Soccer awards
Kathrin
My 6 yo son has started playing soccer this year, and enjoys it very
much. At the end of the game, 2 certificates are awarded - player of
the day, and the magic moment. (I had to explain the significance of
certificates to my son - he had never come across the concept!)
Anyway, each week a different parent gets to decide who gets the
awards, and this week, it was my turn. It was explained to me that
each child would be awarded the certificates, until everyone had
one, and after that it would be awarded on true merit. This was so
everyone had a turn, and no-one felt bad.
Now, I don't really agree with the whole certificate thing, but this
just makes it even worse to me - the only goal scored by our team
had to go un-acknowleged, because it was scored by the most
competant player, who has already had both awards. I was really
scratching for reasons to give the awards to the players I did, as
they truely weren't outstanding.
How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
much. At the end of the game, 2 certificates are awarded - player of
the day, and the magic moment. (I had to explain the significance of
certificates to my son - he had never come across the concept!)
Anyway, each week a different parent gets to decide who gets the
awards, and this week, it was my turn. It was explained to me that
each child would be awarded the certificates, until everyone had
one, and after that it would be awarded on true merit. This was so
everyone had a turn, and no-one felt bad.
Now, I don't really agree with the whole certificate thing, but this
just makes it even worse to me - the only goal scored by our team
had to go un-acknowleged, because it was scored by the most
competant player, who has already had both awards. I was really
scratching for reasons to give the awards to the players I did, as
they truely weren't outstanding.
How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
joylyn
I'm not sure I agree with the certificate thing, but I do think that
it's really easy to find player of the day and magic moment award winners.
The kid who just doesn't have the same skill level as everyone else, but
works his butt off for the team. The kid who sits out one quarter each
game because for him, he likes to just play and watch, he doesnt' have
to play all the time--while other kids want to play all the time. The
kid who usually just is in the fray but today got a bit of that ball,
kicked it, was not just running and in the group. The kid who stopped
for a minute to check if his opponent was OK after being hit by the
ball. The kid who helped his opponent to his feet, or tied his shoe for
him. Lexie a few times went in for the other team, just so teams would
be even and fair! The kid who usually picks daisies, but today actually
spent a few minutes following the play and trying to be involved!
Joylyn
Kathrin wrote:
it's really easy to find player of the day and magic moment award winners.
The kid who just doesn't have the same skill level as everyone else, but
works his butt off for the team. The kid who sits out one quarter each
game because for him, he likes to just play and watch, he doesnt' have
to play all the time--while other kids want to play all the time. The
kid who usually just is in the fray but today got a bit of that ball,
kicked it, was not just running and in the group. The kid who stopped
for a minute to check if his opponent was OK after being hit by the
ball. The kid who helped his opponent to his feet, or tied his shoe for
him. Lexie a few times went in for the other team, just so teams would
be even and fair! The kid who usually picks daisies, but today actually
spent a few minutes following the play and trying to be involved!
Joylyn
Kathrin wrote:
> My 6 yo son has started playing soccer this year, and enjoys it very[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> much. At the end of the game, 2 certificates are awarded - player of
> the day, and the magic moment. (I had to explain the significance of
> certificates to my son - he had never come across the concept!)
> Anyway, each week a different parent gets to decide who gets the
> awards, and this week, it was my turn. It was explained to me that
> each child would be awarded the certificates, until everyone had
> one, and after that it would be awarded on true merit. This was so
> everyone had a turn, and no-one felt bad.
> Now, I don't really agree with the whole certificate thing, but this
> just makes it even worse to me - the only goal scored by our team
> had to go un-acknowleged, because it was scored by the most
> competant player, who has already had both awards. I was really
> scratching for reasons to give the awards to the players I did, as
> they truely weren't outstanding.
> How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
> let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
> doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
> first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
>
>
>
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Diana Tashjian
It's hard, isn't it? I'm not sure what I'd do in your situation, not
knowing the people, how entrenched the practice is, etc., but I think
I might try to talk about it with the other parents. You might not be
the only one that thinks it's stoopid.
Diana Tashjian
knowing the people, how entrenched the practice is, etc., but I think
I might try to talk about it with the other parents. You might not be
the only one that thinks it's stoopid.
Diana Tashjian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathrin" <kgilles@...>
<snip>
[email protected]
In a message dated 6/2/2004 1:28:40 AM Central Standard Time,
kgilles@... writes:
How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
~~~
It's hard for me to blend my unschooling life into where it intersects with
school-minded people. We have the same kind of thing going on with the 9-10 yo
baseball team my husband coaches. We give out the "game ball" after most
games.
