The Benefits of Competition and Performance

From January through March, we spend almost every weekend watching basketball, either in-person at live games or on the Big Screen, streaming at home. And not NBA or college ball; senior boys high school basketball, some of the funnest* basketball you’ll ever see.  In those 3 months, we had tournaments and/or games in Fernie, Sparwood, Cranbrook, Taber, Pincher Creek, and Invermere, where our Fernie Falcons secured their spot at the BC School Sports Provincial Tournament, one of the premier high school sporting events in the country.

Held every year in March at the Langley Events Centre in BC’s lower mainland, the venue hosts crowds of more than 5,000 spectators for its final matches in what is actually four different tournaments – from A to AAAA depending on the size of your school, with 16 teams in each division. It is a high energy, high intensity, loud and very tall event.

The crowd running onto the court at the LEC after the AAAA finals of the BC Senior Boys Provincial Basketball tournament

And it’s so much fun. For the last two years, our senior boys have (mostly) travelled together and stayed together in huge vacation rental homes, eating together and doing things like go-karting, video gaming and homework (right, sure) together in their downtime. It is the culmination of a season’s worth of hard work, team-building, camaraderie, and the highlight of the year for many of them.

The best, best part of it this year though was seeing just how much it actually means to them. Their final game, which they won (thereby improving their standing in the division from 16th seed to 11th, no small feat), was the final high school basketball game ever for the boys in Grade 12. They were exhausted and elated; many of them were overcome with emotion. These tall, strong, athletic boys-but-almost-men cried and hugged and laughed and felt all the feelings about something important and consequential in their high school lives.

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We were also fortunate enough to have an opportunity to go “behind the scenes” with the karate event at the 2026 BC Winter Games, hosted by Trail-Rossland and Castlegar. Because our little club is the only Karate BC club in the Kootenays, I got to act as Sport Chair, Zone Rep, tournament director and coach, all in one. The BC Games are held every two years, and welcome close to 1,500 youth athletes (aged 12 - 17) competing in 19 sports. There are also almost twice that number of coaches, officials, and volunteers. Planning the next Games begins almost immediately after the previous one ends; we had been working toward the Games for 24 months, ramping up dramatically in the 6 months leading up to the competition’s start, not only with recruiting and training volunteers, determining tech requirements, establishing venue layout, and all the little things that go into running a tournament of this scale, but also training up our Zone coach and assistant coach, and ensuring our team of athletes was ready and well-prepared for what was, for two of them, their very first tournament experience!

For those who’ve never seen one, a karate competition is a unique and exciting event. Even though participants enter as a “team”, you’re out there on the tatami (mats) on your own, either performing kata (forms) or kumite (sparring), relying on your training and the degree to which you can master your nerves to carry you through. Our small but mighty team consisted of three 13-year old boys competing in 5 different events (in addition to participating in the other Games related events like the opening ceremonies, carnival night, and “dorm”-style living) over the course of 5 days. These competitions are a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from excitement and nervousness to boredom and frustration, to disappointment, pride, and satisfaction. 

Competitor at the BC Winter games executing a perfect ura mawashi kick.

The two sports and tournaments were wildly different, but what struck me and has stayed with me the most is how these kinds of experiences are unique opportunities for the kids who participate to feel deeply, gain confidence, and grow meaningfully, both through independence on one hand and a sense of belonging on the other.

I’ve always used the analogy that karate competition is a lot like public speaking: you step out alone, all eyes are on you, and there’s nowhere to hide (although karate has the added element of someone trying to punch you, so…). The outcomes rest almost entirely on your shoulders, and over time, that kind of practice builds confidence and self-reliance. You learn you can do hard things - scary things! - on your own, and be okay. Team sports like basketball give you the flip side of the coin: you learn how to support others and be supported in return, how to lead when it’s needed and follow when it’s not, and how to share in the ups and downs of failures and successes. 

And then just this week we had another glimpse into the same stakes, vulnerabilities, and amazing achievements by watching our local high school’s year-end musical theater performance of 9 to 5. This is the first year in a while where we haven’t had a kid in the mix, but the courage and commitment of all the participants is just as remarkable and impressive. The nerves, the confidence, the trust and the relief are tangible. 

It’s critical, I believe, not to underestimate how important these experiences are for young people, and it seems to me that there are fewer and fewer places for kids to stretch these muscles and learn these lessons.  Which is why, if you’re a parent, it’s worth encouraging your kids to find something they love to do – whether it’s basketball, karate, skiing, dance, debate club, drama… anything that gets them engaged and invested, and gives them the opportunity to push outside of their comfort zone. Not because they need to win or be the best, but because competition – and performance – asks more of them than practice alone does. It raises the stakes and gives them a chance to test themselves in a way few other things can - to be their very best. There’s nothing else like it.

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*Merriam-Webster says it's a word, okay?