True competition: a guide to pursuing excellence in sport and society

Abstract

Reviews the book, True competition: a guide to pursuing excellence in sport and society by David L. Shields and Brenda L. Bredemeier (see record 2009-01267-000). The authors agree that competition can be misused to assess student achievement and motivate student performance. Focusing on sports, they argue that competition is actually a highly cooperative activity. The rules of sport are constitutive of the sport itself. The authors advocate a revolution in youth sports by arguing for the necessity of giving the sports back to the children. They also provide very concrete suggestions for helping children to compete in ways that are fun and fair. Leaders of youth sports organizations ought to take heed. It is a book about character and culture and how we, as members of a human community, can live and work together in justice and peace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)