Posted on 09/17/2008 9:24:18 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Children have been banned from reading their football results in local newspapers because it makes them too competitive.
Football Association laws dictate that from this season, the results of matches between children aged seven and eight must not be published, league tables must not be kept and prizes must not be given out.
Some local associations have chosen to extend the regulations even further, it has emerged, banning league tables and trophies for 9, 10 and 11-year olds as well.
Scott Ager, who last season managed Priory Parkside under-9s 'A' team in Huntingdon, was sharply reprimanded after declaring that his team had won the league and having them photographed with a trophy by their local newspaper.
Mr Ager said: "I find it bizarre. It seems to me to work against talented players, as the teams who may lose heavily are likely to be ones with players who just play for a bit of fun. It is very frustrating. Kids put all this effort in but there is no reward.
"All the other managers in the league acknowledged that we had been the best team as we had won the most games. Football is our national sport, yet there are some strange rules around it."
A spokesman for Hunts FA said: "We were very angry. We do not allow competitive leagues until after under-11s. Mr Ager was chastened very severely and eventually left his club."
The FA handbook states: "Under-7s and Under-8s are not permitted to play in leagues where results are collected or published or winner trophies are presented."
The move was designed to allow young children to nurture their skills without facing the pressure to win.
Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of football development, said: "In the youngest age groups there's too much emphasis on winning leagues, often
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Political Correctness goes too far............
Why are the English self-destructing?
OK, boys!
Let’s go out there and NOT WIN today!
The downward spiral into the abyss of political correctness continues unabated.
The cult of self-esteem.
You lost, but you really didn’t because you are wonderful.
You won, but you really didn’t because you oppressed your opponent and will now be forced to attend 40 hours of sensitivity-to-losers training.
This is why Western civilization is slowly heading down the tubes. Children are being forced to regress to the norm. And the norm continues to head south as kids figure out that they can slack without any repercussions. Then one day they vote for lefties to provide for them because they are too stupid to do so themselves.
Fortunately, at least in the US, the love of competitive sports and the fact that most of us still have our sack will forestall this for some time.
Wrong-o. These policies are already in place all over America. They were here ten years ago in Oregon.
Theyahs too much sociologizin’ goin’ on theyah.
Just rename the league — the UK Girly Boy League.
Europe doesn’t deserve to have its current government.
It needs taking over. Russia, Middle Easterners, Indians, Chinese... Africans... Mexicans....
Anyone, from any place... aliens from Mars.... take over the whole of Europe... please.
The UK = “Animal Farm” now.
They are goig to hell in a handbasket faster than even I could imagine.
The UK is committing suicide right in front of our eyes right now.
They’re doomed.
“Wrong-o. These policies are already in place all over America. They were here ten years ago in Oregon.”
They definitely keep score where I live: Little League, Pee Wee football, and they even crown champs for T-ball, about the youngest competitors in any sport.
The West is raising a bunch of ferries.
“Why are the English self-destructing?”
For the same reason we are. We both have let the left take over our educational system and the media without as much as a fight. The British are just farther along than we are because individual freedom has just been a cultural tradition with them with no constitution standing in the way of the jackals.
If only there was some way people could post the info so that others could find and read it......hhhmmmmmm
ha ha ha, yeah..the internet can’t flank them on this , ha ha
Same here in CT. I help coach my son’s baseball and soccer teams. I’ve got stories about parents screaming at coaches because they’re teams are scoring too often. Up until this year in soccer, every game was to be dubbed a “tie”. Even though we’re keeping score of individual games this year (3rd/4th graders), we’re not supposed to be tracking W’s and L’s.
With our soccer team this year, they selected teams by alphabetical order because too many parents complained about coaches stacking the teams (which I can tell you rarely happened but you always had one coach that was “win at all cost”... it was more often about buddies wanting to be teammates and carpooling).
Still, we’ve got one heck of a team this year that has outscored our competitors 20-3 across 3 games. Because of the complaints in the past, our head coach holds the mid-fielders back in the second half of every game. It’s kind of silly to see two forwards (we play 2-3-2) going against 5-7 players when we get to that point.
The kids aren’t allowed to celebrate after a win, either. Only a single group team cheer is permitted. Political correctness at its finest.
But I’ll tell ya... these kids are smart enough to know what’s what at the end of the day.
If they can’t read the results does that mean they can bet on the games? Since they can’t find out stats and ranking of teams they are playing you would think setting up or consorting with a bookie would be legal.
I'm coaching an under ten year old girls team in a Southern state and it's about the same here. For the little ones it's supposed to be about fun and learning the game and not so much about competition. They know whether they win their games or not obviously but at the tournaments they don't really rank the teams. Everybody gets medals usually. I don't know that it's all that horrible to do it this way. There is still definitely a component of competition, but it's not all about the competition. Some teams are just going to be a lot better than other teams because at the younger age you're going to have some kids who are far advanced over others in skill and knowledge about the game, and basic motor skills for that matter. Were still teaching them the fundamentals. Some have played a few years and some are there for the first time playing any sport because their parents just wanted them to try something like that out. We're supposed to give them all fairly equal time playing and try not to be too hard on them or make it all about winning or loosing. This year by the luck of the draw we got some really good girls on our team, won our last game 8 to 1 even though we kept our best strikers playing back as much as possible. Honestly I don't like to win by that much because I know how my daughter felt when her team would get beaten that badly before when she wasn't lucky enough playing with others who really shine. I used to think it was stupid to de-emphasize the competitive aspect but I'm starting to get converted a little because there is still plenty of competitiveness but not so much that we are discouraging kids who are still just learning about the game. We switch the teams up every season and some of the kids that come from the teams that never won will end up being just awesome when they get to play with better players.
“it makes them too competitive”
IOW, competition bad, collectivism good. Gee, shock there. /sarc
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