Column: In It To Quit It

BY KAYLA LOKEINSKY

America has been imbued since its founding with a persevering spirit. From Horatio Alger to Rocky Balboa, our culture bombards us—children especially—with messages about the value of determination and grit in the face of adversity. After all, as the saying goes, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” However, is there ever a time where we as athletes must throw in the towel? Is there a point of diminishing returns beyond which one failure after another takes a toll? When does an admirable trait like perseverance start to look more like beating your head against the wall?

When you choose to play on a sports team, you are making a commitment: to your team, your coach, and yourself. Quitting would be just as bad as desertion, but try telling that to the 95-pound kid on the football team, or the little girl in the tutu who just wants to get her hands dirty. When you’re a child, quitting anything is a touchy subject, especially for the parents. If they force their son or daughter to stick with their commitment, they could damage the relationship they have with them for the rest of their lives. However, if they allow them to quit, it’s teaching their children that it’s ok to let down people who are depending on you just because they “don’t feel like playing anymore.” There is a fine line between being in it to win it, or in it to quit it.

“Suck it up,” “rub some dirt on it,” and “there’s no crying in (insert sport here),” are all popular phrases coined by parents as they watch their pintsized players from the sidelines, and they are accurate phrases. Quitting a team that depends on you is not taking responsibility for your commitment. If you don’t stick with your commitment and see the season through at least to its end, you are running away from a challenge, labeling yourself not only as a quitter, but also as a coward.

Research done by Parenting Magazine shows that 70 percent of all kids who participate in youth sports will drop them by the age of 13. This is mainly due to the pressure they feel to be a great athlete. However, if an athlete is in the middle of the season, and they’re bored with the sport or tired of playing, they can’t just drop it. They can’t walk off the field and never be seen again. Being on a sports team is like committing to marriage, for better or worse, till death do you part, or at least till the season is over. Keeping with your sport until the final game is played, and the season comes to an end, is the only way for athletes to keep their integrity intact.

There is a time in every athlete’s career where they must hang up their cleats and throw in the towel. When we get too old, or too slow, and our bones start to ache, we know our time of athletic supremicity has come to an end. Take it from an athlete who quit a sport after 13 years, it’s not the easiest thing to do, but an athlete must remember that quitting is not something to be taken lightly. You can either be in it to win it, or in it to quit it.