After reading what you wrote, I think the point that is being missed by the
coach is that recognition of extra effort is what counts, not the game-winning
point. I don't know soccer, so let's give examples from baseball. The kid
who very nearly strikes out every time at bat was awarded the game ball for
finally swinging the bat, making contact with the ball (foul), turning his likely
strike-out into a walk, AND getting his glove on the ball when it was hit to
him, and throwing it into second just as he had been taught to do. Did he win
the game? No, but he performed beyond his own ability so far, he showed
improvement and had a good attitude.
It wasn't pointed out to him that he always strikes out. He wasn't
patronized. The kid KNOWS he strikes out almost every time. Our team operates on the
principles of "Fun, Fundamentals, Teamwork, and Winning without violating the
first three." Within that framework, Daniel was an excellent example of the
principles we try to foster. He has a great attitude, which means he's still
having fun; he's getting better at hitting, which means he's working on his
fundamentals; and he threw the ball to second because he knew his teammate would
be expecting it there.
In most of the games we've played, the kid who got the game ball was clearly
outshone in a particular play or at bat by another kid. Those are usually the
kids who will perform well game after game, i.e., rarely make errors and
usually get on base. We don't give game balls to those kids unless their effort
was indeed beyond their usual effort, or indeed win the game for us. Yes, the
standards are different for each kid, because each kid's ability is different.
The game ball is for individual effort, which also sometimes advances the
team's goals, too.
Our last two kids who haven't received a game ball are the two best players.
One is our son Will. He's an unschooled kid. He knows when he plays well
and does better, and he understands why we give game balls the way we do and he
understands the issue of favoritism of the coach's son, etc. More
importantly, since he's never gone to school and earned gold stars, the outside
reinforcement of the game ball is not as important to him as his own performance.
Playing the game and making good plays and winning *is* the reward for him in
baseball. So, he's willing to wait for everyone else to go first, and he'd be
okay if we left him out entirely.
The other kid is who we call our Ironman. His statistics are way beyond
everyone else's. He makes clutch plays almost every game and hits the ball in the
outfield and scores runs. He has a great attitude, too. We knew going in
that he would be performing above and beyond and there would be plenty of
chances for recognizing his sheer talent. So we decided to wait until the end and
give him the last game ball to recognize his solid, steady performance through
all 20 games. We've told him in subtle ways that he has not been forgotten.
The recognition received through the game ball is important to the kids. We
recognize all the kids after each game, give them a chance to talk about what
they did right. We emphasize the positive and ignore the negative. But the
game ball is just a little extra recognition of a "personal best". This is
where the schooled mind bumps up against the unschooled one. We make it as less
school-like as we possibly can.
I think if done well, recognition like awarding the game ball can be a
positive thing. Passing it around just to take turns isn't positive, IMO. We have
to do a bit of turn-taking on our team, but it's very easy to recognize extra
individual effort if you know what to look for, AND it's not in the context of
winning first.
Karen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kgilles@... writes:
How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
~~~
It's hard for me to blend my unschooling life into where it intersects with
school-minded people. We have the same kind of thing going on with the 9-10 yo
baseball team my husband coaches. We give out the "game ball" after most
games.
After reading what you wrote, I think the point that is being missed by the
coach is that recognition of extra effort is what counts, not the game-winning
point. I don't know soccer, so let's give examples from baseball. The kid
who very nearly strikes out every time at bat was awarded the game ball for
finally swinging the bat, making contact with the ball (foul), turning his likely
strike-out into a walk, AND getting his glove on the ball when it was hit to
him, and throwing it into second just as he had been taught to do. Did he win
the game? No, but he performed beyond his own ability so far, he showed
improvement and had a good attitude.
It wasn't pointed out to him that he always strikes out. He wasn't
patronized. The kid KNOWS he strikes out almost every time. Our team operates on the
principles of "Fun, Fundamentals, Teamwork, and Winning without violating the
first three." Within that framework, Daniel was an excellent example of the
principles we try to foster. He has a great attitude, which means he's still
having fun; he's getting better at hitting, which means he's working on his
fundamentals; and he threw the ball to second because he knew his teammate would
be expecting it there.
In most of the games we've played, the kid who got the game ball was clearly
outshone in a particular play or at bat by another kid. Those are usually the
kids who will perform well game after game, i.e., rarely make errors and
usually get on base. We don't give game balls to those kids unless their effort
was indeed beyond their usual effort, or indeed win the game for us. Yes, the
standards are different for each kid, because each kid's ability is different.
The game ball is for individual effort, which also sometimes advances the
team's goals, too.
Our last two kids who haven't received a game ball are the two best players.
One is our son Will. He's an unschooled kid. He knows when he plays well
and does better, and he understands why we give game balls the way we do and he
understands the issue of favoritism of the coach's son, etc. More
importantly, since he's never gone to school and earned gold stars, the outside
reinforcement of the game ball is not as important to him as his own performance.
