When is a school sports day NOT a school sports day ? When there are no real winners !
I am sorry, but I do not agree with the whole 'everyone gets a prize' at sports events. I have two sporty boys who do not have the opportunity to shine that much in class, or at musical shows, or in art competitions, or get awards for academics on assembly. Their time to shine is on the sports field, and when the sports days are all made about 'fairness' I feel like they are being robbed. I know there are kids that 'hate' the sports day because they aren't good at it but I still don't think that makes it right for those that are good, to not be allowed to be successful in front of their peers.
My school athletics day were all about the first 3 place-getters in each event receiving their Yellow, Red or Blue ribbon and wearing them with pride. When it came to certain events, I always new that if I tried my best I had a chance of grabbing one of those very coveted ribbons, and in other events, there was no chance ! But I new that the best in each event was rewarded for just that - being the best. The other added bonus was to earn points for your beloved house - in our case it was Karinya or Nulgara, and we were determined to bring home the points for Karinya. The competitive juices flowed and we all had a great time. No bullying, no bad sportsmanship, just kids out to have some fun and win some ribbons.
Last week, the boys school here in Bangalore had their sports day for athletics and there wasn't a ribbon in sight. In fact, the houses competed alone. And by alone, I mean, our house Nehru had 20 or so kids in from the junior school and they raced, jumped, threw etc against each other. The 50 metre sprint was a case of 'how many 50's can you do in the allotted time'!! My boys smashed it, but with no reward. The long distance run was how many 400 laps could you do in the allotted time- once again they smashed it. (Jack did 3 laps and Max did about 2.75 laps) Shotput - Jack cleared the crowd of parents at the end of the area, with his huge throw. But all to no avail.
I think this whole 'everyone is playing for fun' is just being taken too far. This was my boys day to shine and they came home feeling hardly done by, and so did I having travelled 1.5 hours each way to see no awards presented. The house points were tallied and Nehru came third but if individual ages were challenged, I think the kids would have enjoyed it more and would have had a few ribbons to show for their hard work. Even without the ribbons, they are my little champions !
I say we should let the musical kids shine, the artistic ones, the academic and also let the competitive sports kids shine too.
My rant is over !
I am sorry, but I do not agree with the whole 'everyone gets a prize' at sports events. I have two sporty boys who do not have the opportunity to shine that much in class, or at musical shows, or in art competitions, or get awards for academics on assembly. Their time to shine is on the sports field, and when the sports days are all made about 'fairness' I feel like they are being robbed. I know there are kids that 'hate' the sports day because they aren't good at it but I still don't think that makes it right for those that are good, to not be allowed to be successful in front of their peers.
My school athletics day were all about the first 3 place-getters in each event receiving their Yellow, Red or Blue ribbon and wearing them with pride. When it came to certain events, I always new that if I tried my best I had a chance of grabbing one of those very coveted ribbons, and in other events, there was no chance ! But I new that the best in each event was rewarded for just that - being the best. The other added bonus was to earn points for your beloved house - in our case it was Karinya or Nulgara, and we were determined to bring home the points for Karinya. The competitive juices flowed and we all had a great time. No bullying, no bad sportsmanship, just kids out to have some fun and win some ribbons.
Last week, the boys school here in Bangalore had their sports day for athletics and there wasn't a ribbon in sight. In fact, the houses competed alone. And by alone, I mean, our house Nehru had 20 or so kids in from the junior school and they raced, jumped, threw etc against each other. The 50 metre sprint was a case of 'how many 50's can you do in the allotted time'!! My boys smashed it, but with no reward. The long distance run was how many 400 laps could you do in the allotted time- once again they smashed it. (Jack did 3 laps and Max did about 2.75 laps) Shotput - Jack cleared the crowd of parents at the end of the area, with his huge throw. But all to no avail.
I think this whole 'everyone is playing for fun' is just being taken too far. This was my boys day to shine and they came home feeling hardly done by, and so did I having travelled 1.5 hours each way to see no awards presented. The house points were tallied and Nehru came third but if individual ages were challenged, I think the kids would have enjoyed it more and would have had a few ribbons to show for their hard work. Even without the ribbons, they are my little champions !
I say we should let the musical kids shine, the artistic ones, the academic and also let the competitive sports kids shine too.
My rant is over !
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