Winning: Is That What it’s All About?

My sons’ cars. And my daughter’s pink “D1.” Hers wasn’t the fastest on the track but it was the fastest built…wheels went on just an hour before the Derby.

Pinewood Derby Fever recently took command of our household.  As our boys’ searched the internet for design ideas, assisted Dad with the shaping and drilling of the wood and gleefully sprayed paint on their carefully cut creations, it was hard not to get caught up in their enthusiasm.  The best part was learning to fix mistakes, like the misplaced drill hole that was transformed into a brad-covered “gas cap.”  Parents and their boys, spending time together, building something by hand.

Isn’t that the point?

It should be.  But Pinewood Derby is a confusing combination of handshake agreement and paperwork.  It’s understood that the building of the cars begins when the wood, wheels and axels are passed out at a meeting a few weeks before the event.  It’s understood that the boys help craft their masterpieces.  It’s understood the race is just friendly competition.

Or is it?

This is the confusing part.  There are rules that govern the Derby, numbered and lettered like a legal document, more points than The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.  This says something:  given the rabidity with which some approach the Pinewood Derby, a simple dozen guidelines would not hold back those addicted to the idea of winning at all costs.

Everyone who participates is a winner, right?  The Cub Scout motto is “Do Your Best.”  Not “Winning is Everything.”  But it seems to me the rules of Pinewood Derby lend themselves toward the idea that yes, winning is everything, and we need painstaking details to keep those misguided by tall trophies from cheating.

What a sad reality.  It would be nice if the rules simply pertained to the construction timeframe, the weigh-in and the car dimensions…the guidelines that make the effort of building a fast, creatively-designed car a little more challenging.  It would be nice if the minutiae that embodies the rest of the guidelines didn’t need to exist.  But I guess there will always be participants who will miss the point:  to have fun, bond and

Do Your Best