Should 5th grade sports (in this case girls basketball) be competitive or simply learning the fundamentals with everyone getting playing time?

How young is TOO young for competitive play with some kids sitting the bench most or all of the game?

Good question. I have no idea.

Doublepost

Well thank you anyhow!!

Your welcome sweetheart

I'm thinking nobody has a 5th grader.......

I don't have kids, but I do know sports have become a lot more competitive in the last 20 years. Unfortunately even for 5th graders. And I think that is way too young.

aah yes ,the "it doesn't matter how bad you suck because everyone gets a trophy in the end" playing days


that is the dumbest thing ever!.if everyone gets a trophy,these kids have nothing to work for!

and if they're not giving it their all,why even put them in the sport in the first place?that's what sports are all about


competition!

Hold on now. I didn't say anyone sucked or didn't suck. I also didn't say everyone should get a trophy. I asked if in 5th grade it should be about the competition or about learning the fundamentals. Where did you ever learn that kids who sit the bench don't give it their all? From what I remember in junior high school some of those kids were the ones who worked the hardest in practice, just maybe didn't have as much inherent talent or maybe their parents couldn't send them to expensive lessons and out of school leagues.


I think you may be jumping to conclusions here and assuming you know what the situation is......and your actually way off. This would be the first year some of these girls have ever played a team sport. Some schools don't even have 5th grade girls basketball. let alone league play. They don't know where to post, how to dribble or any of this. Just because my child has played a rec league before, I don't think this should mean she should get to play the whole game while some other kid who practiced just as hard has to sit on the bench and not get any experience at real live game play.

I personally don't think 10 and 11 year old kids should be playing a sport for WINS only. This only furthers the elitist attitude we have here in this country and forces parents to pay for lessons and rec/traveling leagues when kids are too young. Childhood is supposed to be about having fun and learning, not competing to be number one all the time. A healthy competition can still be had while rotating all the kids in and out. Who cares if they win? They have many years of having to try out for a team and needing enough skills to not get cut, etc etc. I don't believe kids should get praised for doing nothing or using a poor effort, but these are 10 and 11 years old kids...learning the sport and learning how to be a team player should come first.

I first played soccer when i was in 3rd grade. Everyone was a winner, and everyone got to play.

In fifth grade there was a clear standard set and the desire to win was there(at least for me). I think that if your skill level wasn't there more often than not the kid would be benched or on defense, as they didn't have the ability to handle the ball well and thus it limited the amount of touches they would get.

I think it would be nice at that age, that at half time the "second squad" came on from both sides and played each other.

5th grade basketball for girls i would definitely see as more of a everyone-gets-to-play.

why isn't there both? houseleague and competitive?

while i think it's important to raise children to strive to succeed and be competitive as well as valuable that they achieve, are rewarded, and outperform their peers, i also see the benefit of having all kids participate in all sports and get physical exercise as well as learn the value of team sports.

i don't think the exceptionally talented children should have to sit to make room for all kids to get a chance to play.

neither do i think that the less talented children should have to sit so the superstars could win the games.

don't they have regular gym in your school and tryouts for the teams?

That is a good question, and I can only post from my own experience.

I went to a Catholic school half of my education years, and we had to try out for team sports every year after second grade.

The coach would pick or not pick you based on personal criteria, whether he thought you were of high enough level at your age to be productive and have fun with others on the team. Let's face it, many kids are like this, if they are not that good at a sport, and they are forced to play, there are a few tantrums, sulkings and kick-the-ball-out-of-the-field-on-purpose-i-don't-wanna-play 's.

That was for the School team. There were also Intramural teams, where everyone got to play, but there were also no competitions/meets etc. So, somehow in this there seemed a hierarchy. If you played School team, you were cool. If you were Intramural, it was because you got cut, therefore not good enough, therefore last picked during class gym time.

Honestly I would say the younger the child starts learning fundamentals, the younger they will be when they are ready and talented enough to play competitively. There isn't a set age when you can expect a child to play competitively with little to no practice or learning of the game. I don't know how to play football for instance, but I could tell you ins and outs of Volleyball...It's a situational thing, and a judgment call on both the coach's and the parents' parts.

In that same breath, Jtevans made a comment about "every kid gets a trophy", and he's right. It used to be where, if you tried out for a team and you weren't talented enough to make the team, you were told Sorry, we can't use you, try again next year. Sure, it may have been disheartening, but you dealt with it and went home. It gave you the incentive to try harder next time around.

It doesn't work like that anymore. In today's educational system, EVERYBODY makes the team, whether you suck or not! You can't tell a kid these days that they're "not good enough", because they'll practically have a stroke, then whine and cry to whoever will listen (parents, school administration, etc.), until some bleeding heart LETS them be on the team. That's not incentive. That's not even competition. It's coddling. Thank you, Al Gore, for bringing us the biggest government lie in history, "Political Correctness."

All kids HAVE to be let on the team now for fear of trauma, counselling, and twelve years of therapy if they're not.

I'm not just talking about school gym class, either.

Double post........ICK!!

You bring up a good point. The coach did mention that they can't play all the girls equally because some kids are so uncoordinated and still learning, and they might get hurt playing against another team that's very aggressive.

For 5th grade here, you play under the schools name, but it's not really a school sponsored team. You get the use of the gym and get to use their name, that's it. It's sort of a community team but they do play in a very competitive league with 12 or 13 other teams and apparently they play to win. Basketball around here isn't a huge sport so most kids will learn their first skills on this team, unless they belonged at the YMCA or in my daughter's case, she played on the youth team where I work. Nobody gets cut, but a lot will play only in practice and an odd minute here and there in games. I don't care whether she plays a lot, but I was surprised that at this level they are so competitive. I kind of felt bad for a couple of kids who I know won't see the ball during the game and this might be their only chance because they obviously won't have the skills to play at an age when they start cutting.

I understand what you are saying. You all have good points. I'm just hoping all these girls get a chance to at least learn about the sport and not just sit around watching a select few play. The coach did sound like he would try, but I know from past experience on other teams.....once you start winning, that's all they care about.

Just as a side note, I swam competitively for 12+ years (from age 6 to age 18) and winning was great! However, my parents never shoved it down my throat that I must win or not swim. It was all about doing something you enjoyed and working hard at it. If you didn't get a medal, that was ok too. Never once did I not want to swim, therefore I always excelled at it. Then in high school I had a volleyball coach tell me I would never be more than average (apparently I was too short for her standards) and I sucked at it and eventually quit. Under another coach I think I would have done just fine. It's all in the coaches attitude towards the kids, and if they are willing to allow everyone the benefit of learning the sport and the art of being a team player.