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It’s sports day at my children’s school today. The school has put on non-competitive sports in the past but have now returned to a more competitive kind of sports day. Who is right? Should sports be non-competitive? What about those who are no good at sports?

Well my own feelings are that sports day should be competitive and it’s up to the school to do it properly so that those who find sport difficult understand that taking part is still very important.

I think I have quite a unique perspective on all this because I’m someone who struggled with sport at school for quite a while. You see I was always pretty average at sport in the my primary school and I was still very happy just taking part. I hadn’t yet learned that sport was supposed to be all about winning. Then at secondary school (High school) I was ill for quite a while and I ended up rubbish at sport. Sports day became a very bad day for me – struggling to finish races at the back. I stopped trying. It wasn’t until the very end of my school sports career that I managed to pull things back a bit and started to push the winners (although I never actually won).

It is possible to learn a lot from such experiences. It is important to understand what competition is and how to handle it. It’s important for winners and losers.

However, I do believe that children need to be helped to understand what I think is the golden rule of sport.

“It’s not whether you win or lose it’s how you play the game”.

Sport can teach you what it’s like to win and what it’s like to lose but above all of this it can teach you the pride of having done your best. We all need to learn that there are always going to be people who can better us at one thing or another. This doesn’t make us failures as people it tells us that we should be proud of ourselves for everything we achieve.

I admire people who overcome great odds to achieve things – sometimes things that I might take for granted. Those who battle disability to walk or talk, etc. show great determination and effort. It doesn’t matter that in a straight walking race I could probably beat them (I was a race walker for while by the way) but it does matter than they are winners in life because they did their best.

So I say children should learn about competition and especially what it means to compete against yourself. Those who struggle with sport (like those who struggle with anything) should be shown that when they make an effort everyone appreciates them taking part and if no one ever does notice their effort they will at least be able to have some self pride in knowing that it wasn’t winning or losing that mattered but how they played the game.

One of the problems with professional sports people is that they seldom understand what it feels like not to be fit. When you are not fit any amount of exercise can be painful and exhausting. I well remember the first time I went running after a long absence from the sport. I could only run about 200 yards and then I have to give in and walk back home. I felt sick, dizzy, embarrassed, unhealthy, desperate, etc. I’m glad I kept going – although even now it’s pretty hard work.

Of course sports people feel this kind of thing as well but I think there is a difference. I’ve had both experiences in my life and I know that somehow the sickness and exhaustion that comes when you are pushing yourself as a fit person is different to that of when you are unfit.

I want to encourage you if you are just starting out to get fit.

First – some of us do understand what you are going through and we know that it is not easy. I may not know you personally but believe me that I have great admiration for anyone who makes the effort to get fit – especially if you are very unfit.

Second – understand that the pain you experience is a part of the process of getting fit. Don’t give in when it hurts (if you are worried about the pain then seek medical help – it’s wise to get checked out). The pain you feel from first starting to exercise will get less. Somehow the pain can almost become a pleasure when you get past that first part.

Third – don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s great that you are now getting some exercise.  When you first start out you should be very proud that you are making those first steps – don’t be put off by any lack of progress instead be happy you are exercising.

I’m proud of you – keep it up.

It is pretty generally believed that children are naturally fit and given an active lifestyle and the right diet they will not need to do any extra exercise. It is also pretty generally believed that exercise (other than just playing their usual games) might even be harmful for children.

As I am trying to get my own children to exercise I thought I should do some investigating and find out what the situation is.

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There are many things that children enjoy. Experience tells me that these are the very same things that we all enjoy. Playing games, laughing, hanging around with friends, computer games, just messing about, etc.

Perhaps the secret to helping children into sport is to think about the kinds of things we might enjoy and encouraging them to get involved.

Anyway today I wanted to talk about something that is easy for us all to do and which can make a big difference to our ability to enjoy sport (and life in general).

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Sport in school is rubbish – at least it is for my children. I want them to be fit and healthy and not grow up fat – like so many other children are these days. But how do you get them to do it? Exercise is hard work and hurts so how can I persuade my children that exercise is good fun? Over the next few months I will share with you my efforts at getting them motivated for exercise.

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Older people who undertake endurance training end up with a much younger heart according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Presumably this would be true for anyone else who did the same.

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