I just got finished watching my sons in a wrestling tournament, and it highlighted a profound point. Basically, for kids aged 4 to 12, wrestling tournaments bring forth really good kids, because usually those interested at that age are motivated by very active parents and siblings. The average kid at a tournament is pretty good at that age, and tournaments are the only place kids can wrestle. Then high school comes, and more kids show up just because it is something to do, and the average wrestler becomes worse.

Generally only the best wrestlers from each school go to tournaments. A kid who is a very good wrestler for his school, is often below average at these tournaments (half, actually).

This is a good lesson early learned. If you compete, very quickly you end up competing against the best. Whether it's the marketplace of ideas, software, or TVs, competing in things that don't have relatively high transportation costs or local efficiencies, generally brings the best together quickly. It is very different than what they learn in school, which is mainly all about competence, that being average is necessary and sufficient. I think this is why these little excursions are instructive, you learn that many areas require not mere competence, but true excellence. You can be the best in your class, but still not considered very good.

Your comparative advantage is what you are relatively good at. Only competing allows you to really see how good you are. Chess tournaments, wrestling tournaments, World of Warcraft, they all allow you to know how truly good you are. To this extent this is where girls are at a disadvantage, because many of their activities are not competitive (eg, dance). You need to learn how to compete, how to hate losing but not fear it. This is very nonintuitive and kids must learn through experience, because most kids get very upset and discouraged by losing initially.