Proposal

Anna Johnson

English 1102

Cathy Mahaffey

4 February 2013

Exigence

Does competition mold us into more disciplined athletes or does it make us look selfish?Does competition show more in sports, or in athletics as well? Being competitive is viewed in two different ways. One way is that it builds character and gives children a chance to make their own goals and strive to achieve them. The second way, is that competition has caused our society to be carried away with winning. Winning doesn just mean coming in first place in a sports competition, but it could mean coming out on top of your class. Some people think that children are pushed too far and too much just to be on top. I never realized how competitive I was as an athlete until my freshman year in high school. I joined the Cross Country and Track teams at my school and ran all four years. Each year I set a goal based on my previous year. I was constantly striving to bring my time down. I became more competitive in school because of being so competitive while I was running. It was a positive experience because it pushed me to do better academically and not just in sports. This is commonly

seen in athletes, because working out everyday keeps them active and to where they feel better not just physically, but also mentally. This topic holds merit due to the increase of competition in sports.

Inquiry

I often have wondered if those who are more passionate about the sport are also the ones who are more competitive? What could be alternative reasons why people are competitive? Different opinions and view have brought up the ideas that children who play sports turn the fun of the sport into a battlefield. Others believe that competition boosts a person self esteem and bring them closer to success in other areas of their life. We often look to famous athletes for inspiration and we think of them as being perfect, but some cheat their way to the top. Substances have been banned, especially from the Olympics, because athletes have used certain types of drugs to increase their chances of winning. This is when competition is looked at as being negative in the society. It is obvious that playing any sport is physical activity, and that means a healthier athlete, but is this the only positive point of sports? Sports are meant for entertainment, not only for the audience, but for the athletes too. More than often the goal is to be number one, and that takes over the unin sports and the real reason for school, which is to learn. Our society today is beyond competitive. What does competition really do to athletes? Does it cause athletes to have a more positive outlook on not only the sport itself, but their own life? Or does it just lead to arrogance? The meaning of the word may have changed in the past years. It seems as if you can be first, you might as well be last. Competitiveness isn just seen in sports, but also in the academic area. More than often, those who are competitive athletically, are just as competitive with their work.

Method

I going to do my research through Google and Google Scholar. I e used Google scholar in the past and I e already used it to search for this project. It a more reliable source than just google and it helps more with research papers. I really enjoy using it and I feel like it will be a beneficial way to research my topic. Watching videos and doing surveys dealing with this topic could also help me add more research to this paper. I want to do a survey on athletes to find out if being competitive in their sport, increases their competitiveness in academics too. I also would like to interview a high school athlete, because I e only been out of high school for less than a year. I think it would be interesting to see how a high school student felt, and if it was similar to how i felt about being an athlete.

Annotated Bibliography

Anna Johnson Professor Mahaffey English 1102-100 17 February 2013 Annotated Bibliography

Part 1 Works Cited "Are Competitive Sports Bad For Kids? | LIVESTRONG.COM." LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools | LIVESTRONG.COM . Livestrong, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. Evaluation: This source is an article that lists the age of children that receive the most pressure from sports and the effects it has on athletes. Since this is an article written by someone, it could be based more on opinion than actual facts. Gist: This article from Livestrong states that laying a sport at too young an age can lead to children to experience burnout and unnecessary pressureNelson). It is best that children start sports around age 10. When children begin competitive sports at too young an age or feel pushed to excel, a condition known as urnoutcan occur. Instead of forcing the child to be the best, aking the sport fun is important to ensuring a child the best experience with competitive sportsNelson).

Kohn, Alfie. "The Case Against Competition." Alfie Kohn Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013.

Evaluation: This is an article arguing the case of competition. It gives good supported facts that back up the positive and negative effects of being competitive. It an older article, but it relevant to the effects of competition today. Gist: hen it comes to competition, we Americans typically recognize only two legitimate positions: enthusiastic support and qualified supportKohn). The first view holds that the more we immerse our children in rivalry, the better. ompetition builds character and produces excellenceKohn). The second stance admits that our society has gotten carried away with the need to be umber One(Kohn), that we push our kids too hard and too fast to become winners, but competition is healthy and fun.

