Is it really disappointing to the kids though, or is that just a projection of the grown ups?
I'll let you do the research, but everything I've read or experienced suggests that most kids don't drop out of sport because they don't win enough.
I don't know how many sports days you chaps have been to, but the ones I've been to are like herding cats. The kids start early or late, or cut corners or fall over, and the teachers have about a hundred things to do. Making an error about who won the 30m egg and spoon is hardly an issue of competence, and I'd worry a lot more if they tried to turn it into something deadly serious, like some parents seem to want to do.
Yeah, totally agree and agree on cutting corners etc.
Last race I saw (probably about 200 metres around the field), so many kids were cheating and cutting corners (I say cheating, but maybe some and some just from being overly excited and keen to get round). Would guess at about 25% cutting the corner.
Should the teachers start disqualifying kids for cutting the corner? Cos that's the route you'll end up going down if you allow parents to bring in video footage of how their child was robbed of their finishing place.
It's all a bit of fun. There is some competition part to it for sure, but that is not the overriding factor surely.
Also, disagree that it matters that much. If it was my daughter I would be saying to her that
she knows she won and
we know she won and that it's fine and not worth worrying over. I know she would be fine about it too, because that is the way I have brought her up.
If we allow parents to do stuff like this it is going to carry over to football matches and we all know there can be some much contention there (inside/outside the area, on the line/over the line, got the ball, so fair tackle/not a fair tackle, it was my child got the final touch/no, it was
my child got the final touch etc.)
I don't think you can put the decision making down as incompetence either. If it's a sprint it can be a millisecond difference and if it is a longer race you'll have about 30-40 competitors and handfuls crossing the line pretty much all at the same time.
The head teacher was right here in telling parents to stop bringing in their bloody video footage.
It's supposed to be an end of year sports day and a day out for mums and dads to come along and watch. It's a light hearted affair, not the Olympics.