to get annoyed that the same children get picked for all the sports teams?

[onlywhenyouleave]

I am fed up of seeing the same names over and over again on the school newsletter for every sports team - I know the school wants to be competitive and pick the best teams but it is so disheartening for all the other children (and yes, DS1 is one of those who isn't picked).

I know quite a few children who don't even bother trying out now as they don't see the point

See that's bonkers too RandomMess. I see nothing wrong with insisting on commitment. I actually don't have a problem with competitive sports days either. Every child gets to have a go and give it their best shot. And all the kids are cheered in, especially the kids at the back. The top 3 get medals and extra house points. Perfect situation if you ask me - the winners are rewarded but everybody is included, valued and gets to participate.

I am very thankful that I was never picked for teams!

Teams picked should be the best team possible (not just individual skill but who will work as a team better).

However I'm a strong believer in having as many teams as possible, like having hockey 1st 2nd and 3rd team. Nothing wrong with playing for the 3rds or the Bs.

I was rubbish at sport in my first Pregnancy lesson of secondary school, so 5 years of being the last resort to be chosen for teams ensured that I was just as rubbish at the end of my school days.

I've been a bit of a late bloomer. Hockey, I managed to click with late in the 3rd year. My hand/ eye coordination has improved so I now have a fair chance of catching a ball. Running was a painful and embarrassing ordeal of stitches, shin splints and hyperventilating; I've got a half marathon in 10 days I swam my first length at 16 and my first mile at 17. Put me in a sports day of my peers now, and I'll be quite respectable.

Schools need to balance competition and inclusion. Fortunately for me, I had an extra curricular physical activity outside school and have always maintained something. From school friends I'm in touch with, there's no correlation between sporting participation at school and in adulthood.

I was a child who was always last to be picked for team sports. It was humiliating at the time, but I was just glad it was only during enforced PE lessons though, as I would never have wanted to be forced into making an arse of myself on teams representing the school. I was more than happy to leave that to those who wanted to do it and who were more naturally that way inclined than I was.

I am not competitive and never was. When I do exercise I like it to be solitary, purely for me and for my own benefit.

It is probably a shame for some of the children who never get picked and who want to be, as they never get the chance to prove themselves or otherwise.

Not every child who isn't picked actually wants to be though. Some are perfectly happy to blend into the background and/or cheer from the sidelines.

MrsMook, Pregnancy lesson! Really!

I guess that was an autocorrect howler.

OP, if you are saying that your DS doesn't get picked even though he's one of the stronger players, then YANBU. To have a 'closed shop' which no other child can break into seems wrong.

But if you are saying that your DS should be picked regardless of talent, then YABU, most school teams are picked to be competitive , and IMO that's how it should be.

However, it does seem wrong to exclude children from clubs/practice if they are not on the team, which some PPs seem to suggest happens. Although at my DCs schools, all children are welcome to practice, regardless of whether they

Oops, pressed post too soon. Should say -,regardless of whether they are on the team.

I think sports teams smile out from nearly every school newsletter. Whilst academic children are hardly every pointed out to parents. Academic children are not valued in the same way.

Definately not the case at my DSs secondary school, there's always a mix of academic and sports news, with an emphasis on the academic side.
And my DDs primary school reports almost no sports news, despite having lots of sports clubs,

I will come back and read all of the responses but, yes, why are the same children chooses and then coached to be better whereas in other areas, schools tend to avoid recognising talent and achievement and do not give the same amount of support to the most able.

We moved school in year three and there was one child DH and I affectionately called 'the golden boy', captain of football, captain of rugby and lo and behold, in the school play he was the 'king' and dressed in gold!!!

Academically bright children are glossed over and not recognised lest the less able notice and feel somehow inferior but it is completely acceptable to praise achievements on the sports ground.

Am slightly puzzled here. Are we talking primary or secondary? I'm in Scotland and competitive sports is completely out at primary level and has been for a number of years. School sports days have been 'team efforts' and there are no individual winners (or losers), and that has been the case since my DC were at primary school. How bloody ghastly. I am Scottish but taught in England. This attitude went out with ark years ago.
No wonder there is a huge obesity problem.
Back to the OP. If your DC had been in my class ( tiny rural school) everybody had to be picked because there was no alternative. The kids thrived on it actually and we won many inter school comps and were named as primary school of the year once. If you set high expectations, give great encouragement and never let the child feel they've let the team down then you're on to a winner. If the same children are always picked I think that may be laziness. There are always children who have unexpected talents.

Well if the poor players were picked now and again and that resulted in eg the first lost game of the season I suspect they might be made to feel bad at having been picked.

The answer is to have a word with the teacher if it is really unfair eg all the younger children in the year never get in or
Take your kids to sport out of school. Athletics or something should build up their speed and strength, then in the future they will get picked - mind you just making them run round the block with you every evening might be enough.

