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The value of athletic competition for children who like to play sports is undeniable. Though not all children will want to play sports, those who enjoy competing in organized athletics can benefit in myriad ways.
Doctors with the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness note that interest in sports should start with the child, not the parent. Such an approach can ensure children are playing sports because they want to, and not solely because their parents want them to.
The council notes that when children are playing sports because they want to, they can take the lessons learned from competition and use them throughout the rest of their lives. For example, Dr. Steven Cuff, MD, FAAP, who co-authored the 2019 report “Organized Sports for Children, Preadolescents and Adolescents,” says that “the camaraderie and teamwork needed on a playing field offers lasting lessons on personal responsibility, sportsmanship, goal-setting and emotional control.”
When competing, some young athletes may have a hard time handling defeat. In fact, even professional athletes routinely acknowledge how much they struggle after a loss. But there are ways parents and coaches can help young athletes cope with defeat.
—Reward effort. The College of Education at Michigan State University recommends coaches and parents put an emphasis on effort and allow athletes to bring up the outcome of a particular competition on their own. Encourage maximum effort during competition and spend time after the game discussing with athletes how they performed and the effort they gave.
Remind them that their best effort is all anyone can ask for, which shifts focus from a loss to the effort they gave.
—Communicate privately if effort is lacking. Parents and coaches who feel their child or player did not give maximum effort can communicate those feelings privately without putting the athlete down.
Emphasize that the next game is a great chance to show improvement and give maximum effort.
—Encourage a healthy perspective. The College of Education at Michigan State University also urges parents and coaches to encourage young athletes to keep a healthy perspective on their participation in sports. Encourage children not to sacrifice other aspects of their life, such as academics and their social life, to improve their athletic performance.
When young athletes focus too heavily on a sport, that can create an unhealthy situation that makes it that much harder to cope with defeat in a positive way.
—Emphasize the individual, not the athlete. Coaches can speak with their players about their lives outside of the sport. Such conversations can show athletes that there’s more to life than just sports and that they’re more than just athletes, which can make it easier to handle defeat.
Many successful athletes insist they learn more from defeat than they do from victory. Helping young athletes cope with defeat in a healthy way can benefit them throughout their lives.

Nicholls State University will receive $495,368 from the Restore Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana to help coastal scientists better understand coastal ridges.
Researchers will use the grant money to categorize the ecological attributes of the ridges to help coastal scientists design future ridge restoration and management projects.
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority selected the Water Institute of the Gulf as its center of excellence in 2015. In this role, the Water Institute administers competitive grants to assist research that reinforces the state’s Coastal Master Plan. Fines and penalties from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill distributed through the Restore Act provide the funding for the grants.
Nicholls’ proposal was one of eight projects, totaling $2.3 million, selected from 20 submissions, marking the first time university researchers have received Restore Act money.
“This funding is recognition of the strong reputation of Nicholls scientists and students and the important coastal work they’ve been conducting over the years,” said Dr. John Doucet, dean of the College of Science and Technology and director of coastal initiatives. “This grant award is a win for Nicholls and the Coastal Center, but it is also a win for the communities of the Terrebonne-Lafourche-Barataria region.”
Researchers will study ridges and similar man-made structures in the Barataria-Terrebonne estuary. They will note ecological factors such as physical features, plants, wildlife and carbon sequestration. The research will also describe the socioeconomic roles the ridges play in the Bayou Region.
“Our understanding of how ridges function and the ecological and sociological communities they support is limited,” said Dr. Jonathan Willis, assistant professor of biological sciences.
“By resolving targeted data gaps and providing conceptual models of ridge function, we can facilitate planning for coastal ridge restoration projects.”
Faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from an array of departments including biology, geomatics, English and history and geography will contribute to the research.
Together, they will conduct field surveys, drone imaging, lab analysis, historical reviews and community interviews.
The research will start this fall and continue through 2023.
“I am proud that Nicholls State University continues to contribute meaningfully to the management and restoration of the Louisiana Coast,” Willis said.
The mission of the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana (LA-COE) is to provide research directly relevant to the implementation of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan by administering a competitive grants program and providing the appropriate coordination and oversight support to ensure that success metrics are tracked and achieved.
The Water Institute of the Gulf is an independent, non-profit, applied research institution advancing science and developing integrated methods to solve complex environmental and societal challenges.

