Auskick has extended their scoring ban to the under 10s age group and removed the Best and Fairest Player award as the push for mediocrity continues.
It’s pass-the-parcel all over again but instead of every child winning a prize to soothe hurt feelings before they’re even injured, every child is now expected to simply ‘participate’ on the football field with no thrill of competition. Well, enough is enough, I say.
We’re raising this latest generation to never experience the crush of failure, the stomach-clench of disappointment or the hot flush of feeling left out. Are they going to be well-adjusted and supported young adults, or are they going to be self-indulgent crybabies who can’t face not being good enough when they’re rejected from dream jobs, don’t get into their desired course at uni or fail their driver’s licence three times?
I wasn’t exactly the most active kid; I might never have sprinted on the basketball court at all if it wasn’t for the desperation of trying to win a close game. You might participate in a game for the fun of it, but the push of competition makes players excel. The desire to win makes you dig deeper than you ever thought possible, run harder than you ever have before and then when that’s still not good enough, you train harder to be better next time.
We know simple participation doesn’t create this drive, because how hard did you try as a kid when your team was already winning by over 50 points? Not very hard at all. In fact you were already thinking about the post-game ice block, weren’t you?
We want to instill in our children the behaviour that is fostered by competition. We don’t want to be constantly telling them that whatever they produce is perfect, because it’s not, and if they don’t learn to strive for higher heights now, when will they?
Competition fosters teamwork and a hunger to succeed, so getting rid of scoring should be the least of our concerns. Instead, how about banning those parents who holler abuse at refs and players from the sideline, or that bully kid who plays more viciously than anyone on the field, or we abolish team fees so that every child is able to join a sport?
Now, I know the rules have only changed slightly to include another age group in the scoring ban (groups younger than under 10s have been without scoring for a while), but my question is where will it end? How long must we wait before we introduce children to the true nature of our society – competitiveness?
Not to mention that children can still count, and we’re fooling ourselves if we think every player on that field won’t be keeping mental track of the score. And that’s probably the most twisted thing about these rules – they’re not really for the children who are playing, but for the parents who want to feel they’re being supportive, loving and kind to their offspring. It’s guilt-alleviation and won’t really work.
Yes, we’re definitely being too soft on kids these days. Just let kids be kids. Nothing wrong with competitiveness, would encourage kids to try harder. My feeling is that parents/adults are being too over protective with children of all ages. I was fortunate to grow up in a community/environment where we were allowed to roam free and enjoy growing up. It was a case of the village raised us.
Its such a silly idea….this is just over the top. Why not promote the competition but remind them its jut a game and best andfairest surely would encourage them to play to the best of their ability while remainin fair!
No keeping score for under 10’s…. what a load of rubbish. How are children expected to strive to achieve the very best that they can give if there is no incentive. For goodness sake what will this generation become. Take competitiveness out of sport and what does a child aspire to.
In Soccer we are doing it for a number of years and it works fine. The only ones scoring are the parents on the side koine.
You are right! They all score anyway. Our kids netball doesn’t “score”, but the kids run off and if they lost track, will say “did we win”… it is on their mind and they want to train and get better so they can. We always thank and applaud the other side, shaking hands and congratulating them on the game. Being gracious in defeat is a skill that must be learnt by kids and also modelled by parents. So parents grow up and support your kids through wins and losses, support the coaches, the umpires and the officials… they are all volunteers! Score the game and be mature in how you deal with it… your kids are watching!
Sport has become “lets see who we can just about kill or better still put into a wheel chair for life”
I fully support Max Moola and everything that he has written. When redesigning and rewriting training courses that depended on promotion at all levels, it was suggested to me by a manager that the scoring system be taken out of the pass/ fail criteria. When I explained that if implemented, would she accept a person who under normal circumstances would have failed, but would be appointed as her next senior subordinate, she sheepishly replied ,”No”.
Competition is essential, the children employ their own systems when playing, Not all of us can achieve at the same level in all things. Let the kids have a go, let them have their freedom and allow them to make decisions and to reach an acceptable level at all ages. Children, like water will find their own levels but they must be allowed to achieve by competition. Bring back their scoring system or ask the kids after the game what the score was, they will tell you. They will also acknowledge the best player, the best team player and the highest scorer so that others may be given the chance to achieve and to succeed.
Let kids be kids.Competiveness doesnt harm them.As long as they are playing for the enjoyment of the game and are taught coming second doent mean you played badly, Just the other team where that bit better.They play there best and fairly thats all you can ask.
Kids are too pampered these days. That is why Gen Y are the way they are. Let’s let kids grow up naturally, such as learning that there are winners and losers, and that it’s ok to not win this time, there’s always next week. It will give them responsibility for their actions and give them a backbone and make them work hard for what they want and actually earn it and not feel that the world owes them a favour!
