Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / July 11, 2019, edition 1 / Page 9
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Photos by Alphonso Abbott Jr. Are we helping or hurting? Timothy Ramsey I have fond memories of my athletic competi tions as a child. I won some and I lost some. I felt those losses made me appreciate the victo ries even more. I didn’t walk away with a medal every tournament or field day, but that was okay with me. Nowadays, with schools and sports teams wanting everyone to feel included, I think they are somewhat doing the kids a disservice. With every kid get ting a “participation” tro phy or certificate, I think once they begin to com pete in higher level sports, they do not know how to handle adversity or defeat very well. I am not saying all kids, but just compar ing the kids I see now, ver sus when I was a child. As a reporter, I have seen some of the worst behavior from kids in various sports. Verbal outbursts, profanity, dis respect to coaches and officials, and inability to handle negative outcomes are some of the things I have observed in today’s generation of players. I think not allowing kids to fail is one of the major contributors to the nega tive behavior from some of the players. When I was a kid, I could not imagine say ing or doing some of the things to a coach or offi cial that I have witnessed. I looked at my coaches as an extension of my par- Sports Columnist THURSDAY, July 11, 2019 ents and respected them as such. Once again, I am not saying every kid does this, I just have seen way too much of it in today’s youth sports. I firmly believe if we allow kids to fail in youth sports, they will learn how to deal with failure bet ter. Losing builds charac ter, allows you to become a better competitor, and makes you value success when you are triumphant. Failing is a part of all areas of life and for most kids, sports play a major role in their lives, so why not teach them it’s okay to fail? As long as you gave it 100 percent, there is no shame in failing. When I saw another competitor walking away with a trophy or certifi cate, that made me fight harder the next time, so I could be the one with the trophy. That drive to suc ceed carried over to other parts of my life as well. As adults, many of us deal with failure more than success. I remember filling out nearly 50 job applications before get ting my first journalism job. That is 50 failures to one success. I was not deterred by those 50 re jections; it just made me try harder for that dream job. A lot of that abil ity to handle adversity comes directly from what I learned playing sports as a child. We have to start tak ing some accountability in how these kids are act ing out there. I understand we have changed the way we play sports today. No longer are sports teams allowed to train, practice and play the same way we did 25 years ago. I know the changes were made to See Failure on B2 BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE Major League Baseball just wrapped up Flag Football league in our own backyard BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE American football is the most popular sport in America. People can’t wait until the fall to get their football fix. For those who still enjoy getting out on the field for some fun, the Camel City Flag Foot- ball league might be right up your alley. Camel City is a 5 on 5 flag football league that was started in 2017 by Jakob Black, league di Photos by Timothy Ramsey Jakob Black is the league director for Camel City Flag Football League. rector. The league began as a means to bring flag football back to the city, but it evolved into much more, said Black. It is a contact league that allows blocking and some hitting, which attracts players who are used to the physicality of the sport. “We started out as more of just a recreation, kind of trying to get flag football back in Winston- Salem,” Black said. “Flag football stopped around 2012 here and once we got started from there, we slowly built and got to know the community of flag football more. “We started pulling guys from Raleigh, Char lotte and even a team that comes from Wilming ton. We have gotten pretty well known, but we have stuck to the five on five, which is a pretty popular another mid-season classic with their annual All-Star game on Tuesday. Hoping to one day get their shot at the major leagues, area youth are living out their baseball dreams playing tee ball. Tee ball gives kids an opportunity to learn the basics of the sport of baseball, with most of the youngers ranging from 4 to 6 years of age. The league is played 5 on 5 with 14 minute halves. format in flag football.” Black tossed around several ideas trying to come up with a name for the league. He did not want to mimic any other sports leagues, so he chose Camel City. “I thought about what we could call the league that represents Winston- Salem, but hasn’t been taken already,” he said. “I thought about Twin City, but that was taken already and associated with soc cer. Winston-Salem kind of affiliates with the old flag football league and I want guys to know this is new, so I thought about an other name and I thought of Camel City.” Black is very up to date with the promotion of his league. They keep statistics, pictures and run highlights of the games on the leagues’ social media pages. He receives a lot of positive feedback from the teams in the league. “We do different things for the players that a lot of other leagues don’t do,” he continued. “We have heard a lot of great things from our players and we con tinue to try and make the league better.” Dallas Steelman has been with the league since its inception. He has seen it grow from its humble beginnings to one of the best flag football leagues in the area. “I started playing with my friend Matt Morton, who assembled what is now the team that I play for, and the talent level since 2017 has skyrock eted,” said Steelman. “The teams that we play with and the amount of experi ence that have come along since then is amazing to see in just a two-year pe riod. “I have made so many friends in a short period of time and I have been able to meet people from so many different places as I travel around and play. The camaraderie is great, it’s not always nice on the field, but when you come off everyone is cool with one another.” Many of the players, including Steelman, have played the game from the Pop Warner level all the way to college. This league gives them an outlet to still be involved with the game. Even though Black is a fan of the sport, he does not participate in the league, because he wants to remain unbiased as the director. He enjoys the competitive nature of the players.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 11, 2019, edition 1
9
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75