How about some new soccer GOALS?

So we're getting ready to have the final game of the spring soccer season, and I get the expected e-mail about gifts for the coaches, pizza and cake for the kids, and medals.  Ah, the medals.  At least it's not trophies, I thought.  Last season, all the kids got trophies with their names on them.  They were thrilled... until they got home, and the trophies were completely ignored.

This time, when the e-mail came around, I had to speak up.  I told my husband, "I'm going to suggest we don't give out awards to all the players."

Ever the diplomat, he said, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

“What?  When we were young we never got trophies unless we were MVP or Most Improved Player or something like that.” 

He said, “I know – it was the same for us.  But it’s a different world now.  Now people get a trophy just for showing up.” 

I said, “Actually, you don’t even need to show up.  You just need your name on the roster.” 

At the risk of offending, I sent the e-mail.  Do you know what?  Everyone agreed!!  One mom even wrote, "Amen. I agree 100%, I just didn't have the guts to suggest something so countercultural!  With your suggestion as the excuse, however, I'll put it to the group!"

Is it any wonder that college graduates expect to make 6 figures right out of school?  Why even get a job when you can live at home and mooch off your parents?

Youth soccer today has been stripped of many of the beneficial aspects of sports.  The coaches don't keep score lest a player feel "inadequate."  Let me tell you, every kid on the field is keeping score.  My 5-year-old son made the mistake last week of saying, "We're gonna BEAT 'EM!" right before kick off.  The coach quickly corrected his exuberance.

You know, if you take away the score, you also take away most of the incentive to try.  And then, give every kid a trophy regardless of whether he even moved his butt off the sideline, and you render every trophy meaningless.

Competition is real-life, people.  Even when children are children, a little competition helps them work hard and gain a sense of accomplishment.  If a few tears are shed too, it won't kill them.  Frankly, we're killing our kids more by coddling them and rewarding them for nothing.

This soccer mom has had enough,

Lucy P.

Comments

[John]

I agree with all the sentiments you express. I would note, however, that my kids have always "prized" their trophies and medals from soccer and other sports, even though everyone else on the team received the same trophy or medal. My thinking is that younger kids enjoy receiving them and so I don't oppose giving them to everyone on the team. But I think there's an age, sometime around 9 or 10, after which trophies should be awarded only for merit.

And don't get me started on the subject of after-game snacks.

[Lucy]

Good point, John. I think about the children in Myanmar or the survivors of the earthquake in China. Do you think they would clamor for a trophy right now? While they’re starving to death, our kids get a snack at halftime and another snack and juice box at the end of the game.
Last week, a parent brought fresh, cold watermelon for halftime. At the end of the game, the kids wanted to know where their snack was. He pointed to the watermelon. Scandalous! They actually had to eat the same food twice in a 20-minute period.

[Thomas More]

Awesome post. Simply awesome. Your mother burned her bra, now you are burning the trophies--the world's turned full circle!

Viva La Revolucion!

[Thomas More]

Not your actual mom, I am sure, Lucy. Meaning to-be soccer mom's of an earlier generation in general!

[MBMc]

Well said, Lucy Pevensie.