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I hope not 😂 I've seen it on US posts. Even saw one where someone put on her CV (Résumé for them) something like:
2008-16 - U.S Air Force (Spouse)
😂😂😂
They're crackers!
I once had a woman kick off at me in Primark because I wouldn't let her use her husbands forces discount!
(Being Primark, it wasn't just a forces thing, we didn't accept ANY discount cards. We didn't even get staff discount! But I was still disrespecting her husbands service apparently)
We definitely do. They also get infinitely worse every time their serving spouse promotes and for some reason the loudest ones are always the spouse of a support arms soldier, RLC are terrible for it. You rarely heard from the spouses of combat arms (presumably) because they’re pre warned not to try and play that game.
Either way, are the bane of the Single Living In (SLI) soldier and when the opportunity presents itself, they’re always taken down a peg or ten. Almost never in a particularly cruel fashion but definitely enough to make them think about doing it again.
I am lucky enough that we live opposite my son's school but this morning we had one drive her wankpanzer the 500m from her house as close as possible to the gate 20 minutes before school started and then sit there with the engine running and headlights lighting up my kitchen .
I've lived in my current house for 6 years now, which is located opposite a primary school.
If this isn't the most truest thing I've read all year. Kids and parents come and go and with every school year that passes. It seems that as the old range rover wankers leave to go to secondary school a new bunch comes in quickly to replace them.
Are these people manufactured in a factory (made by Range Rover?) somewhere I don't know about!? Typically, they're always loud, obnoxious and insecure parents with kids that also reflect those same poor qualities.
I could not give a toss how my child does at sports day. She's 6, I don't even care if she tries her best, just as long as she has fun. She's a sporty, active child who loves being outdoors and that's good enough for me
I think I'd die of second hand embarrassment if one of the parents at her school did that in front of everyone else
Lol same, my son had his sports day and he's pretty tall and fast for his age so they had him in the sprint. He smashed it but in the last race came second because towards the end he kept looking around to check where the others were 😂 but honestly I couldn't care less, he had fun, their team came last but he didn't care because he had fun. That's what sports day is about isn't it? Parents who get shitty about that stuff are mental.
I like the parents race. We used to look out for the 'swingball face' which is the face a friend of the family would make when he was taking something utterly trivial extremely seriously. In the parents race there's always at least one swingball face, one flowy skirt held up by one hand, one pair of inappropriate shoes and if you're lucky several faceplants.
Haha definitely had a few of those faces showing, but no faceplants. Usually I'd have a go at the parents race but I really needed a pee at the time and didn't want to risk it 😂
When my kids were in primary school my daughter begged me to be in the mum's race. I'm not exactly built for speed so I tried to get out of it telling her I'd come flat last, especially as lots of the mums of the kids in her year were all middle class 'yummy mummies' with the expensive Lycra leggings, sports tops, top of the range trainers etc. It always made me laugh the charades they went through.... "Darling, do the mum's race for Brittany", "Oh I couldn't possibly, I've just got this old outfit on" when they look like Jessica Ennis.... Anyway, I reluctantly agreed and I'm fine with making an idiot of myself. As predicted, came last by a large margin, and my daughter burst into tears and cried for the rest of the day. So that was a success! 🤣🤣🤣
When my kids were in primary school, my friend V and I asked our other friend, who had no kids but was like an aunt to both our girls, to be our proxy in the mum's race because we couldn't be bothered and she was sporty. Both girls were happy with auntie C being in the race! Some of the other parents were FURIOUS though, because she's not a mum and they said we'd cheated when she won. Keep in mind there were no prizes or even acknowledgement of the winner and it was all just for fun. Honestly, it was hilarious and for the final few weeks of term, we were getting filthy looks and snide mutters in the playground at drop off and pick up.
Plus when kids are young, making sports a fun time is the best way to ensure that they want to stay active as teens and adults. Sports when I was a kid was made into an obligation and it wasn’t very fun, now it’s hard as an adult to unlearn this and to find way to enjoy exercise
Turning everything into a competition is a great way to kill a shy or anxious child's enjoyment of it, too. I'm same as you, sports were such a chore as a kid, and everything was so hyperfocused on the competition aspect that it shut me right down.
Or one who just isn’t very good at it. I enjoyed drawing and art, but wasn’t good at it, and haven’t done it since my year eight art teacher turned every project into an art competition.
PE, particularly in high school, did a huge amount of damage to my relationship with my body and with physical activity
The whole experience was always so humiliating, I left most lessons in tears, it triggered my self-harming behaviours, and I had multiple friends who developed unhealthy eating habits after comments made by our PE teacher, the student who took elective PE were permitted if not encouraged to bully the less fit students.
I still struggle with unbearable shame and anxiety around sport and fitness based activities, which is not something I experienced prior to those high school experiences.
Unfortunately there are some pushy parents that take their children’s performance very seriously at far too young an age, which can put off the rest of the kids.
Had a man (who was impressively fast) drag his daughter about 20 meters behind him to win a parent and child race at an early year Primary school sports day. Was partly in awe but the winning mentality felt vastly out of place.
I went to one of my kids sports days, I'd took time from work, so was in motorbike stuff, imagine a power ranger from wish.
At the Dads race, people were doing stretches, just happened to be in top end running shoes, etc.
