Taking the Pressure Off: Rethinking Competition in School Sport

The latest from Hidden Sports

Written by David

If you went to school in the UK any time in the last few decades, chances are you remember the feeling of lining up for team selection, heart thumping, hoping you wouldn’t be picked last. For some, school sport was a highlight. For others, it was a weekly anxiety loop in PE kit form.

With the government’s recent move to add activities like pickleball and parkour to the school PE curriculum - which we covered last week - there’s been a subtle but important shift. It’s not just about which sports kids are playing anymore, it’s about how they’re playing them. And more specifically, whether they’re playing to win… or just to play.

We’re seeing a quiet move away from ultra-competitive sport in schools, and it’s sparking a conversation. What happens when kids are no longer required to take part in traditional team competitions? What do we gain - and what do we lose?

Less Pressure, More Play?

There’s no doubt that sport can be intimidating when it’s framed around performance. Not everyone is fast. Not everyone is coordinated. Not everyone wants to chase a ball with twenty other people yelling.

For those students, the removal of enforced competition can be a relief. It turns sport into a space for movement, exploration, and yes, even enjoyment.

Activities like yoga, parkour, or even a relaxed pickleball rally remove that binary win-or-lose outcome and replace it with participation. For many students, especially those who may have been turned off sport completely, that’s a gateway back in.

But What About the Benefits of Competition?

On the flip side, sport has long been a place where kids learn grit, teamwork, resilience, and how to handle both success and failure. In a competitive match, you’re exposed to pressure - sometimes uncomfortable, yes, but often formative.

There’s something undeniably powerful about learning to pick yourself up after a loss or discovering how to work as a unit under pressure. The worry is: if we sanitise sport too much, do we rob it of the very thing that made it meaningful for generations?

Some critics argue that without competition, school sport loses its edge. It risks becoming just another “activity,” rather than something that forges identity and instils life skills. And for children who thrive in those environments, dialling down the competition could actually be disengaging.

Is There a Middle Ground?

Perhaps the answer lies in flexibility. Not all students are wired the same way. The beauty of today’s evolving PE curriculum is that it allows for both pathways.

Those who want to compete should be given that space. Inter-school matches, leagues, and tournaments still matter, and always will. But for the many who just want to move, play, and enjoy the moment without the scoreboard hanging over their head, there’s finally room for that too.

It’s not about removing competition altogether, it’s about reframing what “success” in PE looks like. Is it winning 5–0? Or is it seeing a kid who used to fake an injury just to avoid PE now actively joining in?

Why It Matters

As sports fans, we love the thrill of a good contest. But we also know that sport is bigger than the final scoreline. It’s culture, movement, energy and sometimes, just the joy of being involved.

The more kids who grow up enjoying sport in whatever form it takes, the better for everyone. And if one of those kids falls in love with pickleball or parkour at school and takes it further, well, you know where they heard about it first.

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Got thoughts on how competition shaped your school sports experience? Drop us a reply—we’d love to hear your take.