The 2020 Bayou BBQ Bash was a slimmed-down affair because of COVID restrictions. It was still sanctioned by the Barbecue Competitors Alliance, but it was open only to the chefs, not to the public.
But the 2020 Morgan City event was enough to lure Neil Johannsen into the world of competitive barbecuing. And he was back for the 2021 BBQ over the weekend and under the bridge in Morgan City.
The Sewart Supply team captured the top St. Mary Parish honors in this year’s BBQ Bash. Aaron Guidry of Prairieville was the Grand Champion and won the barbecue chicken competition along the way.
The Stazione team won the Corporate trophy. The Reserve Grand Champion is James Cruz of Arabie.
Johannsen, an LSU professor in exercise physiology, finished out of the money in this year’s BBQ Bash. But the result isn’t likely to dampen his desire for competition.
“Honestly, we just like to sit around and cook,” Johannsen said.
The 2020 chefs-only BBQ Bash was Johannsen’s first competition. Since then, he has cooked at barbecue events in Marksville, Lafayette and elsewhere. Along the way, he has acquired some equipment.
“It was the realization of how much we had to carry around,” Johannsen said. And at that first Morgan City event, “we sat here hot, sweaty and buggy and said we can’t do that again.”
So Johannsen outfitted a trailer with air conditioning and a design on one wall created by his wife, Susannah.
Now all he needs is to place in a competition.
“Every time we do it, we get closer and closer to the final [judging] table,” Johannsen said. “We’re hoping.”
Nearby, Barry Smith of Hammond cooks on a rig that has a Saints fleur-de-lis painted on the front.
Smith has been involved in competitive barbecuing for more than a decade. A former landlord who was involved with the Kansas City Barbecue Society, another sanctioning organization, got him involved.
Now he has a garage full of trophies. He finished third in the chicken category at this year’s BBQ Bash.
For all his experience cooking, his family isn’t eager to share in the product of his talent.
“My family doesn’t eat barbecue,” he said. “I’d bring home a box of spices and some chicken and try it five different ways. I’d make them try it all.”
Now his concentration is on pleasing the Barbeque Competitors Alliance judges and on the actual cooking more than on the spices.
A favorite saying around the barbecue grills is “low and slow,” meaning good barbecue should be grilled over low heat and for a long time.
At home, that might mean 225 to 250 degrees. But Smith said that’s too low for competition because it might leave a three-hour window for when the meat might be done. To be done in time for judging, that window has to be reduced to about an hour. So Smith cooks at 275 degrees.
“If you can’t cook it right and make it tender,” Smith said, “it doesn’t matter what else you do.”
Nearby, Brandon Hunt, a Franklin native now living in Lafayette, was relaxing with friends near the Rak’s Slow Rolling Smoke trailer. He’s partners in the competition with Ronnie Romero of Youngsville, owner of Rak’s BBQ Supply.
“We’ve been placing here and there,” Hunt said. “Everybody’s just trying to do better.”

St. Mary’s representative in Congress has contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and this time the illness is “far more challenging.”
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, made the announcement on Facebook over the weekend.
Higgins said he, his wife Becca and his son all have COVID-19. Clay and Becca Higgins were COVID-positive once before, “early on, in January 2020, before the world really knew what it was.”
The most recent episode “has required all of my devoted energy,” Higgins said.
Higgins has not announced publicly whether he has been vaccinated. Media sources quote an interview with the Lake Charles American Press editorial board in which Higgins said he believed he had antibodies against COVID because of the first infection last year.
“We are all under excellent care, and our prognosis is positive,” Higgins said on Facebook about the recent case of COVID-19. “We are very healthy generally speaking, and our treatment of any health concern always encompasses western, eastern, and holistic variables.”
Higgins referred to COVID-19 as “the CCP biological attack weaponized virus. …” That’s an apparent reference to the Chinese Communist Party and recent reporting linking the first cases of COVID-19 to a government laboratory in Wuhan, China. The reporting has stopped short of saying that the virus was created or refined as a weapon.
Higgins thanked his constituents for their support.
“I love and respect you all,” he wrote. “I am honored and humbled to serve you in Congress.
“Our mission will continue. My family and I will recover fully. Your prayerful support is felt deep within my family and will never be forgotten.”