Mortimer, Lori. " Grades and Competition in School - Blogcritics Culture ." Blogcritics - News Reviews and Opinion . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. Evaluation: Not only is competition found in sports, but it is also found in academics. This article gives facts and examples from the author personal experiences that gives more knowledge about competition just in the academically aspect. Gist: e live in a competitive world and children need to learn to survive in it (local newspaper) The author argues that he truth, as the competitive world argument attests, is that grades are a tool for establishing competition between students Students compete for the better grades even though knowing not everyone can get an A. hose who oppose the standards-based evaluation in the local school district have convinced themselves that academic competition is good for kidsMortimer). After 12 years or more of competitive schooling, hildren learn to compete in near everything they doMortimer). "Sports and Drugs - ProCon.org." Sports and Drugs - ProCon.org. ProCon, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. Evaluation: This website is very reliable because it is an organizational website that gives facts about whether performance enhancing drugs being allowed in sports or not. It also gives the pros and cons about these drugs by categories. This website has been updated this month so the information is accurate. Gist: Those who are for accepting performance enhancing drugs in sports argues that heir harmful health effects have been overstated, that health risks are an athlete decision to make (Sports and Drugs) Opponents argue that erformance enhancing drugs are harmful and potentially fatal, and that athletes who use them are cheaters who gain an unfair advantage, violate the spirit of competition and send the wrong message to childrenSports and Drugs). Various questions are asked categorized by pros and cons such as hould performance drugs be accepted in sports? or hy are some performance enhancing drugs legal while others are banned?

Wells, Bill. " How much competition is too much for kids? | masslive.com." Western Massachusetts Local News, Breaking News, Sports and Weather - MassLive.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. Evaluation: This article discusses how much competition is too much for children. It was written just a few years ago so this is still a very reliable source. It gives several quotes from other people to help back up the argument. Gist: At the beginning of this article it is stated, outh sports should be fun, unfortunately that not always the case.Personal experiences are benefits such as Tom Farrey, an ESPN reporter whose oldest son joined his first athletic team six years ago, witnessed how sports have progressed. Farrey notices something wasn right about sports today and that something had changed in society dealing with youth sports. The book he wrote asked, ow did we get to this place where things on their face are more competitive than ever before? Why has youth sports become so competitive, so organized, and so intense so early on?Farrey). Personal experiences over the past years proves that competition has gotten worse, and that it not always a good thing. Sports are meant to be fun, but hat happened is the reward for athletic achievement has grown(Farrey).

Synthesis: Competition dealing with sports and even academically has changed drastically over the years. Some people think that too often parents are the ones who pressure children to become more competitive in all areas. ur society has gotten carried away with the need to be umber One that we push our kids too hard and too fast to become winners, but competition is healthy and fun(Kohn). In the article I am using for my source, the author states that being on top is the only goal society has today, which contradicts what Bill Wells believes sports should really be all about. I agree with this statement and I also think that parents have become more competitive than the athletes themselves. Competition in sports greatly influences the competition in other areas such as

academics. hildren learn to compete in near everything they doMortimer). In the article all focusing on grades and school, Lori Mortimer describes what it is like for children in today society to have the best grades. The world has made us all to be more competitive in all we do because apparently being on top or umber oneis the only goal we have. Sports should be more fun than anything else. Playing any type of sport is healthy and keeps a child or athlete in shape. Unfortunately the pressures of being the very best has taken over the whole meaning of sports. An article using an interview of Tom Farrey agrees that sports are not the way they once used to be. Farrey states that when he took his oldest son to his practices, omething had changed in society dealing with youth sports.This led Farrey to write a book dealing with the question: ow did we get to this place where things on their face are more competitive than ever before? This same question is still asked because what really is the cause for how competitive we have become today? Why are sports more about being the best instead of having fun? It seems as if sports are less focused on the experience of the sport, and instead fully focused on winning the competition. Due to so much competitiveness in sports, athletes have gone as far as using illegal drugs to enhance their performance in competitions. The Sports and Drugs Organization argues both sides of this debate about performance enhancing drugs. erformance enhancing drugs are harmful and potentially fatal, and that athletes who use them are cheaters who gain an unfair advantage, violate the spirit of competition and send the wrong message to children(Sports and Drugs). This side argues against this saying that these drugs should stay illegal. Using them in competitions is not fair to those who actually try and those who use their talent without enhancing their performance. The other side argues that using these substances are the athlete decisions because they should know the health risks before taking any. It is their body and they can do whatever they desire. Using illegal substances should still be banned because a competition is for those who practice and use their talent the right way. An athlete can not truly win with assistance from performance enhancing drugs. In both sports and academics, competition is now what is most important. Finishing in front of

everyone else has become the world first priority instead of letting the good experiences sports and academics bring to the table as the only top priority.

