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?

sports day SHOULD be competitive otherwise its a bloody waste of time and just something to keep the PC crowd happy.
Its good for kids to experience competition and its exciting for them to win!
(dd won her race last yr against her class and the 2 years above her-girls AND boys!)

i just thought 'oh no' when i read the title of ds1's sports day letter, but then when i saw it was lots of little activities around the fiield happening at the same time like obstacle courses and penalty shoot outs - iwas so relieved. my ds1 has special needs and it will suit him perfectly - and all the other children will love it because well the activities are fun aren't they?. the school has lots of sports teams and there are hundreds of clubs for sports out of school - let them shine there-i'm sure they've got swimming certificates and so on which may or may not be a possibilty in the future for my son. i'm really looking forward to spending the afternoon with ds1 and i applaud the school for being so inclusive on this occasion.
i do understand the need for competiton and good teachers take in to account boy's different learning styles and so on. on the other hand i'd have been feeling sad all afternoon if it was a traditional style day - so on a personal level i'm chuffed!

and that attitude will get you and your children far - never mind the rest of us

I think TheApprentice made a good point - parents yelling their support etc.. Luckily I have never witnessed bust-ups, but at some U9 football matches I am totally shocked at some of the behaviour and language from the parents - it pushes me further into the non-competition camp. My son is not bothered when his team loses, but some of his team mates are in tears, which I find quite disturbing.

I do get the point that if we want to craete future stars in sport then they need competition, but I so don't like watching the parents screaming! My ds2's school is a first school and only goes up end of yr3. I'll have to see how my ds1's school (normal primary) handle sports day next week.

We still have competitive sports day. But also team races. My school also hands out stickers for 1st, 2nd and third. They have a mix of both, then all the points are added at the end and the winning team overall gets announced.

Non-competitive Sports Days are important because we should be encouraging children to enjoy being active; it's good for them to have fun whilst keeping fit.

Many (most/all?) schools will not tell you your child's 'rank' in terms of reading ability, for example, so why shouldn't the same principle apply to sport?

Reading should be a fun activity, so should sport.

Nothing to do with political correctness.

non competitive sport ???...well what a load of bollocks. Sport is about competition, about taking part, about your individual performance aabout how to cope with losing, about applying yourself, about being a part of a team and hey, guess what, this applies to life too...

All of us at some time will have to face up to failure and sport is a great way of learning how to cope with it, I agree with the comments about over the top parents but sport, used in the right way, is fantastic for kids...and I speak as a very proud, very dedicated and very committed sports coach who coaches children for a living.....and the kids who lose enjoy their sport just as much as those that win. I think removing competitive sport from curriculum has proven to be a disaster for the health of kids, and, dare I be so bold, to their development as individuals.

cba - our school is the same!
does individual races and gives out stickers but in the end its all about points and which team wins.

Yes, I'm sure it's lovely when your child wins. But do remember that your child's success is based entirely on another child's public humiliation.
If children choose to enter a competition that's OK, but I find compulsory competitive sport absolutely abhorrent. I have very nasty memories of school sports days, until I started to refuse to participate.

Playing sports of whatever nature is not about winning, it is about learning how to lose and therefore a vital lesson.

I despise sport.

Enjoying sport and an active lifestyle is more important than experiencing competition IMO. If a child enjoys taking part in sport and activity and sees it as fun they are more likely (I think) to carry on an active lifestyle into adult life.
Chn need to learn that taking part in sport is fun. I don't really see what benefit there is for the children that dread sports day approaching each year when they know they have no chance of winning anything.

So let's have children learn about losing with public, compulsory reading competitions, shall we?

Oh poo Boobsgonesouth - Now you've made me really confused? I get both sides - part of it is that I'm so uncompetitive. I hate watching children so upset when they've failed. For me sport was about having fun - I have always hated competition ... because of that I was never bothered about losing. I did become very negative about PE, but I think that was becasue I realised enjoying it wasn't good enough for my PE teachers - you had to be great at the actual sport for them to be even vaguely interested in you.

Mind you I still have dreams about my reception class running race ... I was winning, about to cross the line and I stopped to pull my socks up and came last!

BGS; to go back to Aloha's point - it's the public embarrasment that some children experience which I don't like. Children with a lower level reading ability are not exposed in the same way.

Sport should be fun and so should every aspect of learning.

We can get the parents to yell 'Go on Adam, show those dim kids how you can read!' Lovely.

god, I am slow at typing!!!!!!! loads of x posts.

I agree about sport being competetive, and that it gives children a chance to shine. And yes, everyone has to learn to deal with failure.
BUT, you don't have to have SN to really struggle physically. You might just be the youngest and smallest in the class. By all means, let those who want to run races and have little medals pinned on their vests. But it shouldn't be compulsory. Those that don't want to should be allowed to sit out or do something non-competitive.
If my children are as physically inept (not unfit, just not sporty) as I always was, then I will have no hesitation in allowing them to truant that day.
When mental arithmetic and spelling competitions are compulsory in front of an audience, then I'll make my kids run in races that they always come last in.

Blimey, Aloha. You're very black and white today!

Don't agree at all castrolgtx.
Competitive sports days can be utter humiliation for some children. In these days where so many kids are unfit and unhealthy we should be doing out utmost to make them enjoy sports, not putting them off for life.
There are tons of opportunities for sporty kids to take part in (extremely) competitive activities and I speak as the mum of a very sporty ds and a very competitive dd

I think, in most state schools anyway, if you want to do sport properly, you end up joining a local club rather than doing it through the school.

Imo, non competitive sports days should be in place for infant school. The emphasis, at infant age, should be on joining in, playing games in teams (like relay races etc.) and learning to enjoy sport.

Once children are allowed to choose whether they take part, then it's fine for the races to be competitive because then you have a group of children who want and are capable of racing competitively against each other.

My post was a quote from the Bishop of Lewes during dd's confirmation service.

eh?

What's not to understand?

Ah I've found your post now. I went through it once, and couldn't see it, so I thought you might have posted on the wrong thread!!