When the focus on winning kills the opportunity for growth

Where does winning fit in to achieve a culture maximising potential?

My role here in Brooklyn, New York is to head up the junior program as the high-performance coach. I have been involved in high-level squash for a long time both in my career as a player and as a coach to others striving to reach the top levels of national and international squash.

Over the years I have regularly reviewed what it means to be successful in the high-performance space and what is success in sports and life. For every player I’ve coached, I ask these questions to myself and them. What are aiming towards and why? What is this journey all about? The answer is rarely the same.

Now I am based in the US the landscape is different to my home in the UK and these questions come forward again in the context of the young players I coach. The educational pathway is a very big deal here and getting into a great college (university in Europe) is the main driver behind the ever-expanding junior programs in the US. Squash can facilitate being accepted so the pressure is on for coaches, parents, and clubs to develop players fast and to peak by the recruitment stage of approx 16/17 years old.

It is a fast-track environment with the goals relatively short term. Coupled with this there is a relationship with winning here which is strikingly different from anywhere I have been. Results count and are taken very seriously and celebrated emphatically. It’s very apparent in adults and juniors on and off the court. I am conflicted by this culture. On one hand, the energy and desire for outcomes are so refreshing, and having lived in the UK where all too often we are too passive in how we reach for the stars and when people do achieve things, instead of a sincere pat on the back there is jealousy and unease with the success which manifests in wanting to knock that person back down to earth. Here it’s often ‘How can I help you find even more success?’

On the other hand, especially in the context of building culture in young people that I consider optimal, the need to win can obliterate true learning and growth opportunities while often knocking down other players around them in the process.

I feel there is a strong idea here that winning is everything. This completely misses the point. Winning is simply the indicator of a process preceding the result and a performance on the day but the amount of magic moments involved along the journey is really where the primary focus must lie. If I take one player here out of the 25 that I work closely with there have been hundreds of occasions in group lessons, in private lessons, at tournaments, in conversations off the court, in exchanges with other players, in moments of self-reflection which have all shaped a course towards a certain outcome. Yes, winning is the ultimate result of the game on the court but it’s only that. There are so many wins along the way which go unnoticed that can literally change a life. Shifts in self-confidence, self-understanding, emotional regulation, contribution to others, and the list goes on.

And then we have the dreaded reality of losing. This can literally paralyse a player during a match. But when winning is the only indicator of success then losing can only be failure and this is a belief I have encountered a lot here. Losing can and should tell us what we need to know about the preparation and the performance. We need to be able to ask very honest and painful questions about what happened and why. The answers can be that the performance was very good, but just not good enough yet or that the performance was not good at all and certain areas of attitude and character need to be discussed and shifted.

I am blessed with a coaching team here who also embrace a culture focused on the individual at the center, helping them develop in the best possible way for themselves to reach their own goals within the context of a college pathway, while respecting and enjoying training with the players around them. We are seeing results in tournaments and in the small wins every day for each player which is so rewarding for everyone involved.

No environment is perfect but a clear vision for what is best for maximising people can work anywhere. With the energy and work ethic of the people here it’s a very exciting opportunity to build a culture which is not focused primarily on the result but instead the unleashing of potential from an intense and life affirming journey.