Confidence boosting for 9 year old

[HSMM]

My DD has an important dance competition coming up. There is another girl in her dance school who always gets 1 or 2 points more than my DD. They get on really well, but this time my DD has said she is not going to practice, because her friend will win anyway! How can I help her just to do her best? She still wants to go to the competition, but will not stand a chance against anyone if she doesn't practice! I know that with enough practice, she could win, but I don't want to make it a competition between 2 friends. I just want her to try, do her best and have fun.

[ScummyMummy]

Maybe just tell her that it's up to her but if she doesn't practice she might not do very well? What kind of dance is it?