I think it is a GREAT idea, too much emphasis is on winning and not enough on participation. Why do you think we have so many fat kids, it is because they do not feel comfortable participating in an overly competitive environment. Kids will have plenty of time to compete and win at an older. Come on, let kids have some fun!!! Parents, just get over it!!!!
We are not teaching them too much this way. They need to be competitive all through life, or they are not going to succeed. It’s character building for the kids to get knocked back occasionally, they need to grow and be strong on the inside too.
I think it is time for us to take our kids out of cotton wool, harden up, not treat them like babies and let them have a real start to life. They NEED to learn early how to accept mistakes, take the knock and learn responsibility. Competition is a good thing if it is not about rowdy idiot parents wanting their little Johnny to be always the best. We have to learn to take knock backs and disappointments, that is a reality of life. Give the kids a bit of reality before they can vote so they are aware of both winning and losing and getting on with life. Kids today have no pain, no discipline, no regulations, no responsibilities – only rights! Knock backs never killed anyone years ago, now one knock back and they want to top themselves. Get real and teach them how to take them – if you know how…
Kids need to learn to be competitive but more importantly they need to learn how to lose gracefully.
Kids have to learn to win and lose. If there is no scoring, why would they bother trying? Competition is what drives people to achieve to the best of their ability. Provided coaches and parents use the outcome of the game as a learning exercise, ie how to be a good winner or loser and the different emotions experienced depending on the result of the game, this can all be of great benefit in character building. If coaches and parents berate the children for losing, then they should be banned.
In seeking to prevent a feeling of failure in young kids this is setting them up for greater failures down the road. In the past two weeks I have seen the consequences. Young 20 somethings being told that their work is not up to scratch go into total meltdown. They have not failed, rather they have not yet met the standard they need to. The common refrain ” I’ve never been told I am not good enough”. Really! And they don’t have coping skills. Don’t penalise the kids by not keeping score, place restrictions on adult intervention from the sidelines
If you laud victory from an early age you may well breed a race of Olympic champions, but you will also produce a large number of people who believe that their only contribution to sport is as a spectator.
Some individuals will be superb, but the majority will be `Norms’ sitting on the couch drinking beer and eating chips.
Olympic glory is tremendous, but it comes at a cost and that cost is not just the general involvement in sport of those people who are not physically or mentally championship material.
It also comes at a cost for those sports people who are superbly fit. The recent troubles of two of Australia’s must revered swimmers is proof of that.
Competition at this age is good for kids…as long as everyone doesnt get too over the top. It makes kid understadn not everyone can be the best, but its worth trying your best. It helps them understand support and team work and how can that be bad once they join the work force. Parents just have to make sure they arent the problem and giving our false praise. Encouraging the child to try, and not be scared to have a go and keep having a go to see if they can improve, thats what living is, building resilent, getting up dusting yourself off, and going again.
If we are raising a bunch of kids who are too wimpy to lose a game, then they are too wimpy to play Auskick. I see this in the schools, everyone gets an award which means that the kids who do excell don’t think there is any thing special about working hard. The precious little darlings should learn that working hard, being competitive, brings rewards.
On a different tack however, we don’t want parents getting in there and causing problems if their children don’t win.
Yes, we are too soft on our kids today.
To aim for a so called “level playing field” is no more than aiming for mediocrity.
These kids are going to wake up to a massive shock when they try to enter the workforce only to find that there just ain’t no such animal as a level playing field!.
Our top sportspeople are not mediocre people- they don’t want to be just one of the gang- they want to be so much better. And when they don’t win they don’t have a sook and tizzy fit, they WORK ON GETTING BETTER!!. .
The sooner parents wake up to the impact of the bleeding hearts and pussycats trying drag their kids into mediocrity the better off their kids will be.
There is nothing wrong with getting beaten at something-,if you’re not good enough, try harder or find something in which you can excel.
Bring on competition, let the best win, and the mediocre can please themselves. If they choose to strive to beat a winner then the chances are they will also become a winner, but if they choose to take the middle mediocre ground then they also will achieve their goal.
I sure as hell hope our surgeons and anaesthetists didn’t come from a level playing field.
We are competing with someone for something from the moment we are born- lets encourage it not suppress it.
Cheers, and let the competition begin.
Brilliant idea… they are just little kids & need to know winning a stupid football game isn’t the be-all and end-all of life.
The next thing they should do is stop the abusive and badly behaved parents attending the matches!
I watched a young kid cry uncontrollably when his team lost. He hadn’t been exposed to failure or loss before. Now he had, it was difficult for him to take in. But he was better for it, because his mates rallied around him and showed what team spirit and camaraderie was about. Better to be with your mates that support you and want to be part of a team with you, through the highs and lows.
Great idea, I believe they have had it in lower age groups for some time now. This may just teach some parents to behave properly. After all sport is supposed to be a fun and healthy activity.
My 3 kids all play AFL and we have been using the no scoring system for years.
The parents do keep score on the side line but the coaches have the encouragement awards and best player and so on, the children love this.