Has society gotten so soft on our youth that it is affecting

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Sports.

I can remember playing little league baseball at age 7 and the coaches would scream at us and even drop in a few nasty words to make their point.

When I was moved up to the varsity level the best coach I ever had was the strictest one. He made it clear he did not care who mommy and daddy was, how much money they had or where you lived, you were going to start only if you deserved it. He also treated the star player(his number one) as he did the last guy on the bench meaning to favoritism, at all.

It seems in the youth sporting world of today they want everyone to get a trophy and they do not want anyone to lose.

By the time these kids get to Babe Ruth and Jr. High school sports I think this has made them way too soft and is affecting the level of play ands even more so affecting how namy kids boith male and female go out for sports when they reach this age.

What are your thoughts on this?

[mikepike]

People need to remember that games are just that, games. The majority of coaches are trying to win, the majority of players are trying to win, and the majority of referee's don't care who wins. Sports should teach us to work hard, dedication to the team, win with class and lose with class, don't quit just because things are hard.

I'm not against a coach jumping down a players throat, but I'm against degrading them just to degrade them.

I'm against parents moving little Johnny or Susie around from school to school and league to league just because they aren't happy with how things are going.

I don't think society is necessarily going soft on our youth, but we're trying to eliminate them having to deal with defeat and difficult situations. Work hard, do your best, and, win or lose, tomorrow's another day.

[kantuckyII]

I swear, I told someone the other day..that if two boys are in the street playing kick the can, it's only a matter of days till a handful of adults decide that it needs to be organized. Of course, they'll need uniforms and coaches..oh, they sure will need some men who are such experts on the game of 'kick the can' to scream at them and drain every ounce of competition out of them..not to mention some self-esteem. Then, there will be fund raising and such...don't forget the 'playoff season' of kick the can where the all star can kickers move on

Man, too many organized sports, it's just silly in my opinion. The other day my niece told me that she wouldn't be at a function our family was attending because.....she had to take her THREE YEAR OLD son to soccer practice! too funny...

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

We were allowed to start at age 8 but I was able to stink in little league at age 7 and we had a winner and a loser.

[Westsider1993]

Definitions of to win: to gain the victory in a contest. 2 to succeed in arriving at a state or place. 3 to get possession of by effort or furtune. 4 to obtain by work (earn) 5 to gain in as if in a battle or contest 6. to reach by expenditure of effort. So what is it that we are teaching our young kids in organized sports? We should be teaching them how to become responsible adults by being a hard working person. That hard work does pay off. Winning and losing go hand in hand. You can learn from both. Little Johnny and Susie need to learn that when you put no effort forth you get nothing. Not that you get the same size trophy as everyone else in the league. If a team puts in more work they get a bigger trophy usually. Kids need to fail at things sometimes I agree to learn how to deal with it. But you should not reward kids that fail due to lack of effort and tell them it is ok because society says it is. I have to say that all my years in organized sports helped shape me into the man that I am today. Those were some of the best days of my life and at the time some of the worst. I am telling you people this if you continue to tell Little Johnnie he played the best game ever when in fact he stunk it up you are doing nothing to help him improve. Being honest with kids is the best practice. I have always made it a point to boost a kids ego when he does great, but I still have to talk about the negatives. There is a correct way of doing it without damaging that kids self esteem. Remember not all kids are cut out for athletics. Just like not all men and women are cut out to be in the Military and or to be a leader. Push them hard, be fair, be honest, instill discipline and by all means create a work ethic that they will learn from so they can go on with their lives after sports and be someone.

[caglewis]

Has society gotten so soft on are youth that it is affecting................

How about worrying more about mastery of educational language skills? Making sure students know the difference between ARE and OUR is way more important to their ability to get and hold a job than their ability to do anything with a ball!!!! And does "lack of athletic ability" automatically define someone as "soft"? I got THAT message long ago! Physical abilities are celebrated, stressed, promoted, and encouraged by any means - all who lack them or fall short are very publicly ridiculed.
Don't tell me how much FUN any athletic sport is - to me they're all just torture! And I thoroughly sympathize with all kids being MADE to participate/compete. I understand the importance of exercise, but does "exercising" always have to involve a competition for which you'll be ridiculed?

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Has society gotten so soft on are youth that it is affecting................

How about worrying more about mastery of educational language skills? Making sure students know the difference between ARE and OUR is way more important to their ability to get and hold a job than their ability to do anything with a ball!!!! And does "lack of athletic ability" automatically define someone as "soft"? I got THAT message long ago! Physical abilities are celebrated, stressed, promoted, and encouraged by any means - all who lack them or fall short are very publicly ridiculed.
Don't tell me how much FUN any athletic sport is - to me they're all just torture! And I thoroughly sympathize with all kids being MADE to participate/compete. I understand the importance of exercise, but does "exercising" always have to involve a competition for which you'll be ridiculed?

Sorry about the mistake Mrs. not so perfect even on here.

