[Closed] Sports day fail...

I never worked harder each year than on sports day. I was a reasonably bright kid but the things I could do best involved a field or a sports hall and a pair of trainers.

I would have been heartbroken if they had removed the competitive element, the clever kids won at maths and science, the artistic kids won at drama and art, why should my moment of glory be taken away from me, the sporty kid?

Team based activities are not sports. They are team based activities.

I am too hungover to articulate my thoughts properly here today, but lunge and donk have hit the 2 points I am trying to make.

For some kids the thing they are good at has been taken away, to not upset other kids who are presumably good at other things and get their time to shine.

Then like exams, the core thing about sport is the competition, the winning, the losing, and all that goes with it. Removing the competition is akin to setting an exam that every child gets 100% at. Yes they all feel good, but you have lost the entire meaning, no one is learning anything from an exams that easy, and no one is learning the lessons that sport teaches when there is no competition.

Would like to add, in school as in life I was/am way more closely aligned to nerd than sporty guy and mini-g is the same.

Quirrel - Member
I had the pleasure of watching all my students train for the x country race at school, from KG up to 16 year olds.

My daughter, was never going to win the KG race, about 500m, as she was just too slow, and easily distracted.

Am I reading that correctly? 500m for a kindergarten race? 😯

D0NK - Member

I try to do the inclusive bleeding heart liberal hippy shit normally but I do find the no racing sports day a bit of a conundrum (and I was shite at every sport going at my school) Racing is like exams/tests we want everyone to take part and give it a good go but we all end up seeing who comes out on top in the end, seems weird that sport is now exempt.

Most sports days are for everyone, not just for the sporty kids. I'm not talking about removing competition in schools, as well as competitive PE there are sport clubs, inter-school competitions etc, and then other stuff outwith schools. But if you want everyont to take part, you should do it in a way that everyone can take part in, otherwise it's just alienating and offputting. Competition for those that want it, and not forced on those who don't.

(My sport was swimming, so I didn't get to shine at sports day either, made no difference- I'd not have basked in the glory of beating a couple of hundred classmates who could barely swim and couldn't give a rat's ass but were ordered into the pool! No more than I'd enjoy being beaten by the runners or the rugbyists at their game. Beating people you outclass isn't fun; being beaten by people who outclass you isn't fun either)

Beating people you outclass isn't fun; being beaten by people who outclass you isn't fun either

TBH I think I'm basically arguing for [i]more[/i] sport in schools! So not taking anything away from anyone but giving more options for others

Our school stopped inviting parents before I joined (the staff) as the head was basically bored of telling off, then removing drunk (they brought cans with them) parents from the field every year. To be fair I am sure it would be different now.
Ours is a round robin affair with 14-16 teams doing two fewer events than teams (two drink stops) with 4 minutes of event, 1 minute to move on then the next 4 minutes. Mine is usually a hurdles relay, point for every lap of 6 hurdles. The 5 year olds are usually hearded by the older kids in the more successful teams and the winners, second and third are the ones who score the most. No praise for anyone's to sporting nature as they tend to win anyway by supporting their team. Then we spend the whole next day walking to another school via a country park for lunch, and walking back again. I hear the kids sleep well by the end of the week, I know the staff bloody do!
Edit- I think the walk is just shy of 8 miles in total, good walk for the Y6, proper adventure and challenge down at year 2 who I think are the youngest we take.

Was placing a solid 3rd in parents race. Moving up to 2nd. Then stumbled. Twisted ankle. Tore hamstring. Can't walk.

Currently sat in middle of Hebden Bridge park waiting for a parent to come and take me home.

#fail

At our school, they have competitive races, but almost all races are relays. So even the kids who are a bit rubbish have to try hard, and it counts if they do a bit better as they're up against the rubbish kids in the other houses (it's a state school, but they have houses for all sorts of things in school, though don't make a big deal about it). Seems just about the right balance has been struck - competition, the kids who are good don't run away with it all, the kids who aren't any good still contribute, less waiting around (they might not spend any more time running, but spend more time being involved), lots of team spirit.

Bog eyed jog at the kids school this morning
and I was running around with them , somehow managed to trip over 2 little girls

Only one cried though so it's not too bad 😳

Our daughter's infants' school has a team competition. All the kids compete in lots of different physical challenges and get points. Not a bad idea really - still competitive but far less personal pressure. Kids are to young to start blaming the weak ones for the team loss.

I'm all for competition, as anyone who knows me will testify.. but only where it's wanted. Making kids line up with everyone watching just to lose is pretty heart breaking for little kids. But on the other hand, young kids all want to participate and have fun.

Putting my competitive proud dad hat back on.. my daughter deliberately did her running races like they do in cartoons - run with everyone else for a bit so you can look sideways at them, then burn them all off 😈

Oh and - no dad's race. Gutted.

They stopped the parents races at the primary/junior a few years ago after a youngster got flattened 😆
I now it wasn't funny but the dad's were getting carried away and didn't pay attention to where the kids were at the finish line. (no youngster was harmed in the making of this lol btw).
I got banned by the Ex running in them after "embarrassing her" . Not sure how it was embarrassing unless you count winning as that?
But then thats why they all lined up - to win.
There is a certain satisfaction though to shutting up the loud, gym monkey, fitness freak; the "tri-athlete" and the ex-PE teacher 😛

Did my first one last year. Was surprised at the turn of speed TBH and only just made it into the top half of the field.

I blame it on my tight-ish jeans and flat soled-trainers - which made the halfway turn a bit comical.

Speaking to another dad after he told me his clubmate - a former national runner - had torn his hamstring in the dad's race too.

😀

[quote=molgrips ]Putting my competitive proud dad hat back on.. my daughter deliberately did her running races like they do in cartoons - run with everyone else for a bit so you can look sideways at them, then burn them all off

Isn't that like LA? 😈

Basically yes, just like that 🙂

It's not the same thing though is it.

Whats would be the same thing, would be watching a film instead of doing maths, so the kids who can't do maths don't have to feel bad about it

Sports day is different tho.

If maths was made the same as a competitive sports day, it would be all the parents in the hall then get the rubbish-at-maths kids up on stage to write the times tables against the clock. You can bet a lot of Dads would be getting hot under the collar at the thought of that Dads race.