Winners vs. Losers

Both The Girl and The Boy whipped some ass at soccer yesterday. The Girl had two huge saves in goal that led to 2-0 shutout over a really good team. And the The Boy's team crushed their opponent 6-0 with The Boy getting his second goal in the first two games of the season. Yeah!

Unfortunately, this blog is the only place that I can gloat like this. The league they play in is a non-competitive one where you aren't supposed to keep score and there are no winners and losers. What a bunch of bullshit! I hate to break it to the management of these types of leagues but in addition to playing soccer; we've also been teaching them math. So, everyone on the field knows exactly who won and who lost. The coaches and parents telling them that it's not important is a bunch of crap. Now, I understand that the point it to have fun and totally agree with that. However, losing sucks and if don't encourage your team to do their best to win, I think you are falling short in guiding these kids.

I also think that treating kids this way coddles them too much. Kids need to realize at an early stage that life isn't always fair and sometime you lose. Then your disappointed for a time and it makes you try your best next time. By not letting kids deal with the disappointment at this age, it causes them to be co-dependent and weak later in life. When I was growing up we had winners and losers, we had standings, and only the best go the trophies. And let me tell you, not once in my life did I ever get a trophy. I did, however, play on some teams that got better because I tried harder as a result of not want to lose anymore.

One last comment, when I was young, I also got picked on by bullies, but not once did I think about shooting up a school. In fact, I can't recall any school shootings from my youth. If I am off base here, I'm sure you'll let me know.