“This is what kids don’t understand. Some of them will never understand. Just because you go to a certain school, you think you’re entitled to a championship. And you don’t even know how to play in a championship games!
And the reason we won so many championships games and the Final Four…is that you have to have kids that deserve it. Well you say, ‘every kid deserves it.’ NO they don’t! Not every kid deserves it because not every kid is willing to work every day from October to March to prepare for that moment. They just want to be in that moment and they hope they’re good enough in that moment….”
- Geno Auriemma, UCONN Women’s Basketball (Twitter)
entitled / adjective / “believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment”
“Not every kid deserves a championship because not every kid is willing to work every day to prepare for it.”
Those are the words UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma shared Wednesday in response to the media.
We live in a world where a number of parents believe their child is entitled to winning – even if said child has done little to work for it. Just Tuesday, news broke about a massive college admissions scandal involving wealthy parents paying individuals to get their children accepted to prestigious schools – even if the child’s grades failed to merit their admission.
Youth coaches are leaving the ranks in droves because parents are attacking them in the belief that their child ranks superior to their teammates, and therefore deserves more playing time – even if said child lacks the talent or work ethic.
Honestly, you could open a newspaper and see a story along the lines every week.
Entitlement is rampant in today’s world.
You are not entitled to championships as an athlete just because of where you go or what your last name is. The beauty of sports is that it’s a meritocracy – the best team on any given day wins. It doesn’t matter how much money player A makes or who player B’s dad is – the results are determined on the field/court, and not in the stands or political arena.
Just say the same – most of us can agree, we don’t get a promotion at work simply for showing up. We actually have to do the work – and be good at it!
Our health and fitness goals? Same thing. You don’t get stronger by wishing for it. You can’t lose your desired weight because you feel you’re entitled to it.
You reach that fitness goal by doing the work every day for it – even if it takes a year or more!.
We want our kids to be undefeated champions, but honestly, it’s not the end of the world if your kid loses a sporting game. It may actually present the opportunity to teach them about hard work, learning how to improve skills, and motivate them to get better.
It’s every parents’ dream to provide a better future for their children than they had. we want them to win and be champions on the field. We want life to be easier for them than it was us, and we want them to build on our success so they do even more than we could.
But is allowing them to grow up with the belief they deserve to win every time – even when they haven’t put in the work – really what’s best for them?
What we need to want most is not the championships – but that our kids grow up knowing the importance of hard work, consistency, and grit. That they understand the importance of effort – and are the type of person willing to give that effort for their goals.
Because that’s what translates to success in any arena of life as an adult.
It’s not the fellow adults who want to do big things that we admire – it’s the ones who ARE doing big things, who are taking action, and who are earning their successes. Those are the people that inspire us to do the same.
Show your children in sports this video below from Coach Auriemma and then encourage them about the importance of competing every day. It doesn’t guarantee a championship every year – but you’ll be guaranteed no championships if you don’t consistently put in the work.
Competitors shine in the spotlight when everyone is watching because they’re willing to grind in the weeks/months/years when no one is.
I LOVE this. #PrepareForTheMoment Video from @TheUConnBlog pic.twitter.com/b3qXEoZty5
— Rebecca Lobo (@RebeccaLobo) March 13, 2019