By Edward Jones

To me, this topic makes me think back to our discussion about entitlement in younger generations.  In my opinion, I don’t think that youth sports should hand out participation trophies for all its athletes.  I understand that it is important for adults to provide our youth with an athletic environment that is conducive to participation, but it is also important to provide an environment that teaches them about life lessons as well.

In my experiences with athletics, both playing and coaching, it has always been about both teaching the sport or skill necessary to be successful, but also teaching the young people about life and life lessons.  I think that athletics provide a great environment in which invaluable life lessons can be learned, like hard work, determination, perseverance, and overcoming adversity.  Sports are the ultimate metaphor for life in some instances.  In sports, just like in life…