Genre Piece

How and why have sports have changed over the years? This is basically focused on a person's opinion rather than facts because the reason sports have changed is just how people feel it has. Is competition the main focus on sports, or is it still all about the experience and just having fun doing it? Years ago I could see sports being just all about fun and entertainment, but now I can see that sports are focused only on competition itself. Winning is the only thing that matters in any sport. Instead of it being called a port it should now be called a ompetition Many of the resources I've used have people interviewed and they have even said themselves that sports have changed today. The people interviewed or those involved in the resources I used had something to do with sports. They either had children in recreational sports or they were coaches and had been involved with sports for years. These people used in the resources are knowledgeable when it comes to sports and how the focus of sports have changed over the past several years. Sports in today's society has a whole new meaning than it did before. Are the parents more competitive than the athletes? Or is it the other way around? Are the athletes still more competitive than the parents because they are the ones receiving the full experience? Parents push their children more now than ever before to be the very best and to always come out on top. This puts stress on athletes that shouldn't be placed on them in the first place. Pressured in sports takes the fun away from the sport itself, and this can be one reason why there is no unin sports anymore. It's just all about who will win. Losing is never an option in anyone's mind because of course, no one wants to come in last. On the other hand athletes can be the ones who are more competitive. Some athletes want a better reputation, or to have all the focus and spotlight on themselves. By doing so, working hard to be the best athlete can give them the attention they want.

This is what drives people to be more competitive than they used to be. Performance enhancing drugs is a major issue in sports today. Some argue that taking these drugs are an athlete's decision to make and as long as they know the health effects behind them, then it should be okay for these drugs to be used for sports. The other side of the argument is that these performance enhancing drugs are harmful to the body and athletes are cheaters who use them. This issue is still questioned today on whether these performance drugs should be legal or banned altogether. Any drug used to help make an athlete better than what they really are should be illegal. This is not fair to those athletes who use nothing but their time and effort to gain better performance. Magazines are a good example of how performance enhancing drugs can pressure others to use them as well. Pictures can be enhanced for athletes to have a better looking body than what they really do. Anyone who sees these photo edited pictures could envy it and want their body to look the same. Performance enhancing drugs does not send a positive message that younger athletes can see. If all athletes are taught that using something to help win a competition, then some may not work as hard. There should be no such thing as a ompetitionif drugs are used to improve performance, because competitions should solely be based on hard work and talent. Competitiveness isn't just in sports alone. It is also in the academic area of an athlete's life. We are taught in school that having straight A is what we should all strive for. Striving for this goal isn a bad goal to try and achieve, but in all reality, when trying to get into programs in colleges or when looking for jobs, the ones hiring does not always choose the person with the very best grades. An average person who is well-rounded is what employers look for now. A straight A student might have the book smarts, but not the hands on experience that an average student has. Hands on experience is more important than having the top grades. Not every athlete is competitive with their grades like they are with their sport, but some are just as competitive on and off the field. Academically, not everyone will get A's. It is possible, yes, but of course every student getting A's would not ever happen. Some students care more than others about their grades, while the others are

just making good enough grades to get by. Those who are competitive with their grades compete with other students to get the number one spot in the class. Being number one in their graduating class is a huge deal and some students would do anything to have the best grades to get them there. Sports is obviously not the only area in which competitiveness is found. Parents can pressure students and athletes in both areas to be the very best. Some parents are worse than others in pressuring their children and some are hard on the student or athlete for good reasons, while others just want to be on top as well. This probably isn the best choice in parenting because all individuals need to learn to accept failure. Not everyone will succeed in everything they do and all the time. Mistakes and disappointments help build character and this should be the way children are raised. The athletes themselves can also be the ones doing the pressuring. Athletes can focus so much on this one part of their life that they lack in other areas that are just as important, if not more. People are more competitive in sports as well as in other areas than they ever have been, such as being accepted into colleges, and once accepted, wanting to then be accepted into the program they are majoring in. Even after college, people compete to get the best job, best position, or to be promoted to a higher position. Competition never ends and probably will just continue to get worse. Being more competitive brings more entertainment to the sports world, but it could also make the true meaning of sports to dwindle to something new like it is now. Competition also affects the other areas of everyday life whether it is realized or not. If the focus of an individual life was to strive to do their best instead of striving to be the best, then the issue of competition being negative or positive would not be a worry.