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With the Fun leagues for sports around that do not keep scores because they do not want the kids to feel what it is like to lose. Are we taking away the kids motivation to succeed. In real life everything you do is compared with someone else, ie for pay raises, promotions, and more importantly for jobs themselves. Do you think by coddling the kids we are doing them a disservice.
YES! With teams getting larger and larger and more and more because they dont want to cut a kid for it might hurt their feelings is wrong. Not keeping score it wrong. Sure it may be fun for the kids, but life is a constant competition with someone else. We need to teach our kids that when you lose, you just need to learn from it and work harder so it doesnt happen again. If you get cut from team it means you werent good enough and need to practice more.
But no, we would rather allow everyone the same chance the first time. I remember when I was in high school my tennis team was about 100 people..that was just the mens team. The womens team was about 60+. This resulted in us having to form four teams for the mens side and three for the womens side. Every school that competed against us had to agree to play all the teams or only one team would get to play. Sure the teams were based on skill, but everyone who was on the team still got a letter and was considered on the team.
So the simple answer is yes, we are hurting our children by babying them like this.
But no, we would rather allow everyone the same chance the first time. I remember when I was in high school my tennis team was about 100 people..that was just the mens team. The womens team was about 60+. This resulted in us having to form four teams for the mens side and three for the womens side. Every school that competed against us had to agree to play all the teams or only one team would get to play. Sure the teams were based on skill, but everyone who was on the team still got a letter and was considered on the team.
So the simple answer is yes, we are hurting our children by babying them like this.
And everyone who was on your HS tennis team went on to a life of suckling at the welfare teat as a direct result of not learning about competition right?
Playing for competition is fine.
Playing for fun is also fine.
As is usually the case, there are benefits to both and allowing people to choose for themselves is the best answer.
Personally I do not see the harm in allowing every child to play on a recreational sports team at a young age; some of the less-skilled players just need more practice and it IS supposed to be fun.
However children also need to learn how to lose well, and they need to learn that not everything is going to go their way every time. Too many parents are protecting their children from failure when I think failure is a part of life. It teaches valuable lessons.
What is the age limit?
IMO if they are 10 and under it should be "fun" leagues. That gives all the kids a chance to atleast see if they like the sport and know if they are any good.
I think competition is healthy for children, but it really makes me mad when these loser coaches won't let a seven year old kid get their fair turn.
Yes, my son wasn't very good at baseball, so the coach wouldn't let him bat as much as everyone else. When I confronted him about the league being a "fun" league. His reply was: It all depends on your definition of "fun". I almost beat him upside the head. I did give him a piece of my mind.
Any older than that though I think is fine to limit the amount of player, especially if it is school funded.
I coached middle school basketball and I feel that extra curricular activities at school should be open to all students.
We don't limit math class to the best math students, why should we limit basketball to the best basketball players? Public school activities should be available to all.
For those athletes who feel the need for a more competitive situation there are plenty of private leagues that they can pay to join.
Look at our present situation in the world. then remember the People that got us here, are teaching Our Children. What type of outcome should we expect?
With the Fun leagues for sports around that do not keep scores because they do not want the kids to feel what it is like to lose. Are we taking away the kids motivation to succeed. In real life everything you do is compared with someone else, ie for pay raises, promotions, and more importantly for jobs themselves. Do you think by coddling the kids we are doing them a disservice.
The whole point of stuff like T-ball is for kids to grasp the basic fundamentals. They have to learn things like how to not be scared of the ball and which direction they need to run. They don't really care about winning and losing. They get that from the adults.
In soccer, where they do keep score, have you ever seen the 5-7 year olds play? They have like 10 kids standing in a circle kicking air and the ball is on the other end of the field.
Teaching kids to not fear a ball that will not hurt them could be counter productive, the first time they don't fear a baseball, and get beaned. fear, is natures way to keep us on our toes, to help us stay alive.
I coached middle school basketball and I feel that extra curricular activities at school should be open to all students.
We don't limit math class to the best math students, why should we limit basketball to the best basketball players? Public school activities should be available to all.
For those athletes who feel the need for a more competitive situation there are plenty of private leagues that they can pay to join.
You have a very good point, but they should teach these in class. The math clubs that go out for competition do not put the kid on the team that can't add. Why would you put a kid on a competitive team such as football that can't throw a ball.
Personally, I'm not all that big into sports. I would rather they teach kids to read and write and to do math. Society puts too much emphasis on school sports because johnny can't read and might make it big in football.
I'd much rather take a hike.
Quote:
Teaching kids to not fear a ball that will not hurt them could be counter productive, the first time they don't fear a baseball, and get beaned. fear, is natures way to keep us on our toes, to help us stay alive.
I cannot play baseball because i'm afraid of the ball, because of getting hit in the face before. I know I should have the glove up, but I wasn't paying attention.
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