Take your kids to sport out of school. Athletics or something should build up their speed and strength, then in the future they will get picked

That's the thing - at my school you could have worked hard and become great at sport out of school, but if you weren't in the team at the start, you'd never get into the team, or get to join in practice sessions at school.

Picking based on ability for competitions is fine, excluding children from participating in practice sessions or from even trying new sports in a non competitive environment isn't.

We have enough teams of each sport for all children who want to have a go to play. The teams are mixed ability so they all play against each other. Then for the interschool matches we pick the students each week to go. Sometimes it is the best players, but it can also be someone who has been trying very hard or someone who might need a bit of a boost. We do try and make sure every child gets at least one away game per season.

I totally agree that academic achievements are not recognised in the same way as sporting achievements - the school does not enter inter-school competitions for spelling/maths etc.

Last year, the school planned a spelling competition for year 3&4 children. Ds was chosen to represent his class and we practised the 100 spellings over and over...the competition never happened (still not really sure why). Can you imagine that happening for a sports competition?

Yes it is a reflection on the school my DC attend but I do not think it is unusual that only sporting achievements are recognised within schools (I would say that those schools that praise academic achievement equally are the exception to the rule).

I totally agree that academic achievements are not recognised in the same way as sporting achievements - the school does not enter inter-school competitions for spelling/maths etc.

We have a weekly reading challenge with other schools, and we participate in an interschool mathematics challenge. Year 6 do interschool debating and mock court.

I am very, very thankful that being useless at games no one put me into a team to play other schools! I can't think of anything worse. Apart from not wanting to do any extra I would hate to be patronised with 'we must let Mehitabel have a turn'.

In the same way no one put me centre stage in a school play when I wanted back row of the chorus!
My sons played in the local football club for free Washediris.Not everything costs.
Two of my sons were picked for school teams which was fair, they wanted to be picked and worked hard to get in a team. The third didn't want to be in a team and made no effort so I can't see why he should have been picked.

Why not have a "serious competition" team, but also have a sports club where anyone can take part?

I haven't read the whole thread, so maybe someone has already made this point. When I was at school, I was good at academic work and hopeless at sport. In sport, it was seen as fine for the captains to make everyone stand up while they picked who they wanted, leaving people like me feeling humiliated as we were last to be chosen.
Funnily enough though, whenever we were in teams to solve a maths problem, the groups were mixed and chosen by the teacher. Why is it that it is fine to humiliate the non-sporty, but not OK to humiliate the non-academic? I personally don't feel that any child should be humiliated, but I've always wondered why it was seen as fine to laugh at the kids who don't get picked for sport, but not OK to laugh at the ones who aren't academically able.

My dd isn't particularly sporty and is not one of the kids to get picked for school teams etc. Personally, I think that's fine - it makes sense for the school to pick the best players, and if some kids are particularly talented at sport, why shouldn't they have a chance to shine?

That said, dd's school does have lots of opportunities for recreational sport clubs that are open to all children, and indeed, all children are encouraged to join in.

Also, dd is one of those kids who gets picked for a lot of other stuff - she is a very confident public speaker and so tends to get chosen for school plays, speeches, positions of responsibility etc. She is also very academic and so she had lots of opportunities to do G&T enrichment activities that other kids might not have a chance to do. And she is centre stage for every dance performance that she ever does. I actually think that learning how to cope with not getting picked for certain things is a positive lesson for her to learn - she may be very good at lots of things, but nobody is good at everything and that's ok.

Her school is very good at recognising kids who are good at art, music, maths, creative writing or whatever - it isn't just about sport. There are also awards to recognise other contributions, such as kindness and consideration towards others, perseverance in the face of obstacles etc.

Yes, most of the inter-school competitions are focused on sport, but certainly not all - dd has competed against other schools as part of her school choir, then there are chess competitions, creative writing competitions, art competitions, sciencey-type invention competitions etc. This is a state primary, competing mostly against other state primaries.

I would like to think that all kids have a chance to shine in at least one area. It makes me sad that people might resent dd for getting chosen for the stuff that she is good at. There is plenty of stuff that she can't do, and I am very happy to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of other children in those areas.

Yawn @ the constant whine on MN about differentiating for sport being not OK, but perfectly acceptable for academic subjects.

At a local secondary we just went to view, a load of kids aren't allowed to study Geography GCSE as its deemed "too academic".

At the secondary my DS attends, he's in the rugby A team atm, not having played it before, and there is a lot of movement between A and E teams over time. All the Y7s have fixtures, the Às and Bs more. They all get the same opportunities for rugby coaching in the many games and PE sessions, as well as after school clubs, which are open to all. IME, there are more opportunities at secondary. At primary, he was always picked for a sport he excels at, and some times not for the other team sports, even though he was good at them, to give others a chance at representing the school. I think that's fair. Sort of.

Oh and ROFL @ the person that thinks that non academic kids aren't humiliated on a daily basis.