I could NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE. This story deserves a major barf alert.
The girls had a great season, but didn't qualify to move on because they lost. Losing is a part of life, as is winning. What good is winning if someone else "lets" you win?
Like my brother-in-law is fond of saying: "We are raising a nation of pussies."
I completely agree. The team failed, regardless of how good they were. The Jets were the best team in football, before meeting the Colts in Superbowl III. Namath guaranteed the win by a the underdog and came through 16-7, and I don't recall seeing Baltimore step down from the World Champions dais, because they thought NY was the better team.
To quote one of my new favorite movies, The Incredibles: "They keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity. It's insane!" -Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Helen Parr (Elastigirl) :"Everybody's special, Dash." Dash Parr: "Which is another way of saying no one is."
There is an "old Klingon proverb": If you cannot lose, you cannot win. Put another way, if everyone's a winner, as the title suggests, then everyone loses. These girls lost. "Sportsmanlike" gestures from the other teams do not change that fact.
The point of competition is to see who's best at a particular activity. The other girls were better. If they aren't going to honor the outcome of the competition, then they shouldn't have competed.