The hippies are taking over Canadian sports one step at a time.
Last year members of Hockey Calgary tried to ban body contact in U15 minor hockey. They were close to succeeding, but a majority vote didn't allow the motion to pass.
Now the Ontario Soccer Association has recently eliminated the scoreboard in U12 sports by 2014. That's right, they aren't allowing elementary school soccer leagues to keep score in an attempt to promote long-term athlete development and keep the youngsters from falling into "winner" and "loser" categories.
It is being reported that other sports leagues across Canada are looking into following the footsteps of the Ontario Soccer Association.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that true long-term development in sports doesn't start until the 14-15 year-old age groups. Around that age, the kids start learning specific plays and systems. Before that, the coaches mainly just focus on the fundamentals. Therefore, the theory that taking the score out of U12 sports helps kid's long-term development seems a bit ridiculous.
Naming a winner and a loser at the end of the game goes hand in hand with sports. Although the best team doesn't always win, it's how our society rewards the team who puts in the work to best their opponent. The score also motivates athletes to improve their own game to help their team win.
Kids are never too young to learn that those who put in hard work will be rewarded and those who don't will suffer the consequences. After all, our society is based on separating winners from losers. Whether it is in business, studies, farming, investing, or sports - there are winners and losers.
It seems inevitable that these young athletes will be frustrated without a scoreboard. After all, have you ever seen a group of kids not keep track of the score while playing soccer at recess or during a street hockey game? They always do no matter how little significance of the game.
The kid's expected frustration will likely take away some of their fun, which is too bad with that being the whole point of minor sports.
At the end of the day, without the score you don't have a game. It is just two teams running around aimlessly. Where is the motivation to run or skate your heart out in the final minute? Where is the drive to improve on your personal performance without statistics to have something to show for it?
There are too many philosophy majors trying to fix things that aren't broken in the first place. The majority divulge loosely accurate statistics and try to portray the minority's views as the majority. But they don't ask the players themselves or sit through highly-insightful coaching clinics.
In this no scoreboard revolution, it seems the people behind it might be doing so because they weren't in the win column a lot when they were a kid or their children aren't exactly on all-star soccer clubs. That is just speculation, but it makes perfect sense nonetheless.
If this "no score" philosophy spreads throughout Canada, what's next? Will they stop justly failing students in our public school systems? Oh wait, that genius plan has already been put into place.
