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?

chocolateteapot as it sounds like what we experienced

sucks soesn't it?

That's what we've said all along chocolate.

Although, if children enjoy it regardless, then surely, let them do it?

and also, sorry to be facile, but wouldn't the ultimate solution be to have a non-competitive sports day with voluntary competitive components that could be signed up for in advance?

have i just solved the thread?

[hopeful emoticon]

certainly not in my case soph. i wrote bogus PE note for my child only this week becuase she detests it.

i have no great sporting talents ( skateboarding doesn't count in this context) with my children.

and i was pants at PE - detested it with avengence, quite happy with the excersise my children get and think in general PE is time wasting bullshit - good for excersise is the argument - well arse is what i say, what about children who dont get enough excersise at home - yes just continue to let the govt take over all your childrens lives , physical, emotional, nutritional ec etc through the educational system becuase it doesn't apply to you you of course - it applies only to the mongrel kids of crack whore mothers in society - so by not kicking up about it - youare being philanthropic in some way.

arse.

ban spellings i say - its always charlotte who wins them show off. poor anthony can't spell eff all he has dyslexia

I'm pleased everyone is saying that then, as I couldn't quite bring myself to read it ! DD is changing schools on 16th July and I've just realised that sports day in her current school is before she leaves and for all I know the one at her new school might be in the remaining few days of term, and she could potentially have to do two

But, arse!

My whole problem with this thread is why, just because one child wins at something, it's at the expense of the child who loses.

What does it cost them to lose?

You view is unsustainable. If someone wins the lottery, are you fucked off that no one else did?

If someone wins a grant to produce a work of art, does it incense you that no one else did?

If a dog shits in your street, are you angry that your dog didn't shit there first?

How in the fuckity-fuck can you keep this up?

All kids are good at something. Kids know that. You're the ones who're being competitive. You've decided that your kid isn't good at something, so ergo, they won't do it.

And ergo, nor should any other fucker.

you either do abn (competitive) spellings etc OR you have competitive stuff available in all spheres

singling out of sports though I dislike

No Desi not all kids are good at something, and many of those that are good at other tjhings never get the chance to shine because sport is singled out as special

Sophable, I was pondering that q and whether to do a little poll!

I have a bit of a dilemma and can't decide what to do.

Ds has a short leg and complications and just can't run - he can do a sort of fast limping almost run, but that's it. He hates any casual competition - a race to a point in the park, for e.g., and generally he doesn't respond well to any kind of competitive motivation.

His school have just introduced a sports day which is competitive for Yr1 and up. DS will be last in anything that involves running and won't want to take part in anything copmpetitive. I have almost considered making an excuse to keep him off on that day.

BUT recently he won the dancing competition that they have 'for a bit of fun' in their school disco, and I sort of feel that if he had the experience of being in a competition and winning, he can also experience being in a race and losing - and that by finding out that the world won't come to an end just because he loses a silly old running race, it make comeptition less of a thing to shy away from. But even after he won the competition, he said he hadn't wanted to win, that he didn't like winning becuase it meant his freinds had not won, and he hadn't wanted to win.

The sports day is also a good long walk away to a borrowed fireld, I don't think he can walk all the way there and back and take part...I don't ant to make a big deal of it all in his mind either way...I just don't know what to do. I am 100% confident that no-one in his class would laugh at him, but there are some older boys in the school that i have heard making coomments about his shoes, so would I think be immature about DS in a race.

MN-ers: what shall I do?

OK, peachy. Back to a suggestion I made earlier.

Let's ban sport.

End of.

you're not lsitening are you?

I AGREED that non compulsory sports days are fine

I AGREED that competitive sports are OK, as long as kids ahve the opion of shining inohter areas. So yes give a prize for running- and speling, and art too.

I can'tr see why you've taken offence

Fab post Des.

