June 26, 2008
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All-Stars
A baseball league in Beachwood has cancelled an All-Star Game for 9-12 year olds.
The thinking is that an All-Star Game singles out certain kids as being better players than the others. The National Alliance for Youth Sports has “strongly discouraged all-star games.” The game itself puts the focus on the few instead of the whole group. Here is the link: Link
Do you think 9 to 12 years old is too young to be singling some children out as better than the others?
Comments (74)
No. You can pretty much tell at that age.
No, do you think third grade is to early to start putting kids on Honor Roll and singling them out as being better than the others?
God, let them play. The U.S. sucks at baseball as it is
Holy crap! 4th?
Yet another stupid issue being brought up ..most likely by the parents who’s kids are under achievers. All Star games are a reward for those who have excelled and gone beyond just being average.This creats for those that make it to the All Stars that putting forth a better than average effort has its rewards…………….this is an area that is really getting the under achievers to believe that its OK to be average or less in life….this has nothing else to do with the story except another group trying to rain on someone elses parade……………its total bullshit
@GrumpyBear54 - Amen brotha!
Good Grief! NO! When are people going to realize that being fair is turning our kids in to pussys? I mean, no Johnny, you’re being the best is unfair to the other 9 kids on the team? Ok, how fair is that to Johnny because he is more athletically inclined then the others? I hate this “everyone is a weiner” crap. Because lets face it, there are loosers in life and if you happen to the be parent of THAT kid, to dang gone bad, teach your kids to be a graceful looser.
No, it isn’t too young. Though if a child is having trouble handling it- can’t take not being good enough or gets a swelled head from being considered better than the others- the parents should notice it.
Ehh. I think kids should get to play with others who are at a similar skill level. It makes the game more of a challenge. Also, it shows the kids who may be at a higher level that they’re not the only ones and that someone else can be just as good or better. It’s a good way to help kids improve their game.
Oh god, just relax…
I don’t think this is really about the kids. Any kid would be happy to play in an all-star game. It’s the parents you need to worry about. They go psycho killer if their kid loses.
absolutely not –
oh please! maybe the kids not getting on the all-star team should see it as an “ohhh maybe i should PRACTICE MORE!” – healthy competition is good, and teaches kids not to be lazy =)
Nope. My reason is a bit odd, but something that I feel is important. All Star games give good athletes a chance to sit the bench. Some of them have never had to do that before. It’s good for everyone to learn to sit the bench.
When we start asking other people to make it their jobs to protect us from everything?
It’s already too late. I would ask God to sink California and all it’s mercury light bulbs and prius hybrid cars into the ocean, but there are too many Asians there.
We’ve got to give our kids something to strive for; let the all-stars play.
I did swim team a lot as a kid. I wasn’t the best at it, but the once or twice I got into the big conference meet, that was awesome, and it was because I worked hard.
Worrying too much about self-esteem is going to have negative effects…
There is nothing wrong with recognizing and celebrating excellence of any kind at any age. However, the particular manner in which we tend to recognize and celebrate (make excuses for and pander to) athletic excellence at a young age in this country has done a dis-service to the athletically gifted as well as the athletically challenged,
Although the 9-12 years may be a sensitive time for some kids, you cannot shelter them forever. As the article said, in baseball as in life, there are winners and losers. You don’t have to remove all special awards and all-star competitions to protect self-confidence. Self-confidence should be developed genuinely through personal achievement. Competition can be helpful, too, as long as coaches teach players to practice good sportsmanship and to play to the best of their abilities.
No
There was this whole news story on this generation called the Millennials or something talking about how all these kids are growing up in a world where everyone gets a ribbon simply for showing up, they don’t get red marks or x’s on their papers in school, they have these absurd expectations of a world that doesn’t (shouldn’t!) exist…we’re coddling them, they don’t know what REAL life is like. This is just another example of that. If we’re all special, then no one is special. We all have things we excel at and things we don’t…it’s just a fact, let’s celebrate our accomplishments and work on the things that we aren’t so great at – don’t just give us a ribbon and say, well at least you are here…keep being mediocre. And then those that are good don’t get recognized for it and lose their zeal for it and become mediocre too. LAME.
they should be singled out when they turn pro,,, before that,,, its only a game,,,, duh,,,,,
no kid should be held up over another,,,, until pro status is achieved,,,
disclaimer,,,, this is not to mean i would ever watch any kind of ball game,,,,,,, unless it was kids playing,,, then maybe,,,, how good they are dont really matter….
@GhostBenjimon - hahahahahahaha,,, and ????? another account??? or a stolen profile pic??? now i have to investigate.
