Competition: pro's and con's

I love sports. Even more than that I love to win. I am playing on a slow pitch softball league this summer and every year I play with this team I end up hating my life by the season end. The people I play with are practically my family but some of them are so difficult. This is supposed to be a non-competitive slow pitch league, but some nights I feel like my team is playing in the world series. It's not that we are that good, it is merely the pressure. If a player makes a mistake guaranteed that someone else is going to say something and it's never words of encouragement. Don't get me wrong, I love to win but it is hard to find joy in the game that I love when I'm playing with these people. So what is the problem with this little story? I finally figured it out: it's competition.
Competition, when used in the proper setting, can be a wonderful thing but it can also cause many problems. So what are the pro's of competition? Competition helps to facilitate change and improvement. Through it teams are able to achieve those amazing sports movie moments and help build lasting friendships. I have participated on many teams and felt the exhileration and the defeat that competition can bring. I have also seen what it can do when it is only one sided. For a long time I had to win, and I didn't care who or what got in my way or what game I was playing. After some hard lessons learned my freshman year of college I began to look back at the trail of destruction I left behind me. I had hurt many people, most of whom were my friends. I was so consumed with my "goal" that I had no regard for other people.
As I play with different teams and with many different people I am finding that the people who have the most fun are the ones who are there to have FUN. I have tried to make it my goal to help those who may not be as good as me feel good. When people recieve positive feedback they are more likely to try what they are doing again and who doesn't like to make people feel good. Honestly. With that being said, it is not easy. I hate it when the game goes slow or when I know that I can do something better than someone else. It's hard to watch someone struggle through something or not do something basic that would help so much. Every time I have those thoughts I ask myself if the other person is having fun. More often than not they are, so who am I to spoil their fun. So for anyone who reads this I ask you to try and play something for fun and only for the fun, see what happens. I think that you will be surprised.