This website covers the good, the bad and the ugly of youth sports. It doesn't get any uglier than the criminal element gambling on youth sports, paying pee wee players to perform or throw a game and the intimidation of those who don't.
ESPN Outside the Lines did a 7 month investigation of gambling on youth football in South Florida. Check it out.
The Main Point
Yelling at refs, conspiring against coaches, players or coaches cheating during a game, parents or coaches encouraging violence on the field, confidence killing coaches, parents drinking excessively at youth sports games, etc. are all ugly elements of youth sports that I have witnessed. Gambling, drug money and intimidation takes the ugliness to another level. I was shocked by the story at first, but I am not sure why. The ugliness I see is from middle to upper class people who typically have strong family units and quality education. The families depicted in this ESPN OTL story do not have it as easy.
Showing posts with label Win at all costs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Win at all costs. Show all posts
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Youth Sports: Do You Think Obama Played Competitive Youth Sports?
I have several posts throughout Statsdad.com declaring that participating in competitive youth sports prepares children for life. Notice, I didn't say mere participation in sports prepares kids for life. It's competition that inspires one to overcome and achieve. Competition is vital for growth and development.
Notice too, I did not say anything about winning. Life lessons are learned through winning and losing. Preparing to win is what is important.
Finally, I do concede that there are many benefits to playing sport just for fun. And even in competitive sports "fun" is a key element for success. You have to like what you are doing to succeed.
This same principle applies to young artists and musicians and actors and writers and students. The world is a competitive place for everyone not just athletes. It's a fact, the world typically rewards those who are better or work harder or both. This is a good thing. This dynamic pushes people to work harder to achieve goals. The opposite is communism and we all know how successful that was.
There's a great post that echoes these thoughts on PajamasMedia called It's how you play the game: The Fate of Western Civilization and Grade School Soccer. A shout out to the always interesting blog Your Kid's Not Going Pro for the link. The article made me wonder if Obama ever played competitive sports growing up?
The Main Point
Don't stress winning, stress preparing to win, stress hard work and hustle. Winning will likely follow. Your kids are going to win and they are going to lose. They are going to make saves and give up goals. They will get hits and strike out. They will make teams and they will to get cut from teams. They will start and they will sit the bench. Regardless, if they work hard then they are going to grow during the process and they will be prepared for life.
Notice too, I did not say anything about winning. Life lessons are learned through winning and losing. Preparing to win is what is important.
Finally, I do concede that there are many benefits to playing sport just for fun. And even in competitive sports "fun" is a key element for success. You have to like what you are doing to succeed.
This same principle applies to young artists and musicians and actors and writers and students. The world is a competitive place for everyone not just athletes. It's a fact, the world typically rewards those who are better or work harder or both. This is a good thing. This dynamic pushes people to work harder to achieve goals. The opposite is communism and we all know how successful that was.
There's a great post that echoes these thoughts on PajamasMedia called It's how you play the game: The Fate of Western Civilization and Grade School Soccer. A shout out to the always interesting blog Your Kid's Not Going Pro for the link. The article made me wonder if Obama ever played competitive sports growing up?
The Main Point
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| Save |
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| No Save - Goal |
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Youth Soccer: Must Win Game
Are there really any must win, do or die games in youth sports? Must win or what? Of course in the grand scheme of life no game is really that important. Save for the 1980 USA Hockey team win over the USSR that lifted a nation and other games in history that garnered a higher importance for reasons beyond the game itself.
My daughter, CC, played in what was deemed a must win game by the coaches and the way too serious parents (like me).
My 10 year old daughter's team plays in the Elite Division (highest division) of the metro area soccer league. Their league record before Sunday's pivotal game stood at 2-2-3. They won or tied 5 of the 7 games, yet they were in danger of being dropped from the Elite division.
After each season is complete, the bottom two teams an upper division move down and the top two teams from the next lower division move up. This fall, the Elite division featured the best nine teams in the tri-state region. After the season, the Elite division is being reduced to eight teams. So for this year only, the bottom 3 teams of the Elite division will move down to the Premier division and the top two teams from the Premier division will move up.
My daughter's team needed to win to guarantee a spot in the Elite division. Staying in the highest division will guarantee that they will play against the best talent in league play. The top division teams are also the teams that garner limited spots in the top divisions of soccer tournaments. So a drop in division can significantly reduce the level of competition for an entire season. This is important because the girls on this soccer team are serious about soccer and they want to play against the best so that they can continue to advance as players.
Game 160
The coaching staff found out right before the game that they did not have to win to stay in. Apparently, the team that could have jumped over our team in the standings with a win, lost the day before. The coaching staff did not inform our kids of this and used the threat of moving down a division as motivation.
Our team ended up winning the rough game 1-0 to end up the season tied for 4th place and a mere two points out of second place. CC's foot is finally healed and she played very well. She had a terrific shot on goal that the goalie made an outstanding split second reaction save on.
