Aubrey’s Analysis

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural Intramural Cross-Country Contest for the North Okaloosa County elementary schools.

It was a great day all around. Kids were excited to race one another, the Okaloosa County School District was proud to see an idea that started a year ago come to fruition, and parents got to enjoy watching their children compete.

My only mistake was wearing jeans, not knowing how much running I would also be doing, but that’s beside the point.

Although the day went great, there was something that stood out to me. Why, just now, are there events and competitions for kids?

I understand that when President Obama was in office, the Presidential Fitness Test was replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, but why did the competitive aspect have to be removed?

Competition is a great motivator in my eyes. And I’m not even limiting the lens to sports alone. In school, students compete with one another for valedictorian. Others may compete for first chair in the band. There’s even competition for student government.

Each of those examples has some form of competition, and each one pushes a “competitor” to better themselves. There’s even competition in the “adult world” when it comes to careers and promotions.

Now, I am happy to hear that the OCSD is reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test along with possibly installing other forms of competitive sports for younger children.

There are also plenty of lessons to be learned through competition. Let’s go back to the cross-country competition, for example.

Yes, kids were there to compete against one another to see who could run the fastest mile between fourth- and fifth-grade boys and girls. But in their eyes, it was simply watching their friends complete a race.

If the fourth-grade girls were running, the other three groups were cheering them on to the finish. When the fifth-grade boys ran, the same thing happened, with the addition of kids who had already run their race joining their classmates for a final push to the finish.

That’s called sportsmanship. Kids can also learn how to evaluate their emotions, show respect and take constructive criticism. There are so many valuable lifelong lessons that come from simply being competitive or participating in some form of competition.

Not to mention that if the goal is to get kids active and outdoors, and they enjoy a certain sport, then they will go outside to practice in order to become better. Throwing a football, batting practice at the fields, running at the park, playing a game of pickup basketball — the list goes on.

You also build a parental relationship because your kid is going to want to practice and play with you.

I could go on, but I feel like the point is made, and I’m happy that I got to witness kids from seven Crestview-area schools go out, be active and enjoy some friendly competition because that will set them up to persevere and push through anything they may face in the future.