Non Competative Sports Days. I hate them

[castrolgtx]

Everyday the same children come out of school with certificates for good writing/reading/maths etc, but sports day can't be competative in case children are upset when they loose.
At the mum of two sports mad sons it drives me mad as it's their one chance to shine.
Anyone else agree?

I hate it too. I like the idea of doing some stuff as a team so that the less able are also able to achieve but IMO you need competition too. I was rubbish at sports and hated sports day as a child but i wouldn't have wanted them to change it to the way it is now.

I hate it to - whats the point of playing sport if there's no competativeness. I appreciate that some childre hate sports but like you say - my dd is very challenged by everything in the classroom (reading, writing, matchs etc) things that are less acedemic (music, sport, drama) are where she shines!

I've considered asking if they want some help organising a competative one as frankley its a joke. They move round the field, jumping in hoops etc, the whole things is a shambles. The only highlight is the mums and dads races at the end.
There could still be all sorts of different races so everyone gets a chance

I think they should combine individual races with team races so that children who are good at sport get a chance to shine and those that aren't at least have a chance to win something as part of a team.

I was always the last to be picked for a team at school becuase I was so rubbish - that wasn't good for my self-esteem but I honestly don't think that non-competative sports days would have changed anything for me.

I guess the difference is that those children struggling with reading don't have to stand up in front of school and parents to demonstrate how crap they are.

Have just had a letter to tell me each form will have its own parents races (well in fact 2 for each class). I wondered why the classteacher had asked me whether I'd been at the gym?!

Yeah you're right

those kids that can't move fast because eg they ahev SN shoudl be forced to face losing! its life right?

(and I do have a very sporty older son who wins every time, so In now where you're coming from- think you're wrong though, school shoudl be inclusive)

I don't think sports days should be all about competition i just think that they should keep an element of it in. Its also important that they keep an element of the non-competitive teams type stuff in so that the less able can enjoy it too.

We had one today at our school, the whole year was split into teams, and they carried out a series of acitivites (i wouldn't go as far as describing them as team games) against the clock.
Then at the end, they just said the children would go back to their classes, and would be told later on which team had the highest score. FFS they couldn't even announce the winning team.
Waste of time IMO

I don't understand them at all. Dr Robert Winston did a talk at my company and I asked him what his thoughts were on the focus on non-competition in schools. He said we were raising a nation of failures because if there's no competition, then there's no impetus to succeed.

"In my day", there were all the usual races on sports day and then the "fun" races like egg and spoon and the obstacle races which the teachers used to fix, I'm sure, so the sports "duffers" could at least get a bronze to take home. Except me... I was beyond help!

Our sports day had a mixture of team, non individually competitive, events which accumulated points, and competitive races but somehow it still failed our, borderline dcd, child. Not sure what the answer is tbh but then we wonder why we have a poor competitive edge in international sports.

My chn's sports days are competitive and I find them so boring, there's lots of waiting around by the chn for their go. I work in a school that has a non-competitive sports day and I think it's better, as all the chn take part in the whole event and have lots of fun.

I was crap at sports, but I am a very competitive person... non-competitive sports day would have really annoyed me

The only reason I ever turned up to the infants' non-competitive sports days was to check how faded/small/baggy their PE kit was as it was the only time I ever saw them wear it.

The first year after traditional sports day was abandoned I remember every one looking bewildered and it was so quiet. There was nothing to cheer and shout yourself hoarse for.

Luckily our junior school finishes off with some races and a relay so you can cheer for your 'house'. (It was today and we came 2nd)

I agree with Ladymuck. You wouldn't make children who could barely read get up in front of the whole school with a page to read out. Yet children who can hardly run without falling over are expected to do so in front of everyone.

Ds1's school has non-competitive sports days. They are divided into small groups and each person is also assigned to a team. There are no individual winners but the team with the most points wins. Ds1 isn't keen on sport as he has poor co-ordination and falls over even wnen he's just walking. However, he really enjoys sports day because he gets to join in with everyone else with no pressure if he can't keep up with everyone else.

Same as coppertop at my ds's school. I think it works well. They work round the field in teams doing different activities. One of them is a running race - 2 at a time, but timed so they look at the fastest overall lap time. However they pair them up well, so that can get quite competitive, but on an equal level.

I don't understand why it can't be two-tiered. The competitive kids who're great sport should be allowed to compete against other, like-minded kids.

Those that aren't, can do other stuff.

Making it non-competitive for all is a bit poncey, imo.

Theoretically the race element at ours is based on practice times but there are still huge gaps.

I can understand where you are coming from - some competition is healthy. But, as a teacher,can I say that my experience of "traditional" style sports days has been a nightmare! Maybe its just the schools I have been teaching in, but some of the parents become so competitive on behalf of their kids and take it so seriously that there are bust-ups etc. I kid you not!!

Also many infant children find it all very upsetting, some are just to young to cope with the winning/losing thing.

I think an ideal would be a "fun day" type thing for the younger kids, maybe graduating onto more competitive stuff for juniors.

I agree 100% with Coppertop and Ladymuck. Some people on this thread might enjoy seeing my dyspraxic child publicly humiliated, but you know what, it's not my cup of tea.

Sorry, but I feel very emotional about this.
Nobody forces children who are unable to read to demonstrate this in front of the whole school while people laugh at them. Why is it acceptable to do this in the name of sport?

If you're referring to me, I wasn't suggesting it, Aloha.

I suggested that the kids who were willing and able to do sports should be allowed a competitive forum.

Why on earth would I enjoy seeing a dyspraxic child humiliated!

I think you should read the OP again. With some kids, it is their chance to shine.

If sports day was purely voluntary then I'd say, great, let them get on with it. But as it is normally compulsory, it is compulsory public humiliation for children like my son, and I'm sorry, but no, I don't think that's a fantastic idea.
If your child couldn't read, do you think they should be forced demonstrate their lack of competence in public in front of all their peers and their parents and then to be told that they had come last because they were the worst at reading? I think not.

To be fair we also have opportunties , admittedly only really lower down the school, when the children's literacy, musicianship, speech etc is exposed (Nativity, Mother's Day , assemblies etc) in front of the parents. I started a thread last week about how ds and I felt post his sports day.

The difference for me - and it is a big difference for me - is that for some people to shine at sports days, others MUST fail - and fail very conspiciously in public. That is not the case with, say, Nativity plays.