[caglewis]

You certainly don't have to be "perfect" in language on here - as you just demonstrated - just be able to proof-read and edit your posts, and recognize the need to do so! But in sports there are no "do-overs", no editing - it's get-it-right-the-first-time-or-else-get-screamed-at. And that's called FUN?

[kantuckyII]

I like Pink Floyd's approach...'We don't need no education'

I do agree with Cagle about several things..I agree, it's gotten crazy how much of an emphasis is put upon physical abilities. I never cared a bit about sports until I was 30 years old and lately I've thought, this is just all crazy. Heck, I HONESTLY never saw an entire basketball game, start to finish, till I was 35 years old! Fishing, hunting and shooting was was my thing

[2trap_4ever]

What is being said on here go to the bigger picture, how many of us look to see who our favorite college recruited for sports but don't have a clue who the top student in their medical or law departments, I know some on here would say who cares to the last two but I say we need to let our kids know now that brains will get them farther in life than athletic ability will ever take them, unless you go into the military then a good helping of both just might save your life.

[Orange and Brown]

Here is what I think! This is just my opinion and mine alone!

I grew up with little League coaches who cursed and yelled, smoked in the dugout, and called you every name in the book for mot hustling or dogging it. But on the other hand if you went down swinging or missed the ball giving your best effort they would pat you on the back and tell you that you would get it next time! I don't have a problem with coaches who yell and scream sometimes. I think that as long as it is not the primary way of comunicating with there players than it won't kill them. I coach baseball my self and I don't really yell or scream that much at all. I have never and will never yell at a kid for giving his/her best effort and coming up short. I will yeall at a kid who is not giving 100%, I will get on a kid who thinks they are better than the rest of there team and so they don't have to work as hard in practice. I tell my kids before we even start practice, If you don't give me 100% all the time than you are going to ride the bench!
These days kids show up to play sports with this idea that they are entitled to be there and because they simply showed up they have earned some playing time. There are a lot of young men and women who work hard every day to get better at the sport(s) they play, but for every one of them there are 2 who think that coach doesn't play them because he doesn't like them or they don't have enough money.

..................And my last point/ rant is that it is hard to coach kids today because they don't want to be coached. They want to do it there way and thats it, then if they fail they blame it on the coach. The worst player on any of my Little League teams growing up would have been the 3rd or 4th best player on any team I coach today. The reason why is simply because they worked hard and tried to do it the right way. Kids today don't care about fundimentals, all they want to do is hit home runs, or score touchdowns!!

[Westsider1993]

To some of the post on here I say this. I am sorry that a jock stuffed you in a locker in high school, although funny at the time to the culprit, it has scarred the victims for life. This is a sports website. Mainly the people on here love sports, if you don't you can still freely get on here and post what you don't like. It is called freedom of speech, something myself, my Father before me, and my Grandfather before him served under the flag of the United States to defend on your behalf. Just remember that quite a few "jocks" that could not make it to those next levels in sports made those sacrifices so you more educated than "I" types can bash the way Coaches teach kids. I am sorry if you don't discipline your kids. No punishment, or weak punishment results in kids growing up unable to handle rules, regulations, and being told no. If you think that not paddling kids in school is the right thing, if you think that not spanking your kids is the right thing, if you think that not disciplining kids for rules infractions on sporting teams and holding them accountable for the actions or lack thereof then you my friends need to take a look at the United States prison systems and check the inmate population growth over the last decade. Which would be about the time they have done away with paddling. And was about the time that our country started really using the term "socially acceptable" very loosely. Coincidence? I don't think so. Sports are a great way to allow someone to instill some of the traits in a child that most parents are lacking in teaching. Character reflects leadership. If you think it is easy to be a Coach, try it, just don't do it from the stands.

[kantuckyII]

When I was a little boy..the other team's mom's used to scream stuff at you. "You can strike that little fat kid out!" and..they were right too...man, I was bad!

I am serious though..back in the early 60's..the mom's were brutal!

[abuck76]

Discipline comes from the latin disciplina which means to teach.......You accomplish nothing screaming and using curse words at children....hmmm, if that worked maybe they would teach that to prospective teachers in college.....Oh, wait, they don't.......must be a reason........If a teacher treated your kid the way some of these, trying to relive their youth through others, coaches, you would be at that school looking to get the board to fire that teacher...............Play ball............

[Westsider1993]

I don't think that anyone has said that "cussing a kid out" is appropriate. Yelling does work when used sparingly. If you do it every breathe then the kids are not going to pay attention because they will be used to it. And I don't know what teachers you are talking about. I went to a Catholic school and a public school and trust me I heard my fair share of Teachers and Administrators yell at the top of their lungs. General George Patton once smacked a soldier in an Army hospital after talking to him finding that he had no bodily damage only that his nerves were shot. He called him a coward. He nearly lost his rank and almost booted out of the Army over it. But how does history judge him now? He was one of the great military leaders of all times. If you don't like passion and fire stay home and play scrabble instead.

