS – the only exception to this would be hurting another physically or emotionally. Because scoring and winning are not at stake, and the major themes of these games are getting exercise, having fun, being with friends, the challenge of each play (the outcome unimportant), a major focus can be safety and support. What was once frowned on as an “error”, can be complimented as a “nice try”. Laughter and positivism should abound.

 

DROP IN – wouldn’t it be nice to have regularly scheduled play times where you could show up if convenient? There could also be regularly scheduled times when participation on a regular basis is encouraged.

 

NO OPPONENTS – all friends – all one playgroup. If more people were available, there would be multiple playgroups playing simultaneously.

 

                                   SOME NOTEABLE QUOTES

 

“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.”         FDR

 

“Competition can be a very intense experience and a very rewarding one, or it can be enormously destructive. External pressure, whether it’s exerted by a coach, a school, a ski club, or a country, is what can make it a negative thing. When they use you to satisfy their need to succeed, when they impose their value system on you, then competition isn’t personally rewarding anymore.... You’re either a winner or a loser.... There’s no way in my mind that you can divide humanity into those two categories.”           Andrea Mead Lawrence, skier

 

“What the world needs today is not more competition but woman’s native genius for sympathetic co-operation. Competition is so acute because society has crumbled and left the individual atomized and unprotected. Unless we women succeed in modifying this competitive spirit through more effective co-operation between public and private endeavor, between management and labor, between the contending religious groups, between the family and the community, between one individual and another, then there is little hope for our democratic civilization. This is women’s great opportunity—to ease the acute and dangerous tensions of American life.”   Agnes E. Meyer

 

“We call it a Society; and go about professing openly the totalest separation, isolation. Our life is not a mutual helpfulness; but rather, cloaked under due laws-of-war, named “fair competition” and so forth, it is a mutual hostility.”   Thomas Carlyle

 

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Sociology of Sport,  by Eitzen and Sage

 

Sports in Society,  by Jay Coakley

 

Social Issues in Sport,  by Ronald Woods

 

Cooperative Games and Sports: Joyful Activities for Everyone,  by Terry Orlick

 

Just Let the Kids Play,  by Bob Bigelow, Tom Moroney and Linda Hall

 

Why Johnny Hates Sports,  by Fred Engh

 

Changing Kids’ Games,  by Don Morris and Jim Stiehl

Reforming Sports Before the Clock Runs Out,   by Bruce Svare

 

The Cheers and the Tears: A Healthy Alternative to the Dark Side of Youth Sports Today, 

by Shane Murphy

 

Lessons of the Locker Room: the Myth of School Sports,  by Andrew Miracle

 

Inclusive Games: Movement Fun for Everyone,  by Susan Kasser

 

No Contest: The Case Against Competition,  by Alfie Kohn

 

Best New Games,  by Dale LeFevre

 

Playfair,  by Matt Weinstein and Joel Goodman

 

The Competition - Cooperation Link,  by Daniel Midura and Donald Glover

 

“The Case Against Competition”,  by Alfie Kohn, (www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/tcac.htm)

 

“Cultural Heresy: The Case Against Competition”, by Curt Frantz, 

(www.geocities.com/heartland/lane/7250/thoughts/cac.html)

 

“Ambidexterity”,  by Melvin Saunders,  (www.braincourse.com/ambia.html)

 

 

 

Web Pages

                                                                    

www.bob-bigelow.com,  Bob Bigelow

 

www.junkyardsports.com/community,  Bernie DeKoven

www.PE4LIFE.org

www.NRPA.org , National Recreation and Parks Association

www.AAHPERD.org/NASPE ,  National Association for Sport and Physical Therapy

www.AAHPERD.org/AAPAR  ,  American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation

www.AAHPERD.org/NAGWS ,  National Association for Girls and Women in Sport

www.csuchico.edu/kine/tasp/, The Association for the Study of Play

 

www.inewgames.com,  Dale LeFevre

 

www.coopsports.com,  David Gaia Kano

 

www.freenotes.net,  Richard Cooke

 

www.guitarsimplified.com, Guitar Simplified for Everyone

 

 

 

Another aside - KILLING/EXPLOITING ANIMALS FOR SPORT

 and in other ways

 

I will try to be short and to the point in this section. I know that this subject may not seem to fit within the context of the overall theme of this guide. It is a subject of personal interest/passion to me however, and I would like to share my thoughts with you. It is another area in which competition has gotten out of control.

 

I consider myself an equal to other life forms. They are not here for me to subjugate or enslave or mistreat. I try to treat all things as I myself would like to be treated. All things are sacred and deserving of respectful treatment.

 

I need to eat. If I need to kill in order to eat, I will do so in a considerate and thankful way. I will do it efficiently, and certainly not as a competition. In other words, I am not going to invest thousands of dollars in equipment to go out on the open ocean and try to catch the largest swordfish imaginable. Instead, I may go out in a shallow creek in a canoe and catch all the fish I can eat in a week with a couple of casts of a net. Their size is of no concern to me.

 

Killing for “sport” makes absolutely no sense to me. “Sport”  (pleasantry, jest - an act intended to provoke joy and laughter) should have nothing to do with violence or killing. I don’t kill for any reason other than the necessity to eat. And what I do kill, I humbly thank for nourishing me. I don’t do catch and release – is that the way you would want to be treated? Hooked in the mouth, and dragged around in the water so that ultimately your picture can appear in someone’s photo album. My entertainment at the expense of somethingelse’s well being?

 

I am not going to go to the racetrack to see horses or dogs mercissley used up during their “prime” years for entertainment purposes. Nor am I going to a zoo/aquarium, to see animals/fish confined in small spaces for the convenience of humans to view. I am not going to lock up a bunch of hound dogs in small pens all year round so that they can occasionally be released to harass every living creature in the forest.

 

PS – If we carefully look at nature, we find a lot more cooperation going on than what we refer to as competition – (desire to take absolute control over a scarce resource from another) – look how much sharing and synergy and intertwindedness occur in nature. Where there is some form of competition in nature, it most often has to do with territorial food issues and mating – never in play (in nature, life is “the process”, not arbitrary beginnings and endings, as in keeping track of the past – the score).