Friday, April 16, 2010

Youth Sports: Ribbons for Participation

When I was a kid of about 7 years old, I played on a terrible light blue soccer team. My dad was the coach and quite frankly he didn't know anything about soccer.

We didn't win a single game. We didn't score a single goal. But after the season ending tournament was over, the league officials lined us up, shook our hands, said good season and gave each of us a yellow participation ribbon. I vividly remember thinking, Good Season. Really? We sucked as much as this stupid yellow ribbon. I envied my friends that got a trophy with a soccer player on it.

Today my site was listed on ALLTOP and I got this ribbon. Not meaningless.

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass

The Main Point:

Some kids are going to cherish the participation ribbon, but most young athletes are going to see right through it.  I do not care how much parents, coaches and leagues try to play games with no scoring or to give out trophies for participation. Most kids know the score, know if they won or lost, know if they are good or bad. And guess what, they are just fine.

1 comment:

  1. These meaningless ribbons really annoy me. It's okay for kids to face disappointment. It prepares them for life.

    ReplyDelete

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