I didn't call anyone a ninny (that was someone else). My point is that whenever a game is played the kids and the parents know the score regardless of whether their level of competence and whether anyone actually keeps score. Sports for kids are not a joke, but ignoring that everyone keeps score is a joke. Perhaps, 5 year old T-ball or soccer is somewhat of an exception.
Surprisingly, I volunteer coach for my kids teams (recreational leagues mostly) and teaching the skills necessary to win and everyone improving and having fun is all I really care about. Every league (T-ball, baseball, soccer, basketball) no matter whether they keep score or not the kids always know whether they win or not, their team record, and who scored the most points. Denying that is like denying human nature. I have 3 kids. 2 are natural athletes and the other struggles a quite a bit so I understand both ends of the spectrum, but I push them all to improve and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the one that struggles now is a star in high school or even college. I have never seen a kid or group of kids happier in sports then when they make a big improvement and they also win a game. When they don't win (even if they have played well and I am happy) the kids excitement is just a not quite the same. I don't know if that is somewhat sad or not, but it is the way it is. We always downplay the losses and use them to decide what skills we need to work on next. I think learning from losses and identifying weaknesses and correcting them is one of the most important things kids can learn in sports. Keeping score feeds the whole feedback system. School is pretty much the same thing.
Tim
I didn't call anyone a ninny (that was someone else). My point is that whenever a game is played the kids and the parents know the score regardless of whether their level of competence and whether anyone actually keeps score. Sports for kids are not a joke, but ignoring that everyone keeps score is a joke. Perhaps, 5 year old T-ball or soccer is somewhat of an exception.
Surprisingly, I volunteer coach for my kids teams (recreational leagues mostly) and teaching the skills necessary to win and everyone improving and having fun is all I really care about. Every league (T-ball, baseball, soccer, basketball) no matter whether they keep score or not the kids always know whether they win or not, their team record, and who scored the most points. Denying that is like denying human nature. I have 3 kids. 2 are natural athletes and the other struggles a quite a bit so I understand both ends of the spectrum, but I push them all to improve and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the one that struggles now is a star in high school or even college. I have never seen a kid or group of kids happier in sports then when they make a big improvement and they also win a game. When they don't win (even if they have played well and I am happy) the kids excitement is just a not quite the same. I don't know if that is somewhat sad or not, but it is the way it is. We always downplay the losses and use them to decide what skills we need to work on next. I think learning from losses and identifying weaknesses and correcting them is one of the most important things kids can learn in sports. Keeping score feeds the whole feedback system. School is pretty much the same thing.
Tim
