The obsession Americans have with being #1 has led to an attitude of disdain toward all those who do not achieve the status of champion. We fail to realize that for every successful college athlete there are tens of thousands of college students. For every professional athlete there are hundreds of thousands of successful adults raising families and contributing to their communities and to society.

If there is any meaning to active participation, doing one's best within acceptable criteria, it appears to have been lost since that infamous day Howard Cosell coined the word "Superstar."

Parents expect and demand success and perfection from their children. Program leaders/administrators provide the first resistance many parents face in this area. How we deal with those attitudes may make all the difference.