LOS ANGELES — Driving past a San Fernando Valley middle school during lunchtime, the sports fields were buzzing with activity. Soccer balls were being kicked, basketballs were being dribbled, tetherballs were being socked.

My previous three hours had been spent attending a conference sponsored by the LA84 Foundation in downtown Los Angeles, listening to speakers discuss the magic and importance of inclusion in sports.

When competitions are open to anyone, whether you're rich or poor, nerdy or athletic, a future pro or a future doctor, what unfolds could produce something unexpected.

Right on cue, amid the many games being played during lunchtime on the middle school campus, there was a kid wearing glasses and long pants receiving a high five from another kid in shorts who looked like the school's soccer star. They were having fun, a lesson that needs to be appreciated everywhere.

In the rush to separate those with pro ambitions from the amateurs, people can forget the journey. Remember when it was fun to win a game and get cupcakes. Remember when it was fun to lose a game and still get ice cream. Remember when it was fun to be driven to your Little League game and debate what to listen on the car radio. Remember that first day of high school when the coach recognized you in the hallway and greeted you with a friendly handshake that immediately injected self-confidence during a morning of nervousness.

Former NBA player Derek Anderson was at the conference telling his story of overcoming poverty and absent parents.

"Listen to learn," he said. "You don't always begin where you end."

He explained how sports was so influential in his life.

"Basketball taught me to be a good teammate," he said.

He said that when coaching a youth team, he tries to empower his players by putting them in position to exercise authority, such as making them the coach. Suddenly they're shouting for players to stop making turnovers when they were making the turnovers a few minutes earlier.

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