Comments on: When All-Stars is traded for “You’re All Stars!” Are we raising a nation of wimps? http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/ Parenting, Politics and News for the Perfectly Challenged Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:41:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: SHS http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175818 SHS Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:15:45 +0000 http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175818 I disagree. I watched my daughter who lacked self confidence, work very hard and practice to get better, on her own. Two practices a day, in the summer's and during highschool. She made the state champs swim team almost every year, but not always. She learned what it means to want something and work for it. Yes, some kids develope at different rates, but being a bigger kid is not always an advantage. Take swimming, young lean girls are very fast at 11 or 12, but after puberty it takes alot more training and re-training to sometimes ever get that fast again. We are talking about sports, in a country that is already so morbidly obese. Some times what is meant to not hurt a kids feelings really isn't in anyones best interest. If you are good and practice, you get the reward. If sports aren't your thing, find something else in which your kid can shine. I disagree. I watched my daughter who lacked self confidence, work very hard and practice to get better, on her own. Two practices a day, in the summer’s and during highschool. She made the state champs swim team almost every year, but not always. She learned what it means to want something and work for it. Yes, some kids develope at different rates, but being a bigger kid is not always an advantage. Take swimming, young lean girls are very fast at 11 or 12, but after puberty it takes alot more training and re-training to sometimes ever get that fast again. We are talking about sports, in a country that is already so morbidly obese. Some times what is meant to not hurt a kids feelings really isn’t in anyones best interest. If you are good and practice, you get the reward. If sports aren’t your thing, find something else in which your kid can shine.

]]> By: Rita http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175012 Rita Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:22:25 +0000 http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175012 Eh, it cut out my points (I had put them in brackets), but here, these are direct quotes from the article I linked to above: There’s nothing like sticking a dagger into a youngster’s self-esteem the first season he plays the sport by letting him know that he’s not good enough or considered worthy to be part of this elite group of teammates. That’s not the message we want to send to children who are already less active and more obese than any previous generation in history. Just think for a moment how preposterous All-Star games are, especially in T-ball or beginning-level programs. In kindergarten classrooms across the country, do we take the kids who are learning letters and numbers quicker than their classmates and announce that these kids are special and give them extra attention and cool extracurricular activities to participate in? Of course not! That would destroy the others’ confidence and make them feel insignificant. All-Star games should be benched for several reasons: It doesn’t take much to figure out that kids who mature quicker than others are going to be stronger, faster and probably more productive on the field. So, we’re simply recognizing players whose bodies have developed faster in many cases. The entire process is twisted. I’d love to know the percentage of kids who are chosen for these All-Star teams who have a parent involved in coaching. Mom or Dad justify choosing their own child--even if he’s clearly not one of the better players--because they’ve surrendered a lot of their free time to volunteer to coach. The injury factor. Stress fractures, trips to specialists and surgeries come into play when these seasons are extended with extra games and practices. They take a toll on young bodies and lead to an avalanche of overuse injuries. On top of all this, the National Standards for Youth Sports state that leagues should not engage in choosing post-season All-Star teams. The standards were put together by some of the nation’s top recreation professionals and are the true voice of reason when it comes to youth sports. Eh, it cut out my points (I had put them in brackets), but here, these are direct quotes from the article I linked to above:

There’s nothing like sticking a dagger into a youngster’s self-esteem the first season he plays the sport by letting him know that he’s not good enough or considered worthy to be part of this elite group of teammates. That’s not the message we want to send to children who are already less active and more obese than any previous generation in history.
Just think for a moment how preposterous All-Star games are, especially in T-ball or beginning-level programs. In kindergarten classrooms across the country, do we take the kids who are learning letters and numbers quicker than their classmates and announce that these kids are special and give them extra attention and cool extracurricular activities to participate in? Of course not! That would destroy the others’ confidence and make them feel insignificant.

All-Star games should be benched for several reasons:

It doesn’t take much to figure out that kids who mature quicker than others are going to be stronger, faster and probably more productive on the field. So, we’re simply recognizing players whose bodies have developed faster in many cases.
The entire process is twisted. I’d love to know the percentage of kids who are chosen for these All-Star teams who have a parent involved in coaching. Mom or Dad justify choosing their own child–even if he’s clearly not one of the better players–because they’ve surrendered a lot of their free time to volunteer to coach.
The injury factor. Stress fractures, trips to specialists and surgeries come into play when these seasons are extended with extra games and practices. They take a toll on young bodies and lead to an avalanche of overuse injuries.

On top of all this, the National Standards for Youth Sports state that leagues should not engage in choosing post-season All-Star teams. The standards were put together by some of the nation’s top recreation professionals and are the true voice of reason when it comes to youth sports.

]]> By: Rita http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175011 Rita Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:20:18 +0000 http://blog.imperfectparent.com/2008/06/30/when-all-stars-is-traded-for-youre-all-stars-are-we-raising-a-nation-of-wimps/#comment-175011 Actually, in searching for the original article (I lived in Ohio and was curious about where this was happening, and ironically, I lived in Beachwood for a couple of years), the article seems to actually make some sense: http://www.northstarpubs.com/PRB208_Engh_AllStar.php Some of the points that are valid: I know in my kids' taekwondo training, the beginner belts are pretty much GIVEN to the kids (or adults). They're on a pretty tight testing schedule (every 3 months) and they have to royally screw up to not get the belt. They do this so the kids get confidence in what they're doing and want to keep at it. As you get into intermediate belts, then it's questionable whether you'll pass. The upper belts, you have to work your ass off for them, and a lot of kids fail and have to try and try again because there IS something to be learned from failing and persevering. But, it seems they're really only talking about LITTLE kids with this and beginners to boot. It doesn't seem to be sending kids to wuss-land by doing this at all. It actually seems like it *could* be beneficial, by having more kids not turned off of the game and want to keep at it. Then as they get bigger, the actual talent for the game can be more important. Actually, in searching for the original article (I lived in Ohio and was curious about where this was happening, and ironically, I lived in Beachwood for a couple of years), the article seems to actually make some sense:

http://www.northstarpubs.com/PRB208_Engh_AllStar.php

Some of the points that are valid:

I know in my kids’ taekwondo training, the beginner belts are pretty much GIVEN to the kids (or adults). They’re on a pretty tight testing schedule (every 3 months) and they have to royally screw up to not get the belt. They do this so the kids get confidence in what they’re doing and want to keep at it. As you get into intermediate belts, then it’s questionable whether you’ll pass. The upper belts, you have to work your ass off for them, and a lot of kids fail and have to try and try again because there IS something to be learned from failing and persevering.

But, it seems they’re really only talking about LITTLE kids with this and beginners to boot. It doesn’t seem to be sending kids to wuss-land by doing this at all. It actually seems like it *could* be beneficial, by having more kids not turned off of the game and want to keep at it. Then as they get bigger, the actual talent for the game can be more important.

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