Sport is competetive because in the grown up world that's how the cookie crumbles. Wimbledon, The Premiership, Royal Ascot, The Ashes,The world cup. It's all competetive. There is not a spelling contest on the world stage that I know about yet.

We need kids to grow up and enter the world of competetive sports, if we don't introduce them to this at school we'll end up with a group of 16 yr olds who may well be damn good at pilates but naff all else. The good at maths kids will have applied their skill at school and can go on to become mathmaticians/statisticions etc.

Blu, fantastic post.

Do what you suggested and for the reasons you suggested. He'll have a whale of a time.

And kids don't forget, you now. They'll remember his efforts when they're all in the pub in their twenties.

If he's game for a dancing competition, he's game for a running one. Sure, he won't win. But I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that if I was in the audience, I'd be applauding him every step of the way (and crying, too).

Blu unless he really really hates it (in which case I don't think sports day is worth the upset), then I'd let him take part. He (and the other children) might surprise you......

Then read your post before mine, peachy.

Taken in context, it makes sense.

Blu - can you chat it through with school without DS being aware, so that you can see what they think might be the best solution?

FWIW, the relays worked well today for those who weren't as mobile as others - obviously a deal of thought had gone into selecting the teams and the running order - but it did work out that no-one stood out and that the team performance overall was what mattered.

Could you ask them about a wheel barrow race (where DS uses his arms not his feet) would be an option for a race? Or perhaps a short obstacle race with a tiny bit of running and then comando crawling under a net - over a bench and then to the tape?

There really must be a way they can make this work for DS - if they are willing to be even a little flexible

taht sounds nice cat, the pronblem I think we have is that until 2 years ago the school had refused entry to all sn kids- and the teachers arent best pelsaed they still cnt. Maybe in a few years the culture will change (well it will, head is leaving) but right now support doesn't happen. I'd love to see it like that and pray it will one day. DS3 will be euither in a lang or ASD unit 9depending on which professional wins the fight LOL- both sets claim him as heir own- well he is cute ) and I woudl love it to be as inclusive as the one you are describing.

I know poeple cant opt out of everything but peole can find ways around stuff too- and competing ina different field is one way. Or taking aprt in a dance display instead of a race. Life IS like that- we can make our own paths, rarely do we have no options at all.

I wish more parents/children didn't feel terrible about coming last, or just not winning. Thank heavens all those hard working souls - be they fat, thin, SN, old or recovering from illness, - who raise thousands of pounds by running all the hundreds of MacMillan Races for Life and the London Marathon etc don't decide not to do it in case they don't finish first or somebody laughs at them.

Racing shouldn't be nasty. But perhaps that's in the eye of the beholder. I don't see the children that finish last as useless at sport, I see them as having done their best. (Unless they didn't do their best in which case I kick 'em or trip 'em up as they dawdle past )

Blu - (do you do hugs?)- Lord knows I don't have the answer. What does Boy Blu want to do?

dd has brought a letter home today; they do a 'run a marathon' fundraiser. Every child takes a turn to run a lap of the track for their house, repeated all afternoon. At the end, whichever house has run the most laps, wins. dd has told her two bessie mates they are running her laps. She's going to take her iPod and do the counting

I do think what has been missed here is the impact that team sports can have. If you have a team with good, average and poor players you can learn from each other during the game and in the losing and winning as well. The emphasis discussed here seems to be very much on individual sports. Some teams play beyond ther capabilities because they are good as a team unit, you can see that when the underdogs beat more fancied teams.
Hence I do not think that individual sports are the be all and end all in these cases. I loved relays and the like on sports day they made things more exciting than individual sports.
For the record I am in favour of competitve sport days but in the light of has been discussed here they obviously need to be managed effectively.

Right I'm off to bed now though I have enjoyed our little debate.

I'm going to get ds's school to stop asking mums to provide costumes for nativity play cause I am shit at sewing and feel publicly humiliated when ds has the worst costume on

Why should all the good sewing mums get to shine at my expense hey?!!!