Gamesmanship in Children’s Sport: My Perspective

Welcome back to my diary, I'm Kevin, and today I want to delve into the topic of gamesmanship in children's sports, particularly in football. This is a subject I've been grappling with for a while, and it's time to share my thoughts on it.

Recently, I've been assisting with the management of an under 14s boys' football team. These are 13 and 14-year-old lads at a crucial developmental stage, often transitioning to man-like physiques while still possessing boy-like minds. It's been an interesting season, marked by the typical chaos of adolescence – hormones flying everywhere.

Today’s narrative is spurred by an incident during a match against our local rivals. Our boys know many of the opposition players from school, which adds a unique dynamic to the game. However, there’s one lad on the rival team who consistently exemplifies poor sportsmanship, or what’s colloquially known as "sledging" in cricket. He takes every opportunity to get into the heads of our players by celebrating overly aggressively, shouting his triumphs at the top of his voice whenever he wins a header or tackle.

Now, I can tolerate the celebration aspect to an extent. It’s part and parcel of sport – you see it in the Premier League all the time. But this goes beyond spirited celebration. This lad takes another step, actively ridiculing our players whenever they make a mistake. He screams things like "they can't handle it" or "he can't kick it" to his teammates, creating an environment that feels exceptionally intimidating. It borders on bullying, and as far as I’m aware, there’s no explicit law in sport to kerb such behaviour.

This style of gamesmanship disturbs me greatly. If I were the coach of that team, I would view it as classless, with no place in children’s football. It sets a wrong precedent, teaching young players that such antagonistic behaviour is acceptable. Worse, it can escalate into overly aggressive play, which was evident today in some of the big, nasty tackles that emerged as emotions ran wild.

The referee of the match, who let the gamesmanship slide, isn’t entirely to blame. There likely isn't a specific rule being broken, but from my perspective, it's distasteful and dishonest conduct. The return fixture will be at our home ground, and I will likely be the referee. If that lad continues his behaviour, I intend to have a word with him. Such actions might give his team an unfair advantage, but it's not right.

The key takeaway here is that gamesmanship, especially in children's sport, is deeply contentious. It often bestows an unfair advantage through underhanded tactics like ridiculing and antagonising the opposition. This was glaringly apparent today, as the relentless sledging from this single individual clearly boosted his team’s morale while intimidating ours. Although no formal laws were broken, in my opinion, such actions are classless and should be discouraged.

Children’s sport should be about teaching the right way to play, win, and lose with dignity. Coaches have a responsibility to instil these values, but unfortunately, some choose to take advantage of loopholes for the sake of victory. Today, we lost 2-0, and they played well, but this individual’s gamesmanship undeniably influenced the game's competitiveness.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Do leave a comment, and I’ll respond to everyone. If you believe in my mission of saving the lives of children by attempting the ultimate ultramarathon of run vlogging on consecutive days, covering the distance around the world barefoot, then please give this post a like, subscribe, and share. More visibility means more funds raised and more children's lives saved. That’s why I do this every single day.

Stay positive, stay happy, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.