Junior Showmanship – Can It Be Fun & Competitive?

BY WILLIAM GIVEN

Recently, my wife and I were sitting ringside watching Junior Showmanship when we heard a mother say to her daughter, “You’re not here to have fun, you are here to win.” The child had been engaged in what appeared to be a very pleasant conversation with a friend before being called to the ring. Her mother obviously felt her daughter was not fully focused, afraid her daughter was not going to try hard enough, and did not want to win as badly as her mother wanted her to win.

After the children were called into the ring, the mother watched from outside the ring and appeared to be growing more and more frustrated. At first, she tried to move closer and softly coach her daughter, but as her daughter got further away her coaching became noticeably louder…and continuous.

These two girls were entered in the novice junior class, so we know they were not yet 12 years of age. I would be guessing, but they looked to be in the 4th or 5th grade.

The second mother seemed visibly upset that this type of coaching (scolding really) was taking place and, I believe, was afraid it would turn her child away from Junior Showmanship. I can imagine this mother wanted but three things: She wanted her daughter to share the same lifelong passion and pursuit of the sport that she did. She wanted her daughter to have the same great memories and experiences she had. She wanted her daughter to have fun first and worry about the “work” later.

Now, my wife’s educational background is in early childhood education, so I asked her, “When do children shift from wanting to have fun to being competitive in a sport like Junior Showmanship?” Her response came quickly, “They don’t.” She suggested, “Does it not seem reasonable that fun and competition can coexist? They need not be mutually exclusive.” Then my wife added, “Would you ask your granddaughter to choose between having fun and competing to win? No, because you want her to have fun and share your passion for the sport.”

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Posted by Alex on Nov 14 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.