Children’s Sports Day! Has it lost its competitive edge? Is this for the better?

I love being a Grandmother and working on ships has meant that I have missed out on birthdays, Christmases and events, so now I’m back on land I want to support my grandchildren in everything that they do (as I did my own children) when it comes to watching them in school plays, to attending parents’ evening or standing on the side lines at the ‘Sports Day’ afternoon.

I remember too many years than I care to remember watching my own children’s Sports Day, listening to how competitive some parents could be.  It took me back to my own memories where I absolutely hated these events.  I wasn’t interested in field events and I never did well, often being ridiculed by other students and hearing the sneers of their parents which always made me feel worst.  Will all that being said I was in the hockey and netball teams – balls were my thing.

I also wanted to encourage my own children whether they were athletic or not to take part and to have fun.

I recently attended my 7 year old grandson Kieran’s Sports Day and must say how things have changed since I was a young girl.  Kieran is athletic and his favourite sport is football but like all of the other children there were no nasty comments to any other child about their performance.

Every child takes part in every event, from sack races (with their lovely coloured sacks), football dribbling, balancing a ring on your head whilst walking at the same time, putting frogs in a pale (toy ones I might add) and then on to the final sprint event.

The field was packed with parents and grandparents alike and not once did I hear any adult say anything that may have upset a child with reference to their performance.

This is a school where there are no winners or losers and every child had a smile on their face as did the adults.  I heard lots of aahs and oohs as children tripped, picked themselves back up and carried on.  It was a lovely afternoon.

I know some of you may be saying that this is not a real event without the competition but I beg to differ.  With so much adversary and fighting and competition going on in the world I was more than happy to see children getting on together, supporting each other and enjoying themselves.

I thought what a good world we live in today!

I am a very proud Grandmother and have two wonderful grandsons and next year I get to do this twice as my younger grandson Jack starts ‘big school’ in September so double the dose of happiness.