Our school years have an enormous impact on the way we grow as we get older. Who we turn out to be depends greatly (although not entirely) on how we are brought up and what we experience between the ages of 4 and 18. Without realizing it everything we face affects our futures; getting us ready to thrive on our own. One of the most significant things we experience growing is the possibility of failure and the need to improve. High school sports and interactive clubs are coincidentally the primary source of experience for this necessary life lesson.

High school extracurriculars such as clubs and club sports are all-inclusive, a way to enjoy a hobby without being “cut” and to experience and delve into different ideas. Clubs are important in that they help shape our values and thought processes without the “tough love” aspect but instead as an equal group of members.

High school sports and teams are not the same thing nor should they be. Most high school sports involve tryouts and result in some participants to get cut from consideration, or in some cases are placed between “A” and “B” teams based on talent and ability. High school sports in this way teach us the necessity to improve and the need to exceed, traits imperative to success in careers in the real world. Sports that have room for a certain number of teammates cause players and athletes to have to show their worth, prove their strength and exercise dedication. Not taking a team sport seriously and lacking to show any steadfast traits ultimately results in failure to make the team. This should show athletes that wanting something does not get you anywhere, rather working for it and putting the effort in is what will get you there. The failure to make a team and the threat of less playing time as a consequence for deficient effort makes a determined individual work harder and focus on improving the skills necessary to succeed.

The real world requires effort and determination. To succeed and excel in careers you need to work hard, prove your worth and exemplify strength and diligence in your field. You will not get anywhere without hard work and constantly improving your skills and abilities. Success in reality is like success on a team sport: if you show little desire and hardly any rigor you will not get anywhere nor will you climb further in success in your career. Knowing how to fix what you do wrong or are not excellent in, not whining and complaining about the basis for success “not being fair” is how you will get places in life, whether in sports or in careers.

High school teams becoming “all-inclusive” is more harmful than it is good to society. To eliminate the expectations of a team sport, to not require hard work and effort and a skill set is to teach teens laziness and to expect what you want instead of working for it. Giving in to every single participant does not reflect the necessary prerequisites for success in the workforce. High school sports have more importance to our development than just exercise and athleticism. Allowing every participant to be on a team or get a trophy fails to mold students into successful, driven adults. If you do not want to face being cut from a team or not playing as much, join a club sport instead of a team sport.

The real world requires improvement for us to be successful. Participation trophies and “all-inclusive” sports teams teach us otherwise.