Teaching kids to compete - the value of keeping score.

You have a great push poll there.

 

I would say that around 7 or 8 is an appropriate time to start keeping score, but it should not be emphasized and there should be some kind of mechanism in place to prevent blow outs.

 

I thought someone had bumped the old thread.

 

I would keep score in league games. Not keeping score to avoid anyone's feelings getting hurt is stupid. Not keeping score because you are just having fun seems reasonable. Kids should learn that it is great to win, but its also ok to lose. All you can do is try hard, have fun, and if you win that is just icing on the cake.

 

I'm fine with it either way, as long as there are leagues/options for both. If the kid doesn't care at a certain age and just wants to have fun, I see no problem with that. But a lot of kid want a score.

Playing baseball as a kid there were a couple of leagues I was in that didn't keep score, and I hated it. I'm more competitive than your average person though. I just needed to feel like I was playing for something.

 

I'd like to take your suggestion a step further, sir, and will say that AGE doesn't matter, the level of competition and experience of the players is what matters.

For example, I was involved in the FFPL in West Houston, where we didn't keep score. It was great because there were some very very good teams, and most teams truly were not competitive. Scores ended up being around 10-1 or even 15-0 and no one kept the score. I only remember them because I knew those teams were really good.

 

not keeping score is for losers.

 

Hey Dada, you should make your 7 year old earn his keep. If he does not get a job and make money, he doesn't eat. When he gets older, you can make him pay rent as well (or sleep under an overpass).

Think of the valuable life lessons he would learn.

 

So, we have two questions: Scoring and winning/losing.

My experience is only with daughters, so keep that caveat in mind...

I wouldn't keep score until 3rd grade. Most of the girls don't care until about that age and when they're playing on mixed teams starting around 1st grade, it seems the boys care too much about it and discriminate against the girls because they think every possession is critical to winning and the girls can't be trusted to handle the ball unless there are no other options. In a mixed basketball league of 1st and 2nd graders, I've had boys scream at my daughter (who was in 1st at the time) because she made a turnover. (This would also happen with some of the weaker boy players.)

If the sports are divided by gender, I don't care that much... but if it's mixed, a focus on the score hampers some of the kids' development and makes sports less fun.

Regarding winning, I would wait to focus on that until Jr. High. My oldest is in an AAU feeder program (6th grade) for her future high school and the primary goal is to get them to play at a high level by 8th grade. The last two 8th grade teams have been powerhouses, but the 5th-7th have not won as many games as they could have. For 5th and 6th there is almost no practice time spent on offensive or defensive sets. It is all fundamentals all the time. My daughter's team could have probably won a few extra games last year if more time was spent in practice on how to handle various presses and zone defenses, but the coaches are not really interested in taking that practice time yet, and I agree with that approach. Add to that this year's decision to split the 6th grade into two teams of 8 girls each so everyone can play a lot... which means the best 6-7 players in the program are now evenly divided between the two teams, but going against the best from other teams... so, we'll probably lose more than last year.

This year, they'll throw a few more team concepts in, but continue to build on fundamentals. They will lose games they should have won. Some of the parents of the more talented kids will question why all the best kids aren't on one team so they can win a lot. Some parents will be upset that the other team scored a few baskets off of a 3-1-1 press or that we had a few bad possessions against a 2-3 zone and complain that the coaches don't coach to win. They very much do, but it's wins in 8th grade and beyond they care about. And looking at the 8th grade and HS results, it's hard to argue against this approach as the program is dominating from 8th up.

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Just realized something about our 'no score' league for U8's.

We "didn't keep score" but there was a rule that if a team was up by 5 goals, the other team got an extra player. So everybody knew there's no such thing as a 'no score' game once the kids are 7+.

The question becomes: Do you keep standings? My answer is NO. Not at the house level. But you can have a playoff or tournament at the end. All teams qualify.

 

I figure we let the kids finish Grade 3 before saddling them with restoring the country's competitive advantage

 

DD, does this mean you are going to start another thread/poll about indoor cats next year? And the year after that as well, for good measure?

 

Everyone loses at something in their life. A loser is not someone who loses, but is someone who does nothing to win.

 

Guess donnnymost beat me to it. This is a retread post. Just because dadakota post five billion post, he's gonna assume that we forgot.

 

If you want to teach your kids how to be good losers, just have them watch a few Texans games.

 

Disagree.

No score leagues force the kids to keep score. (because they do!). Shouldn't need the league to coddle the little buggers. It's time they took initiative on their own. Let them practice their math!


(and 7-9 is a very cool age for soccer. Skills are developing and they're starting to read the pitch. The bee-hive isn't as prevalent. Sometimes it's hard not to overcoach. Enjoy the games. Don't let your kiddies grow up too fast).