No, they realize it even before that age. They are going to have to eventually realize that someone somewhere is better than them.
No. I remember having all star games and play offs when I was that age.
There goes gambling night with the guys!
@IssyMae - AMEN!
omdf. This pisses me off. When I went to summer camp and we played games like tug of war for example. They would NEVER determine a winner because we are ALL WINNERS!!!! gosh I’d hate that. But they didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I’m like if I lost it’d make me strive to do better and be in their place. I wouldn’t go cry in a corner.
They need to put their big boy panties on.
I think in sports, that’s an ok age. It’s in jsut one area. it’s not like they’re going up to kids and saying, ‘You’re not as good of a person as this kid’.
No, 9-12 is NOT too young to single out the top kids because most kids have a very clear idea about who are the top athletes/ students/ popular kids.
Plus, having an All-Star team validates those kids with impressive athletic talent. It encourages them to keep working hard at something they are genuinely good at. Other kids have other things they are good at, even if they can’t realize it at age 12, if they have parents who will validate them they will be successful, too.
This makes me continue to hate Americans’ idea of what equality is. *shudder*
Hey, vote for Obama and you’ll get more Judges who would rule in favor of this kind of stuff. Yes sir re bobalou!
That’s stupid.
Knowing there’s a Allstar game makes the kids try harder to maybe BE on the Allstar teams. If there’s nothing to work for, they don’t excell.I don’t think the coaches should PUSH these kids as if they are adults, there has to be some enjoyment in the game. Thats where my problem is with little league teams, it’s the coaches that take it too serious! It IS a game after all!
There is nothing wrong with recognizing those who are excelling. I am so sick and tired of how we’re coddling kids. To not reward hard work and achievement is de-motivating to everyone. Then you won’t have anybody even trying because they’ll be thinking “What’s the point?”
Right. And it’s this kind of crappy reverence for people capable of whacking a damned ball around better than the other guy that sees sport figures earn millions of dollars a year to the few score thousand a teacher does. Go sporting competition.
If you are that age and don’t already know that some kids are more athletic than others then you deserve to have it rubbed in your ignorant face that you aren’t as good as some of the others.
Besides, the older you are when you learn stuff like that the worse off it will be for everyone.
Also, what are sports for if not competition? They sure as hell weren’t invented just to get kids active.
No.
People are far too sensitive.
Yes, it is. And while we’re at it, let’s make sure no child ever gets hurt in any sort of way at all, emotionally or physically, cause that’s how to get geared up to go to the real world.
They need to learn sometime that not everyone is great at everything. It’s disappointment. Kids need to learn how to deal with it.
HELL NO THIS IS DUMB. I MEAN LETS PUSSYFY AMERICA SOME MORE AND NOT GRADE THE KIDS IN SCHOOL OR GIVE RASIES OR PROMOTIONS. OR HAVE ELECTIONS ANYMORE THESE ALL IMPLY SOMEONE IS BETTER AND (DARE ISAY IT….) GOD KNOWS WE CANT HAVE THAT.
There is the little league world series, isn’t there?
I don’t think we should hold back the development of the good players just because the fat, lazy kids would feel bad.
@NikBv - The government can’t afford to pay what teachers are really worth.
Private corporations, however, can pay baseball players a few million to sit the bench.
It’ll be interesting to see how private corporations change the education industry in New Orleans as they work their way into the school system…
OK, off topic. But no apologies.
i think it’s the perfect age for kids to start learning that they might not be the best, but it’s all about ‘giving your best’!
@ktandie - It’s always delightful when private companies and governments get involved and work together. You get the moral duplicity of big corporations and the bumbling incompetence of government bureaucracy.
How about a “We’re ALL Stars” game?
The sooner your kid gets used to the word ‘loser’, the better he will cope in life.
No.
The sooner they learn to lose, the earlier their egos can recover from it.
Guess what, life is reality; kids get picked for teams, get chosen to sing solos at the Christmas program, get on the honor roll, get graded for their academic performance, get picked for the All Star team – all on their own merit, not their parents’, so the parents just need to calm down and realize not everyone can be at the top of everything they do. Everyone has a chance, I just left a school where the parents got mad that the kids had to PRACTICE their band instruments and SHOW UP for a concert, but would they miss a sports practice or a sporting event? No way. What are parents teaching their kids these days? I just want to smack them upside the head. Those who work the hardest have the best results, usually.
No, if anything it’d motivate those who didn’t make the cut to try harder next year (plus an early experience in rejection could be useful; in my past dating experiences some of the men really could’ve used it).
That’s life.
No, I don’t think it is “too young.”