The Main Point
In youth sports at the end of the day the result of the game really does not matter, but we all know that it feels like it does. This feeling weighs on the minds of young kids who only think about the present. This feeling weighs on the minds of the crazy youth sports parents who only think of the future, future positions on a competitive high school team or perhaps a future scholarship to college. So in a sense, there are must win games in youth sports. And I think that that is a good thing. These games prepare our kids for the future. Not so much for future games, but for life. The world is a very competitive place.
My daughter, CC, played in what was deemed a must win game by the coaches and the way too serious parents (like me).
My 10 year old daughter's team plays in the Elite Division (highest division) of the metro area soccer league. Their league record before Sunday's pivotal game stood at 2-2-3. They won or tied 5 of the 7 games, yet they were in danger of being dropped from the Elite division.
After each season is complete, the bottom two teams an upper division move down and the top two teams from the next lower division move up. This fall, the Elite division featured the best nine teams in the tri-state region. After the season, the Elite division is being reduced to eight teams. So for this year only, the bottom 3 teams of the Elite division will move down to the Premier division and the top two teams from the Premier division will move up.
My daughter's team needed to win to guarantee a spot in the Elite division. Staying in the highest division will guarantee that they will play against the best talent in league play. The top division teams are also the teams that garner limited spots in the top divisions of soccer tournaments. So a drop in division can significantly reduce the level of competition for an entire season. This is important because the girls on this soccer team are serious about soccer and they want to play against the best so that they can continue to advance as players.
Game 160
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| Rough Game |
Our team ended up winning the rough game 1-0 to end up the season tied for 4th place and a mere two points out of second place. CC's foot is finally healed and she played very well. She had a terrific shot on goal that the goalie made an outstanding split second reaction save on.
The Main Point
In youth sports at the end of the day the result of the game really does not matter, but we all know that it feels like it does. This feeling weighs on the minds of young kids who only think about the present. This feeling weighs on the minds of the crazy youth sports parents who only think of the future, future positions on a competitive high school team or perhaps a future scholarship to college. So in a sense, there are must win games in youth sports. And I think that that is a good thing. These games prepare our kids for the future. Not so much for future games, but for life. The world is a very competitive place.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Youth Baskeball Championships
Game 1
My son played for the league championship in basketball today. Prior to the game, my son thought that his team had a good chance to win it all. He was familiar with the opponent because they played them two other times during the season. His team lost both regular season games, but by a combined 8 points. In those games, my son's team did not have the services of their big man who was out with a broken wrist but had since returned to action. We all thought that the big guy would be the difference. Well, the other team showed up with 3 all star players we had never seen before. One of these 6th graders was about 6' 1" and had facial hair. The other two looked like McDonald All Americans. My son's team lost by 35 points. My son scored 6 points but he was deflated. I felt bad for the kids on the other team who did not get their minutes because of the super subs. The coach for the other team was going to win at all costs.
It was a good year for my son. Baseball is his main sport, so he had never concentrated on basketball before. Prior to this year, he had only played rec level for the town league and for his parochial school. Sixth grade is the year when his school league has tryouts and creates A, B and C teams. My son made the A team. I am pretty sure that my son was the last guy to make the team. Many of his teammates had played competitive basketball on AAU teams. He made the team based on his athletic ability and hustle during tryouts and not his basketball skills. The coach of the A team is a paid coach who really knew the game. He taught my son how to play the game. By the end of the season my son was a starter. He was still not a polished offensive player but he played terrific defense and hustled non-stop. I was proud of him.
My son played for the league championship in basketball today. Prior to the game, my son thought that his team had a good chance to win it all. He was familiar with the opponent because they played them two other times during the season. His team lost both regular season games, but by a combined 8 points. In those games, my son's team did not have the services of their big man who was out with a broken wrist but had since returned to action. We all thought that the big guy would be the difference. Well, the other team showed up with 3 all star players we had never seen before. One of these 6th graders was about 6' 1" and had facial hair. The other two looked like McDonald All Americans. My son's team lost by 35 points. My son scored 6 points but he was deflated. I felt bad for the kids on the other team who did not get their minutes because of the super subs. The coach for the other team was going to win at all costs.
It was a good year for my son. Baseball is his main sport, so he had never concentrated on basketball before. Prior to this year, he had only played rec level for the town league and for his parochial school. Sixth grade is the year when his school league has tryouts and creates A, B and C teams. My son made the A team. I am pretty sure that my son was the last guy to make the team. Many of his teammates had played competitive basketball on AAU teams. He made the team based on his athletic ability and hustle during tryouts and not his basketball skills. The coach of the A team is a paid coach who really knew the game. He taught my son how to play the game. By the end of the season my son was a starter. He was still not a polished offensive player but he played terrific defense and hustled non-stop. I was proud of him.
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