It’s all about Grassroots Coaching / A Review of The Taxonomy of Competition

This week we will be making a concise review of each of the levels in The Taxonomy of Competition. The Levels of Competition are based on the developmental stage and age of the individual participant.

We have adopted The Person – The Player – The Performer as the identities of the individual in this format. At each stage or level, we can describe the identity of the individual involved as acting in one or more of these roles. Defining these roles and identity helps us as coaches to understand and clarify the relationship individuals have with sports competition.

The capacity to successfully navigate each competition level is not correlated specifically to chronological age. ‘Developmental age’ is much more important. A participant’s limitless capacity consists of a unique mix of Readiness, Maturity, Physical Development, and the Ability to Learn. Competing at each particular level will demand its own set of required characteristics and elements.

Level 1 – Experiential

This level has the largest number of participants - almost everyone is there or has been there. The Person -  The Child - The New Player learns to play early in life with “Peek a Boo” and “Itsy-Bitsy Spider.”

Competition: Not an Issue at this time.

For the very young child, “Low-organization games” such as “It” and “Hide and Seek” are played with no indicators of winning/winner and losing/loser being expressed. I recall when my kindergarten P.E. class played “Clean up your own backyard” and one team ‘won’, they all yelled “Let’s do it again” and we did. Winning didn’t matter; playing did.

When: Before any team sports activity

No real teams - I recall some of the “Leaders” telling everybody to “Get back to the wall!” and “Catch the balls and throw ‘em back!”.

Parental Role: Role Models /Playmates/Coaches

Every Christmas out home we got down on the floor and played TiddlyWinks with our kids. Almost every other day we did things like “Playing Catch” and “Table Hockey”. They learned the rules, how to play the game, and how to behave while playing.

Involves: Family, Neighborhood, Friends

This may have really happened - a Scenario:

Joey is 5 years old and the son of an Italian American family living in a suburb of Chicago. Today, his mother, Grace, his father, John, and his baby sister, Rita, visited his grandparents in the city. After a marvelous spaghetti dinner, they all went down the street to John’s cousin, David’s house. 

David and his wife, Debbie, have a nice back yard and he has cut a section of the long grass to form a bocce ball court. Some of their friends and children came over and the games began. Joey and the other kids watched the games at first as the adults took turns playing. Joey heard a lot of laughter– he saw a lot of movement – he felt a lot of happiness. He was aware that his mother and father were having a good time. In fact, everyone was having a good time. 

Now it was the kids’ turn. Joey and his cousin Benny and friends Patty and Danny were ready to play the game. The other kids had played before and David helped Joey as he was learning how to play. He really learned fast and enjoyed it. Joey’s brain recorded and stored all this information and these feelings.

He may not be able to recall this episode in later years, but the feelings and awareness have been established and they will be influencing his behavior toward sports for the rest of his life.