has PC gone to far?

[saviger]

"Win a soccer game by more than five points and you lose, Ottawa league says"

in yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.

The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.

Kevin Cappon said he first heard about the rule on May 20 — right after he had scored his team’s last allowable goal. His team then tossed the ball around for fear of losing the game.

He said if anything, the league’s new rule will coddle sore losers.

“They should be saying anything is possible. If we can get five goals really fast, well, so can the other team,” said Kevin, 17, who has played in the league for five years. “People grow in adversity, they don’t really get worse…. I think you’ll see more leadership skills being used if a losing team tries to recuperate than if they never got into that situation at all.”

Kevin’s father, Bruce Cappon, called the rule ludicrous.

“I couldn’t find anywhere in the world, even in a communist country, where that rule is enforced,” he said.

Mr. Cappon said the organization is trying to “reinvent the wheel” by fostering a non-competitive environment. The league has 3,000 children enrolled ranging in age from four to 18 years old.

“Everybody wants a close game, nobody wants blowouts, but we don’t want to go by those farcical rules that they come up with,” he said. “Heaven forbid when these kids get into the real world. They won’t be prepared to deal with the competition out there.”

Paul Cholmsky, whose four- and six-year-old boys play in the league, said the intended goal of a default-lose rule might backfire in teaching life skills.

“If there’s one team that’s consistenly dominant and one team that’s not, well, that’s life,” he said.

Mr. Cholmsky said he would be in favour of temporarily handicapping a team, for example reducing the number of players on the field, over ensuring a team loss for a high score differential.

According to the league’s new rules, coaches of stronger teams are encouraged to deter runaway games by rotating players out of their usual positions, ensuring players pass the ball around, asking players to kick with the weaker foot, taking players off the field and encouraging players to score from farther away.

Club director Sean Cale said he is disappointed a few parents are making the new soccer rule overshadow the community involvement and organizing the Gloucester club does.

“The registration fee, rergardless of the sport, does not give a parent the right to insult or belittle the organization,” he said. “It gives you a uniform, it gives you a team.”

Mr. Cale said the league’s 12-person board of directors is not trying to take the fun out of the game, they are simply trying to make it fair. The new rule, suggested by “involved parents,” is a temporary measure that will be replaced by a pre-season skill assessment to make fair teams.

“The board is completely volunteer-run and we do the best that we can to provide a good, clean, fun soccer experience for everyone,” he said.

Although parents are fuming, he said the commotion is coming from “about 1% of the parents.”



Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/01 ... z0qP45n600
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http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/01 ... ague-says/


Ummmm guys, this could happen here. It wouldnt surprise me to see this in a Liberal area.

At the same time, the league has the right to make its own rules. I am not Liberal or Conservative, R. or D. I am a Constitutionalist. As such it would be a serious problem if a local or state govt. tried to force this as a regulation on the league.

[Timmy_2_Tones]

This is absolutely absurd, how is this adding to sportsmanship? If these parents want their kids to win a game of soccer, TELL THEIR LITTLE ASS TO GET OFF THE DAMN COUCH!!! This is to far in my opinion, games are intended to have winners and losers, you have to work harder to be the winner.

This is the equivalent to me saying that the mile should be shortened to 50 feet, that way I can feel better about myself when I run a mile.

[River_Rat_459]

That's so g-damn lame! "Be the best you can at all you do kids. But don't hurt the other team's feelings by running their butts into the ground. Let them score one, okay?"

[squidfamily1]

My kid plays in a rec system that has the player ratings. I've seen some other leagues where these gung ho dads stack their teams and take their 5 year olds soccer game so seriously they get in fights with the 15 year old referees and opposing team parents.
I can't say I agree with the rule, especially after the age of 12, but I can see why they put it in. The guy in the article says they are setting up a rating system so the players are not so stacked in later seasons.
I have a 12 year old daughter so it's not all that bad with the parents and coaches.
If you have a male child playing soccer after the age of 5 complaining about point spreads and competition maybe suggest a real sport for him to play.

[clarkness7112100]

The sad thing is that its the parents that care about the scoring and such. A lot of kids are happy to just play. I think most 10ish and under leagues shouldn't even keep score and make sure all kids get playing time. In some of those younger teams, they will let some of those not so skilled kids ride the bench for the entire game. At least with a scoreless system, kids will at least learn to love playing the game before trying to win it.

[ASignorelli]

This is retarded, and whoever made this rule prolly never succeeded with anything in their life! This makes baby Jesus cry.