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Young people need to learn about leadership, about teamwork, about the thrill of victory and the frustration of defeat. They need to learn what it means to work together and determine how to integrate different skills in different areas to achieve a common goal. This is what youth sports can do for children and adolescents, and it's why youth sports are one effective way to help build the future of our country.

However, there are lots of ways to learn about competition. Students can be a part of debate teams or quiz bowl. They can be in the marching band or the orchestra. They can be experts in math or science or the law. Athleticism is only one of many different ways that the youth of America can discover what it means to be part of the shared experience of life in the real world.

Whichever way children are able to be part of this process we should support, as long as it is healthy and positive for all involved. And in a time where we are discussing the segregation of activity it is more important than ever to remind ourselves that it is *competiton itself* which matters and not the format or the venue.

We are here to discover in what ways we can excel. The context will change. The rules will evolve. The arenas will be transformed. What matters is that we find ways to be the best that we can be. And the time and place to begin is when we are young.