Well of course it can be either, but in so many ways sport mirrors everyday life, and there's no disputing that. People face competition at every turn in life, some people respond with less integrity than others, but how one deals with competition is important to survival. I would love to be able to say that all coaches of youth sports have the best interest of their players in mind, but many do not. I've played sports from the time I could walk, organized sports for well over a decade, I encountered my share of good guys and bad guys -- and I don't mean just coaches, but players as well, and of course many players reflect the attitude and characteristics of their coach. But again, you're going to get that in all aspects of society. (For instance, employees often assume the characteristics of their employers). So unless you're somehow living outside of the capitalist realm, everything from corporate society to the education system perpetuate competition -- and sport is a paradigm for life.