Didn't make the team

My thought is that there shouldn't be any athletic programs at any public school. Of course, I don't know if this is a public school or not, so my comment may not be relevant.

 

Thoughts? I agree, it is obvious Miles should be on the team. He got rooked.

 

It's a waste of tax payer dollars. Public school should be for education...not creating athletes.

 

You don't think playing sports can teach children anything?

 

1st and 2nd grades tryouts? For real? *rolling eyes*

Now, what were Miles's parents going to say except that he was way better

 

Any activity can teach children (or any other aged person) something. That doesn't mean our tax dollars need to fund it.

 

So you believe that public school should be strictly limited to only reading, writing, math, history and geography, or would you include foreign language as well?

Personally I think that to often children are raised now to only be "book smart" and prepared more for testing rather than life itself.

I believe that our society benefits more when children are also exposed to sports, band, chorus, drama, art, shop, debate, etc as part of their schooling.

Why are the things learned from these topics not worth investing in?

 

I agree with Matt on this one!

Its fine to teach athletics in a physical education program in which all participate to the extent of their abilities for the same length of time any other subject is taught. However, athletic teams breed exclusion and are a waste of time, energy and money, during the k-12 years.

What good does spending 2 hours a day on the football field after spending 7 hours sitting in a classroom do for the average teenager? Is it going to help him get into college? Help get a job? Will he even see any playtime? I'm the godparent (for lack of a better description) of a kid whose real parents thought he just "had" to play football. As far as I'm concerned it is a complete waste of time, especially mine since I'm often the one to take him to and from practice.

Even beyond that, public schools were set up to teach children to read, write and do arithmatic. If their parents (and I'm a parent) want their kids to play sports, do music, learn to draw, let the parents provide the funding. Why should my tax dollars go for something my children may not ever participate in.

 

Actually participating in extra curricular activities often opens one up to meeting new people and making new friends.

Yes, being involved in a variety of sports and extra curricular activities will enhance their chance of getting into college, and help in the chance of receiving some scholarship money. Also can help with getting a job as well.

Most do, some less than others but I don't understand the point you are making. Something is only worth doing if we can be the most involved of the group?

I don't think it is a good idea for parents to push a sport on their children.

I hope he can't tell you feel that way about investing your time in him.

There is a lot of tax money that is wasted in this country. I don't agree these are in that category.

 

Music has been part of a classical education for centuries. It is a foundational part of curriculum and reinforces core subjects such as language arts, science, math, history, social studies and many others. An education without arts is shamelessly lacking.

There are also studies that have shown music to be instrumental in developing thought processes more rapidly, leading to increased mathematical intuition. It is way more foundational than P.E. and sports.

 

No, he should not have made the team, if he wasn't good enough. Should he make the spelling bee team from his school going up against another school, if he can't spell as well as the others? No!!! By the way at that age I don't believe there should be ball teams, I didn't allow my son to play little league ball, play with the kids in the field, start in High School or Jr. High.

I was home schooled but took a few courses at the high school and played ball there. Back then all money for ball teams and marching bands didn't come from taxes but was donated by the community. Maybe that is why our uniforms didn't always match. You took your uniform home to be washed and you bought your shoes or cleats, gloves and bats. If you were in the band you bought your instrument and paid for your uniform to be dry cleaned. Our ball field and basketball gem was paid for by local business people as well as the up keep.

Good part for me, no ball, no college!! It paid off well for me! I feel I learned more playing sports as far as business goes than I did in any class room. You either win or lose and it is all in your hands if you are self employed. You study the needs of your customers as you study your who you are playing and go from there.

 

“Kids just want to have fun’

Hey come on kids are kids. You really think all they want to do is be in a room all day doing school work. Sports can be educating in its own way. You learn technique, force them strategies. However the teacher ought to emphasize the fun of this. That you don’t lose. Just try your best good sportsmanship. Not to boast when winning not to be sore losers. Sports may not always be the highest of education. But applicable into various things we do. My weight lifting and fitness for example helps me in a lot of areas.

 

Well, duh, of course he felt rejected. His parents set him up for it. They told him how great and wonderful he was and then someone else didn't think so. And he's seven. I know grownups who can't handle that type of rejection and we expect a 7 yo too? His parents should look at this as a learning experience. (as in, I should never allow my child who I think is perfect to believe that everyone in the whole wide world agrees with me)

I believe it is unreasonable for a 7 yo to have to "try out" for pretty much anything, even things other than sports. Assess skills, yes, but adding the pressure of "you aren't good enough so you don't get to play and we aren't going to help you get to the point where you are good enough", is unreasonable. Again, it is the parents who set their kids up for this. Why is ANYONE participating in a league that holds tryouts for young children? If there are too many kids for team, divide them in half and have two teams!

