Cream

I have been thinking about milk lately.  I therefore have a number of clichés relating to it.  Actually they relate to how it was, and not how it is today.
I see participants in any sport as like how milk was.  “The cream always rises to the top.”  Once upon a time we got milk in bottles, where the cream had risen to the top. In relation to sport, the best of the best rise to the top.  Then there are the rest.  However, it is the rest that are the vast majority.  Without them the cream could not rise.
To me it is incumbent that we look after all, and not just the best.  It sure is important we look after the best, but we should never make the rest feel unimportant. Dove Men Care have what to me is a great campaign and slogan at the moment.  The slogan says “it takes skill to win, but it takes care to be a winner.”
I feel that what is right should apply to all levels.  I feel it is counter-productive to allow something that is unfair just because “they are at a lower level.”  Either it is right for all, or it is not right at all.
I am big on seeing what is right at elite level applied to entry level.  This way, no matter what happens, a player is never taken by surprise.  In the sport in which I am involved at the moment this means, learning the rules, respecting the umpire, scoring and serving correctly, and no doubt a multitude of other things.
None of us were born with this knowledge.  We all had to learn.  It is better to learn in a supportive environment, than out of the blue.  I have never seen someone thrive in competition on a surprise.  We had a new person turn up to play in a white shirt.  The ball is white, so the opposition had trouble seeing the ball.  After the game the guy in the white shirt was spoken to, and he never turned up in white again.  He initially did not know.  Once told he knew. Thankfully most folk want to comply and once they know, they do.  For those that don’t, the rules need to be applied without prejudice. The rules are just and fair for all and to be allowed not to follow them, can give someone an unfair advantage.
A person who starts right has a better chance of finishing right.  We all need to comply and play to win.  A win any other way is often shallow and short.  We see people now having their winning medals taken off them because they cheated. In the short term they can win, but what they will be remembered for is cheating rather than winning.
This is easy for me to say, as winning at the moment is more often than not foreign to me.