The children's
football league which only lists scores as 1-0 or 1-1 'to avoid humiliation
after heavy defeats'
All results recorded as 1-0, 1-1 or 0-0 as league refuses to record thrashings
A junior football
league has stopped publishing the results of its matches in case the scores
embarrass the young players.
Telford Junior
League – made up of 20 divisions ranging from under-10s to under-16s – now
records all games as either 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws.
Bosses at the
league have defended the decision to withhold the number of goals scored which
they claim will spare the youngsters the humiliation of losing badly.
Barmy: The Telford Junior Leagues have stopped publishing the true results
and record all scores as either 1-0, 1-1 or 0-0 to avoid embarrassing young
players
But campaigners
and parents say the policy teaches children that competition is a bad thing and
risks creating a generation of bad losers.
Unrepentant league
bosses have defended the policy, saying it is in line with Football Association
guidelines, which the FA disputes.
The FA says it has
no rules relating to results above the age of eight.
And the league,
which was founded in 1984 and has more than 2,000 players from clubs in
Telford, north Shropshire and Bridgnorth, will also stop recording results for
under-11 teams altogether from next season.
One parent, who
did not want to be named, said: ‘This is because they don’t want kids
embarrassed if their team has lost heavily.
‘If that’s the
case what’s the point of having a league table up on the website at all?’
Another parent,
who also did not want to be named for fear of turning officials against his
son’s team, said: ‘I think it’s crazy - kids need to learn about winning and
losing from an early age. They aren’t recognising the boys’ achievements.
‘They might not
want to embarrass the losing team but if one of the lads scores six or seven
goals and that isn’t recorded what kind of message does that send to them?
‘The lads might as
well not turn up.’
Assistant
secretary Stephen Groome said the league had introduced the results policy on
its official website this year.
'Still 1-0... despite 7 goals': The Telford League have stopped recording
thrashings - and will get rid of all scores from next season for under-11s
(file photo)
He said:
‘Shropshire FA have said it is a guideline and we chose to go with it. If
someone else wins, the children do not need to be embarrassed.
‘There are mixed
feelings about it and it’s up to each league. From next season under-11s won’t
even have their results recorded.’
He said goal
difference did not play a part in determining final league positions and teams
finishing on equal points would share their position.
‘Sometimes there
is a 16-1 or 16-0 goal difference but it’s not a determining factor in junior
football because the league will be shared,’ he added.
Stephen Clarke,
manager of the under-11s Wrekin Panthers team, backed the move.
He said: ‘The
children’s welfare is paramount. The winners have three points on the website
if they win and the children who lose 20-0 would feel very disheartened if it
was on the website.
‘They might think
of not playing. I think it’s a very good idea.’
But Mr Clarke
added there must come a point when players had to accept defeat.
He said: ‘I think
probably by the age of 15 then they have an understanding that life is a bit of
a competition and we are competing with other people.’
Dame Kelly Holmes,
the double Olympic champion, has spoken out in the past about the decline of
competitive sports for children.
She said it risked
spawning a generation of bad losers and blamed a culture of political
correctness for making ‘competitiveness’ a dirty word.
A spokesman for
the FA commented: 'There’s an FA rule that prohibits the publishing of results
and league tables across all media for U7 and U8 age-groups where the focus of
the game is about learning to play without the pressure of full-time scores.
'For older age
groups, there are no rules or FA guidelines which indicate that the final score
should be changed.'
No comments:
Post a Comment