Our elementary schools here don't have school teams for just that reason. Instead, our local park and rec or our independent leagues take all the kids who want to play. (including those who can't pay) The kids are asssessed, divied up, and put on a team with only a couple of extras and sometime or other everyone gets to play. Our Upward leagues are even better, they guarentee that all the children are given equal playing time.

Steven asked why I thought playing time was important. Because playing time is gives a child the opportunity to exercise what he has learned in practice. It also gives them a chance to experience the pressure of playing for the team and not for themselves. (and that experience is about the only thing I find worthwhile about playing team sports)

Poor Miles, needs parents who are mature enough to take a good long look at what is actual talents and skill are. No doubt, there is a lot of "who you know" balony that goes on in athletics, but maybe, Miles' parents are just biased.

But in the end, this could all have been avoided by not allowing 7 yos to participate in a selective sports process. The sponsering school needs to rethink its process and Miles' parents need to quit whining and find somewhere else for thier child to play if they think it is important. Life's not fair.

 

I agree. 1st and 2nd grades??? That's just a little much.

 

While I can agree with you on this regarding the elementary school years, I totally disagree with you on the upper school years.

Sports (and other extra-curr programs) provide excellent vehicles for students to become more well rounded individuals. There's a lot of life long learning that occurs on the fields, the courts and the gym.

As a parent, I am glad our son plays football, as well as other sports. Yes, he practices 2+ hours every day and comes tired & hungry (and thankfully not hurt) before he starts on his homework. He's also involved with drama (another extra-curr activity) and I'm glad he's involved there too. Those two opposite interests create a well rounded individual. He also takes AP and Honors courses - physics, calc, English lit, econ, etc.

As long as the extra-curr activities remain extra and do not take a primary position, I am for it.

 

Whatcha gonna do when he drops his honors courses because they are too much work to do while he plays football? My godson was taking honors courses too and his bio family and their friends convinced him it wasn't worthwhile. Football was better. The kid has funky joint in his hip and he's pigeoned toed, but they managed to convince him that sports are the end all, be all of life. And this year he's enrolled in the easiest courses he can take and still play. And my godson is just the average example among the kids on his team. Now, you tell me, what is he going to learn on the football field that is going to help him make a living when he graduates.

My godson is just the average example among the kids on his team. Most of the kids on his team are not going to college. They won't even graduate with an accelerated diploma (mid level diploma) and at least half of them aren't making better than an average grade. They've spent all this time on the football field instead of learning a trade and when they graduate what will they do? No skills, no job.

Athletics can enhance an education, but it will never take the place of one unless your last name happens to be Manning or Vick (and look where football fame got him).

 

Wow, interesting thread.

I learned more on a football field than I ever learned in a classroom. Not about science or math or English, but about life itself. About not quitting when it hurts, about the value of hard work, about keeping your honor and still fighting when the cause is lost, about depending on my fellow players and being part of a team, about working together to accomplish common goals, about trust and being trustworthy. The same kid that learns not to quit in the 4th quarter or during summer “three-a-days” will not quit when his job gets hard or his marriage seems lost. That same kid that does not walk out on his team when the going gets rough will also not walk out on his kids when life gets rough. I am sure every player doesn’t learn what I did. With sports as with any other activity the reward gained is often proportional to the effort given. I also had the benefit of some excellent coaches. Yes sports can be very important to a kid’s education. Not all kids, some do better with music or art, but some do better with athletics.

That being said I have a couple thoughts:
1. Youth athletics should not be run by the school. Here anything under middle school is run by the county recreational department.
2. Nothing wrong with try outs and only the best athletes making the team in high school or even middle school, but six year olds? In our youth leagues here 6-7 year olds have no try outs, no cuts and do not record scores or wins and losses. At that age it’s about learning the fundamentals of the sport and having fun. Every kid’s a winner and we all go out for pizza after the game. At the end of the year everyone gets a trophy. They have the rest of their lives to learn disappointment and loss; it’s ok to reward effort at six years old.
3. I feel terrible for poor Miles Salty. As a parent all you can do at this point is encourage him and help him be better. My daughter went out for rec league basketball and got cut, but when she was 11, not six. She was devastated, but because she was not practicing basketball she was able to try out for a part in our local theater company, got a part, and found a new activity she loves. Miles did his best, there is no dishonor in that, the rest is up to God, and God knows what he is doing.