KEITH O'BRIEN'S article on the benefit of sports for girls ('Sheshoots, she scores!' Ideas, Aug. 1) touched on many important issueson this topic. The most important, in my opinion, was this, fromBetsey Stevenson, assistant professor of business and public policyat the University of Pennsylvania: 'What matters . . . is theability to play, not necessarily the championships or the outcomesof the games.'
But this point is in stark contrast to O'Brien's secondparagraph,which talks about the so-called pom-pom factor -determining the success of girls' sports by observing the extent towhich tickets are sold and cheers are shouted. According toStevenson, author of a study that touts the benefits of sports forgirls, all these extraneous niceties make no difference. What makesa difference is the opportunity for girls to play and, by playing,to realize the benefits of being a member of a team and competing.
But from my experience in coaching recreation-level sports forgirls and boys, too many coaches take a win-at-all-costs attitudethat ultimately diminishes the benefits for weaker players who don'treceive sufficient playing time.
Most youth athletes, girls or boys, won't be the next Mia Hamm orSidney Crosby - they'll just be an ordinary Josephine who deservesthe opportunity to succeed, or fail, on the playing field.
Groton
Casting wide, and catching something big
I LOVED Brian MacQuarrie's story 'Veterans find some peace wherethe river runs deep' (Page A1, Aug. 1) for many reasons. A few weeksago my 87-year-old father passed on his fly fishing rod and flies tomy son. He related a story I had not known. While he was serving inthe Philippines in World War II, he saw an ad in an outdoor magazineplaced by an experienced fly fisherman offering to teach fly fishingand fly tying to any veteran for free. My dad wrote to him and begana correspondence that turned into a lifelong friendship.
I remember from my childhood our visits to 'Smitty' in Melrose,N.Y., where he raised rare game birds just to have the rightfeathers for fly tying. Like Smitty, we all have something to give.The work that Project Healing Waters is doing with veterans in Mainespeaks of the healing power of the outdoors and the desire of goodpeople to help others they may never have met before.
Westford
DeLeo's losing bet
ISN'T IT ironic that House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who soforcefully denied the well-documented perils of gambling, now knowswhat it's like to gamble everything and lose? His insistence on no-bid slots at the racetracks appeared to be intended to pour moneyinto the pockets of his friends at the expense of the citizens ofthe Commonwealth. He bluffed and lost. It's good to know that theHouse doesn't always win.
Holyoke
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