Playing the game and making good plays and winning *is* the reward for him in
baseball. So, he's willing to wait for everyone else to go first, and he'd be
okay if we left him out entirely.
The other kid is who we call our Ironman. His statistics are way beyond
everyone else's. He makes clutch plays almost every game and hits the ball in the
outfield and scores runs. He has a great attitude, too. We knew going in
that he would be performing above and beyond and there would be plenty of
chances for recognizing his sheer talent. So we decided to wait until the end and
give him the last game ball to recognize his solid, steady performance through
all 20 games. We've told him in subtle ways that he has not been forgotten.
The recognition received through the game ball is important to the kids. We
recognize all the kids after each game, give them a chance to talk about what
they did right. We emphasize the positive and ignore the negative. But the
game ball is just a little extra recognition of a "personal best". This is
where the schooled mind bumps up against the unschooled one. We make it as less
school-like as we possibly can.
I think if done well, recognition like awarding the game ball can be a
positive thing. Passing it around just to take turns isn't positive, IMO. We have
to do a bit of turn-taking on our team, but it's very easy to recognize extra
individual effort if you know what to look for, AND it's not in the context of
winning first.
Karen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dana Browning
When I coached my dds soccer teams, we were just thrilled when someone who never kicked the ball finally did. Which was usually my youngest. <g>
Dana
Dana
----- Original Message -----
From: tuckervill2@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 8:22 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Soccer awards
In a message dated 6/2/2004 1:28:40 AM Central Standard Time,
kgilles@... writes:
How can I raise this issue with people who don't even home-school,
let alone unschool? Or do some people think this is a fair way of
doing it? I just think the kids know the best players got the awards
first, and that it is a bit meaningless. Am I missing something?
~~~
It's hard for me to blend my unschooling life into where it intersects with
school-minded people. We have the same kind of thing going on with the 9-10 yo
baseball team my husband coaches. We give out the "game ball" after most
games.
After reading what you wrote, I think the point that is being missed by the
coach is that recognition of extra effort is what counts, not the game-winning
point. I don't know soccer, so let's give examples from baseball. The kid
who very nearly strikes out every time at bat was awarded the game ball for
finally swinging the bat, making contact with the ball (foul), turning his likely
strike-out into a walk, AND getting his glove on the ball when it was hit to
him, and throwing it into second just as he had been taught to do. Did he win
the game? No, but he performed beyond his own ability so far, he showed
improvement and had a good attitude.
It wasn't pointed out to him that he always strikes out. He wasn't
patronized. The kid KNOWS he strikes out almost every time. Our team operates on the
principles of "Fun, Fundamentals, Teamwork, and Winning without violating the
first three." Within that framework, Daniel was an excellent example of the
principles we try to foster. He has a great attitude, which means he's still
having fun; he's getting better at hitting, which means he's working on his
fundamentals; and he threw the ball to second because he knew his teammate would
be expecting it there.
In most of the games we've played, the kid who got the game ball was clearly
outshone in a particular play or at bat by another kid. Those are usually the
kids who will perform well game after game, i.e., rarely make errors and
usually get on base. We don't give game balls to those kids unless their effort
was indeed beyond their usual effort, or indeed win the game for us. Yes, the
standards are different for each kid, because each kid's ability is different.
The game ball is for individual effort, which also sometimes advances the
team's goals, too.
Our last two kids who haven't received a game ball are the two best players.
One is our son Will. He's an unschooled kid. He knows when he plays well
and does better, and he understands why we give game balls the way we do and he
understands the issue of favoritism of the coach's son, etc. More
importantly, since he's never gone to school and earned gold stars, the outside
reinforcement of the game ball is not as important to him as his own performance.
Playing the game and making good plays and winning *is* the reward for him in
baseball. So, he's willing to wait for everyone else to go first, and he'd be
okay if we left him out entirely.
The other kid is who we call our Ironman. His statistics are way beyond
everyone else's. He makes clutch plays almost every game and hits the ball in the
outfield and scores runs. He has a great attitude, too. We knew going in
that he would be performing above and beyond and there would be plenty of
chances for recognizing his sheer talent. So we decided to wait until the end and
give him the last game ball to recognize his solid, steady performance through
all 20 games. We've told him in subtle ways that he has not been forgotten.
The recognition received through the game ball is important to the kids. We
recognize all the kids after each game, give them a chance to talk about what
they did right. We emphasize the positive and ignore the negative. But the
game ball is just a little extra recognition of a "personal best". This is
where the schooled mind bumps up against the unschooled one. We make it as less
school-like as we possibly can.
I think if done well, recognition like awarding the game ball can be a
positive thing. Passing it around just to take turns isn't positive, IMO. We have
to do a bit of turn-taking on our team, but it's very easy to recognize extra
individual effort if you know what to look for, AND it's not in the context of
winning first.
Karen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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