General Chat

It should be in the school week of course.

As I remember rightly, it was eased up on because we didn,t want the less energetic kids to feel badly about themselves in competitive sports.

Or was it because of the sell off of school playing fields for profit.

Competition from an early age is good and character building dont you think?

In fact life is competitive. Applying for a job, seeking promotion etc. Applying oneself to do better in all manner of things.

Kids (some) just sit playing on computers and not playing out and getting lazy. Lets hope that the enthusiasm shown by everyone re the Olympics encourages all schools to bring back healthy activities for our young ones.

I spend hours on my laptop but I.m past doing the hurdles.

All that school sports did for me was to exclude, humiliate, and put me off 'sport' for life. Being the last to be chosen for 'teams' because oddly enough I gained no pleasure from running round in the wet and cold to whack a ball in a net.

Yes life is competetive to an extent, but not every one wants to be a 'team player', an individual doesn't have to 'compete' to be able to apply themselves, a 'best time' for oneself, a best grade for oneself, is just as worthwhile as 'doing better than someone else'.

Perhaps things will have changed, and continue to, now that there are so many other sports making the headlines....but schools , in my experience, in the past and fairly recently , tend to go for the cheaper options...eg football rather than gymnastics.

You are right with a best time and best grade for oneself . Thats what its all about.

The athletes were over the moon by competing, doing pb,s even though no medals.

I,m sorry how you were left feeling so badly at school sports. I hated PT but loved hockey, netball and rounders, oh and hated tennis. Just love watching it.

I do think though that sports teachers must be something special and really care about their profession. :-)

I HATED sports at school, if I could get out of it I would.

Freezing cold, bashing each others' ankles with hockey sticks. Like Rose, I was usually picked last! lol

But, I excelled at other subjects that the sporty types didnt. That's life!

By the time my kids got to school, EVERYONE had to have a certificate for taking part, so as not to hurt their feelings.

Sorry, life isnt like that. Some things you are good at, some you aren't. Get a grip!

BUT I think our Athletes were wonderful. All that hard work was worthwhile, and they all acknowledged that.

If you aint gonna work.....................then you aint gonna win.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

I think the main thing is that either the schools provide a choice, or the pupils have access to a good choice of sports outside the school premises if they can't be provided on site.

As I say it may have changed or be changing, but I know that when I was at school the gym was only used when the weather was too bad even for the teacher lol...or now I think of it, for some of the teachers to play badminton when they felt like it :-D

Our three eldest Grandsons all did some sort of sport, The eldest played cricket and water polo and I think, squash, the middle one did a lot of cycling. played golf and water polo, The youngest played water polo and went in for viking re-enacting which take a lot of energy. Our two youngest, our 15 year old grandson has just finished his bronze DofE ward and is doing the silver, he plays both football and rugby for teams, granddaughter did do gymnastics but sadly the funding ran out, she now does horse riding and has just been to a weeks riding holiday locally, I am not sure what sport she does at school but she does something. Most of these sporting activities have not been part of the school curriculum, except youngest grandson's football and rugby.

I think it is good to teach children that they don't 'fail' if they don't win. It is difficult to teach them that and takes a particularly good teacher.


By the way, I hated sport at school and have never been good at any of it, daughter was junior county champion at archery and was good at badminton, son liked cricket and football but was not that good. MY OH was good at cricket and rugby. (And of course still plays golf).

Wow Ann, Thats a lot going on and sounds a great mix of activities.

Even if sport is available for the 5 to 11 year olds it would give kids a choice when they are older to drop it if they are more interested in academics.

Like the saying goes " taking part "

OH was Glos Schools County Champion in the javelin. Was Captain of Bristol Boys Football and says all kids should have some team spirit and where better but with sport.

Sorry Motown girl but I haven.t been told to get a grip before and didn.t aim to be offensive in any way just giving an opinion <3 :-D :-D

Ann

Forgot to wish you many happy returns of the day

:-D :-D

Barb, I'm not sure that MTG aimed the 'get a grip' actually at you but at the system.

The older boys are now 24,22 and 20 so a few years since they were at school but they are all still very active. They also all enjoy walking in the Lake District.

The younger ones are in M Keynes. And daugher was junior champion in Gloucestershire in the 70s.

Thanks Ann

OK MTG scrub my comment. Being "newish" would hate to upset any applecarts lol

My son 48 played rugby for his school and later for the area which didn,t go down very well with his dad cause he was all football.

Mates he played with back then are still firm friends today.

I didn't mind sports at Primary School, but hated it at Secondary. I was very small & slim, so somehow it was expected of me to be athletic - but I just didn't have the stamina.
I took matters in my own hands in the second term, when we had RE & PE just before lunch on one day, and double games before lunch on another.
RE consisted of being shown film of starving Biafrans - like I cold do much abut that! So I suggested to the RE teacher that charity began at home, and I would like to do voluntary work at the local (half a mile away!!) home for special needs children.
I was told to ask the headmaster, who told me I could do it if I set it up!!

At the time, voluntary work via schools was unheard of in Hampshire.
So, up I pootled to Tatchbury Mount, to see the co-ordinator of the League of friends - only to discover we had the same (unusual) surname, and were related - he was my dad's stepfather's nephew!!

Of course, I was allowed to do it, and did it all through my secondary education, gradually encouraging others to join me - PE, RE and double games seemed to be re-arranged to suit the volunteering.
I even carried on after I started going to college.
Possibly the best thing I've ever done, not just for the education & joy it gave me, but for my health. 4 years ago it was found that I only have 1 kidney, and a hockey stick across my kidney/ dehydraton through too much exercise could have caused serious damage.

My younger daughetr, however was VERY sport- orientated.

No, no, Barbs I was not saying 'get a grip' to you.

I did, as Ann said, mean the system.

As I said I was rubbish, my kids were brilliant, they took part in all sorts of activities and were entered for competitions etc.

I did my bit by screaming loudly when they won.

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

My daughter got the chance to do archery at high school and loved it.

I would have liked to have tried something like that but got the usual hockey/netball type stuff.

Like Rose I was usually picked last.

I'd really like to see children offered the chance to play some of the sports that don't usually get a lot of media coverage rather that just football/rugby/hockey etc.