School sports day? What a farce!

[Globalti]

Went to my son's school sports day yesterday to discover that the PC brigade and fear of litigation have wrecked it. It would be better called School Skills Day because there was nothing sporting about it; no kids ever got out of breath, nobody ran, all that happened was that the kids rotated in groups around ten "stations" where a member of staff got them to limbo under a pole, throw a medicine ball, throw a soft foam dart, throw beany bags into a hoop or jump and try to reach the highest up a pole.

It was carp and very few parents had bothered to come, can't blame them.

 

[zimzum42]

I won the long jump when I was ten. Probably my greatest achievement in life so far.....

 

[Joe24]

I remember my school sports day in junior school. We used to walk down to the local recreation ground and do some proper sports. You had to enter the races you wanted, and i didnt do too bad with it either.
Then they changed it to just being in the play ground(wasnt big enough) and being in groups. It was pretty crap. Throwing a foam javalin, throwing bean bags, kicking a ball and trying to score. It was pretty pants.
I also remember when we were allowed proper footballs, but then that had to change to foam balls incase it hit someone

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

How old is your son, RR? My Daughter is 5 and we've been invited to her Sports Day... have to say, I'm not looking forward to how PC and 'un-sportslike' I am expecting it to be.

 

[yello]

Can't blame the schools either to be fair.

Of course, you might consider whether there might actually be some benefits from this type of sports day. True, it's not as you nor I are familiar with, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily crap. Nor need it necessarily be driven by fears of litigation (though that no doubt plays a part). It might get more children involved for instance.

 

[Mr Pig]

Of course, you might consider whether there might actually be some benefits from this type of sports day.

Sure there is. I teaches kids how to be totally uncompetitive and low on commitment which is exactly how best to get ahead in the real world...

 

[Canrider]

Surely 'sport' and 'game' are virtually synonymous?

If I put on Sky Sports, I generally find there's a football game on, for example..

As to 5-year olds (how old is yours, RR?) playing 'sport', I imagine it can be difficult to get a herd of toddlers into a scrum, given the fly halves often outweigh the props..

 

[Globalti]

He's ten.

He does get to play rounders once a week, which he loves. It's an exciting game for kids and everybody gets a go.

 

[yello]

I don't think not being competitive teaches uncompetitiveness and I think there is a level of commitment required by the children in such events.

Perhaps the schools would be better off not calling such days a 'sports day' since that clearly conflicts with some parents' notions of sport.

I'm just trying to avoid a knee jerk reaction here. Just because it's not rugby, netball and/or hockey doesn't mean it's of no value to the children... and their parents too for that matter.

 

[Joe24]

Could these sports they do not teach them the schema they would need for other sports?

 

[Blackandblue]

I remember at my school sports day we had long jump, triple jump, javelin (proper with a spike on the end), shotput, high jump and obviously lots of running. It was awesome. I'm not sure what they do these days though.

 

[badkitty]

Went to my son's school sports day yesterday to discover that the PC brigade and fear of litigation have wrecked it. It would be better called School Skills Day because there was nothing sporting about it; no kids ever got out of breath, nobody ran, all that happened was that the kids rotated in groups around ten "stations" where a member of staff got them to limbo under a pole, throw a medicine ball, throw a soft foam dart, throw beany bags into a hoop or jump and try to reach the highest up a pole.

It was carp and very few parents had bothered to come, can't blame them.

Oh my God - if you weren't in Lancashire, I'd be convinced that we were at the same "sports" day, RR!
My 5 year olds was the same. Hell, I've never been so bored or depressed..the potato and spoon race wasn't actually a race, but involved my child weaving backwards and forwards in and out of 5 cones for what seemed like an eternity but was in fact 3 mins, to see how many runs she could score. Big Whoop.
It was all like that. Also hilarious when they had to have a rest stop..and sit down..hells teeth, all they did all afternoon was stand around while one of them did something dull for 3 mins. Then the next one, then the next one..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The best bit was when one talented but frustrated little footballer decided that they were wasting his time making him kick a ball into a soft goal 10 ft away (always bloody "soft" everything, ffs...) when he could easily kick it the length of the field, and sent a ball flying straight at the headmistress..and hit her right on the head. (and yes, I did laugh, but she didn't see..)
Was a fantastic shot..the boy is clearly very talented, but as they weren't giving out prizes on the day and he'll probably be penalised for that one anyway , he'll never get the recognition he deserves...wtf?

Maybe I'm just peeved because after years of having a kid who was so un sporting that he was always..ahem.."sick" on sports days, I've got one now who could actually win things, and she isn't getting the chance...bah.

Karma, maybe?

 

[Canrider]

Heheh, I saw a kid get hit *by* a thrown javelin at a sports day. Fortunately it missed just enough that the point didn't stick in but just glanced off his thigh. He dared the girl holding it to throw it at him, so she did.

This was in 1990-1991. Take that, PC Brigade! Javelins don't hurt!

 

[John the Monkey]

We had "proper" sports day back when I was at primary school - I remember it being miserable, as I was comprehensively rubbish at everything.

However, I'm not over keen on the modern sports day - it seems to me to teach that losing is *SO* bad a thing that we can't possibly allow people to experience it. Whilst at the time I'd probably have been quite happy not to have my nose rubbed in my inferiority during every event, I do think the experience of genuine competition is helpful in building character.

 

[johnnyh]

at 5, 6 and 7 you can teach desire to achieve without imposing the pressure of failure.
Kids will naturally become competitive without it being forced on them when they are so young.
Just smile and enjoy, there are plenty of years to pick up the pieces when they are distraught from losing a final or being dropped from the team!