I think people should be given accolades for the things they do better than others. For some people that comes in school in the form of grades and honor roll. For some, they need to get praise elsewhere. It is ridiculous to take that away.
all star players ARE better players. In life sometimes, the truth hurts !
No. Then again, I don’t really care about base ball.
Ick. I’m sure this is parent driven. I don’t have kids but will probably have them in the not to distant future but there seems to be a movement among society not to single out really good kids. The high school that I attended no longer gives out valdictorian or salutatorian honors to those students who deserve it for the fear of hurting the other kids’ feelings (or their parents’ feelings). To me, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of healthy competition. I think to not let kids be competitive is going to harm the kids later on.
As the mom of non-athletically inclined kids . . . i do resent the implication that my kids are less talented or losers or need to try harder. No, they shouldn’t be on an all-star team cause they showed up. All-star baseball is for the kids who do excel at baseball and do put forth the effort and do take baseball seriously. Let ‘em play. Let ‘em compete. Let ‘em celebrate excellence and hard work. Give ‘em first and second place trophies.
But just because your kid made all-stars and mine didn’t . . . doesn’t make my kid less valued than yours. My kids’ talents lie elsewhere. My kids aren’t into baseball. Either that or my kids learned a valuable lesson in life by working their butts off and not being picked for all-stars. But they aren’t losers.
Even so, when it comes to regular season sports? Let the less athletic kids play. Even if they sit the bench. Let them be part of the team. For really young kids – give them equal playing time. As they get older, then you can get competitive. But all-star teams? Reward their hard work and their talent.
no….that’s just reality and they have to deal with it
in the MLB you def. can’t sit and cry cuz you didn’t make it to the All-Star game…which by the way is a popularity contest, but thats another story.
This is what’s wrong with our children today. Coddled brats.
@OneBadMother - Well said! I agree.
Nope, I do not agree with this. I was 13 when I realized I was better than everyone else because of my vast knowledge and brain power. You can stop the game, but you can’t hide the fact. Some people are just better than everyone else.
@weirdbean - Well said.
absolutely not. The “everyone is a winner attitude” takes away the motivation for children to try harder. If you child does not make the All-star team you tell them to practice harder next year and they might make it. By making everyone “winners” we are not teaching America’s children the valuable lessons learned from losing. They are also ignoring the advantage it has for the All-star players. It gives them real competition and a real challenge.
My guess that the people complaining, and who had it canceled, must have kids that SUCK at baseball???
This has been happening more and more… goodness – grow some freaking balls people – seriously! I would hate too loose an all-star game but that means you were still number 2 – be happy that you got that far in the first place.
@aj_mudd - true that! *high five* ha ha
@Doubledb - I could be wrong…LOL…but it seems the most logical reason!
this is ludicrous and reeks of communist ideologies. If the better players aren’t recognized, what competition will there be to become one of them? What incentive will there be to become better? Sports is all about competition!
Oh please relax
Age does not matter
Nope. The kids already know who are the better players.
I would be PISSED as a 9-12 if my game was cancelled. If you set a standard of excellence nad aren’t allowed to be recognized, you should be mad.
BTW i was definitely pretentious since age 9.
Good god, some parent of a kid that sucks is complaining… Look, everyone has a right to play with kids of their own skill level, so bring on the all-star games!
honestly… i dunno
The guy in the article from NYAS cannot possibly know more than one 9-12 year-old boy. 9-12 year-old boys are very well aware there is a hierarchy and where they fit. And compete is what they do. I thought we were over this “let’s build kids’ self-esteem regardless of the consequences”, it’s so 90′s!
As long as the emphasis isn’t on getting into the all star game, no. The kids who are really good will enjoy the extra challenge and the ones who don’t make it will have a chance to learn that they aren’t the best at everything. (I was terrible at sports as a child, btw)
But, at the same time, there should be ways of acknowledging talents in other areas such as art and music and academics. Sports can be such a deciding factor in popularity at that age, so I think it’s important that other talents are given the same emphasis. And it should never be all about competition, there should just be an extra challenge for kids who are really good at a certain thing to give them something to work towards.
It is and it isn’t.
The whole idea of juvenile sports is to challenge the child to build on his abilities and to learn the virtues of teamwork and sportsmanship. To deny them this via the misguided liberal notion of “self-esteem” is not only preposturous, but detrimental to a child’s growth in spirit. Self-esteem comes from meeting youthful challenges with adult guidance, not from their being shielded from them. In so doing, young people lose the competative edge and fervor that has made America great.
Nah, just sounds like an exscuse for the people who sucked at baseball when they were kids to bring down the kids who actualy dont suck as bad as them when they were their age.