Survival of the Fittest

I was recently at a consulting job after my workshop was over a dad came up to me and said that he did not believe in equal play. He said that I was teaching kids that they did not have to work for something to have them given something for free. He said that was entitlement.

I responded quietly that I only believed in equal play for kids under the age of 13 or puberty. My reasoning was since only about 10% of the kids who were the best at 10 were still the best at 18 it seemed much more logical to have them concentrate on playing together as a group, and have the group get better as a whole. Wouldn’t that help each individual get better also?

He responded with, "Haven’t you heard of survival of the fittest?” Well, yes I have. The term survival of the fittest does not mean what you think it means. The first part, survival, means, in its original form and definition, survival of the species, not an individual of the species. The second part means  that the previous mentioned species, survives, but adapts to their ever changing environment, and therefore is the fittest.

He was not happy. He had his daughter next to him and said to me, “she wants to play one sport year round and that will make her more skilled, bigger, stronger and faster.

I looked at this young girl who was trying so hard not to be part of her father’s world and conversation, and smiled at her. I then asked her if she would like to try something different with her friends. She got a big grin and lit up like a Christmas tree. Then she looked at her father, and her whole being changed, body language and everything.  He looked at her, grabbed her hand and walked away.