[Tigercannon71]

This cussing kids look for younger kids its definitly not appropriate. Now for the older ones like in high school and college its ok. Someone was complaining a while back about a coach calling their kid a name like dummy or something. Its been a while. Whenever I got yelled out by a coach like that its probably because I needed it, not because they just like to yell. Society has become this mamby pamby hippie love fest that everybody needs trophys and playing time. Thats not how it works. Losing can teach a child just as much about themselves as winning does.

[fuzzhead]

I agree a little bit with everyone.

First of all, team athletics are for athletes: people who enjoy playing sports and want to (a) do their absolute best and (b) are willing to be team players, which means doing their absolute best for the good of a team.
As far as coaching goes, I think a coach needs to be someone (a) who can/has earn(ed) the kids' respect and trust, (b) actually cares about each of the individual kids (and shows it) and not just his/her ego, and (c) is willing to enstill disipline in order to accomplish whatever the goal is!
I'd guess that most coaches would be satisfied with a small team of kids who respect the coach like they would a 4-star general, who know that the the coach cares for each of them and knows their strengths and weaknesses, and who have bought into the coach's system and practice routine 200%.

I'd say a basketball coach, for example, would rather have a 6 or 7 kid team like that, rather than a 12-16 player team who might be more talented than Team A, but treat basketball like a leisure activity rather than a privilege and don't take it seriously.

Disipline is probably one of the most challenging things to enstill with today's generation of kids who actually believe that the world revolves around them and that they are actually entitled to their hearts' desires, whether they work for them or not.
As for education: yeah, I'd say it's a very important part of life and I have spent quite a bit of money for the one I have so far and I will probably spend quite a bit more money before it's all said and done. But as far as character or morals or life-learning goes:

I'll learn from a good preacher over a good professor any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best military sargent over the best scholar any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best coach of anything over the best Columbia professor of whatever any day of the year.

[Orange and Brown]

I agree a little bit with everyone.

First of all, team athletics are for athletes: people who enjoy playing sports and want to (a) do their absolute best and (b) are willing to be team players, which means doing their absolute best for the good of a team.
As far as coaching goes, I think a coach needs to be someone (a) who can/has earn(ed) the kids' respect and trust, (b) actually cares about each of the individual kids (and shows it) and not just his/her ego, and (c) is willing to enstill disipline in order to accomplish whatever the goal is!
I'd guess that most coaches would be satisfied with a small team of kids who respect the coach like they would a 4-star general, who know that the the coach cares for each of them and knows their strengths and weaknesses, and who have bought into the coach's system and practice routine 200%.

I'd say a basketball coach, for example, would rather have a 6 or 7 kid team like that, rather than a 12-16 player team who might be more talented than Team A, but treat basketball like a leisure activity rather than a privilege and don't take it seriously.

Disipline is probably one of the most challenging things to enstill with today's generation of kids who actually believe that the world revolves around them and that they are actually entitled to their hearts' desires, whether they work for them or not.
As for education: yeah, I'd say it's a very important part of life and I have spent quite a bit of money for the one I have so far and I will probably spend quite a bit more money before it's all said and done. But as far as character or morals or life-learning goes:

I'll learn from a good preacher over a good professor any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best military sargent over the best scholar any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best coach of anything over the best Columbia professor of whatever any day of the year.

WOW Fuzz, That was a heck of a post!! There is hope for you yet!!

[F-4 Phantom]

I agree a little bit with everyone.

First of all, team athletics are for athletes: people who enjoy playing sports and want to (a) do their absolute best and (b) are willing to be team players, which means doing their absolute best for the good of a team.
As far as coaching goes, I think a coach needs to be someone (a) who can/has earn(ed) the kids' respect and trust, (b) actually cares about each of the individual kids (and shows it) and not just his/her ego, and (c) is willing to enstill disipline in order to accomplish whatever the goal is!
I'd guess that most coaches would be satisfied with a small team of kids who respect the coach like they would a 4-star general, who know that the the coach cares for each of them and knows their strengths and weaknesses, and who have bought into the coach's system and practice routine 200%.

I'd say a basketball coach, for example, would rather have a 6 or 7 kid team like that, rather than a 12-16 player team who might be more talented than Team A, but treat basketball like a leisure activity rather than a privilege and don't take it seriously.

Disipline is probably one of the most challenging things to enstill with today's generation of kids who actually believe that the world revolves around them and that they are actually entitled to their hearts' desires, whether they work for them or not.
As for education: yeah, I'd say it's a very important part of life and I have spent quite a bit of money for the one I have so far and I will probably spend quite a bit more money before it's all said and done. But as far as character or morals or life-learning goes:

I'll learn from a good preacher over a good professor any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best military sargent over the best scholar any day of the year.

I'll learn from the best coach of anything over the best Columbia professor of whatever any day of the year.

OUTSTANDING!

[F-4 Phantom]

Most kids don't respect anything today!

I place the blame on the parents and/or the adults in their inner circle.

Work ethic has been replaced by playstations, computers, etc....

Kick their lazy arses out the door. Make them rake the yard, mow the grass, hoe the field, etc... Hell, make them work a food bank if they are old enough.