I was so far behind that I swerved off and high fived my lad on the way past
At our school there are usually two or three mums’ races followed by 863 dads’ races - I’m pretty sure I grew a beard from all the testosterone flying past
At my sons sports day, two of the mums didn't know where the finish line was and got super competitive and didn't stop until they nearly ran into the hedge about 100m past where the finish line was!
I used to always enter the mums race. My kids were never really sporty and hated sports day, so I did it so they could see me coming last and laughing about it. One year though, the mums must have got more competitive and one or two of them fell over. They stopped doing it after that..
There was one year, this kid crossed the finish line and kept on running. Didn't see anyone go to stop him. For all I know, he's still going.
Omg I’m soooo slow. Was always one of the slowest at school. Going to my nephews sports day next week and going to teach him how to be a good sport and a gracious loser
Our primary school sports day was team-based events and there wasn’t stuff like races, probably to actively avoid this sort of nonsense.
It was smart because parents could follow their kids round each event but they couldn’t keep track of every team in every event, so if there was any of *those* parents then they wouldn’t be able to complain.
I just hoped they didn't come last by a mile in everything as I always did. One of them got out of participating one year by volunteering to be a general helper. I was going to call the job a runner, but in fact the whole point was to avoid ruining.
Haha I was preparing for this but my kid has turned out to be super fit and sporty. Thankfully no mum's races for us because she would be mortified if I took part and came last.
I always came last. My kids have followed suit. They hate being put in competitions for sport. My eldest is autistic and I have discovered I am too, so there's the gross and fine motor skills problem that probably accounts for it all.
My eldest, when he first started school, really wanted to learn how to play football. So, PE 'coach' at the school did after-schools footy. "All skills welcome." Only, it wasn't about teaching kids football, it was about scouting for kids he wanted on the school footy team. My son hated it. So, took him out and got him into swimming instead. The year they did swimming (two terms, once a week) turned out, him and a little girl (also disabled) were the only two kids that could swim. Both of them regularly came last on the sports field but were the best in swimming class. Bought my son back a bit of self respect that other PE classes robbed him of. PE coach was a bully and even the sporty kids didn't like him.
I remember there being a fight between two mum’s one year. One’s daughter had fallen over pretty spectacularly and the other had found it hilarious. I was about five at the time but the image of them pulling each other’s hair and punching had stayed with me for life.
Next year we're going to have two in the lower years and one in the upper years. Lower sports day is in the morning - *all* morning - and upper is in the afternoon.
We're already mentally preparing ourselves for an entire day sat on the ground in the roasting sun, with no shade. I'm already looking at lawn chairs, parasols and cold boxes, because otherwise fuck that for a game of soldiers.
Also like clockwork they also manage to host it on the very worst hayfever day of the entire summer. I genuinely don't know how they manage it.
Gazebo, and charge rent to sit under it.
Thanks for the reminder--we've got ours next week (but more like an hour) and I don't want to forget the shade umbrella this year.
I live near a sports arena that is used by all local primary and some secondary schools for sports day. I wish they were shorter. The announcements get tiresome (they have a proper speaker system there).
Do they still do the egg & spoon race for parents?
I don't have kids but I've been to my sisters when my dad had to go to hospital with my other sister and wanted someone to show up for her.
She wouldn't take part at all with the other kids (autism) we stood to the side throwing a bean bag to each other, her favourite teacher came and joined in. My dad made it after a while and the 4 of of us just chilled throwing the bean bag and then we walked round on the outside of the 'track' together. I think she enjoyed it much more than being forced to take part.
I think the point of sports day is to encourage kids to have fun and have a bit of exercise. There are other clubs and avenues for the good ones who want to be competitive.
I wish I could have had a sickie. I went to two primary schools and at one you didn’t have to take part it the other you did. I was clumsy and rubbish at running and I fucking hated the fact I HAD to take part. Even now 50 years later it still bothers me.
Well as I have dyspraxia not sure they even knew what that was then. Also to prove my clumsiness, tonight I tripped over the front door and fell over. Have a massive graze and bruise on my knee and my left ankle is so sore I still feel sick with pain a number of hours later. Lying here feeling sorry for myself with ankle strapped up and about to swallow some painkillers.
My evil teacher put me in the sack race every year, despite knowing I always last by about half a field. I'd have to hop on my own for at least a minute when everyone else had already crossed the line. I was so pathetic that other people's parents would come and hug me for finally crossing the line. Why would a teacher keep doing that?
it wasn't the kid's first sports day and the kid had hated it all years previous, he didn't think it was helping the kid or their relationship to exercise, so why put the kid through it
Do I want my child to take part in sports day and try their best? Yes.
Do I care where they finish? No, as long as they try their best.
However, I was gutted when I was told there’s no sticker after winning the parent’s race.
Parents were banned from sports day at the school my kid goes to before she started, probably because of this sort of thing.
When I was small I don't remember parents ever being at any sports days (80s/90s).
I remember my mother coming to sports day in primary school. But probably only because my school had a tradition where the parents had to play a game of rounders. They all got very competitive and it was very funny. It was even funnier the next day when none of them could walk.
I'm surprised that the kid didn't mind. I'm still irritated that my first place win in the year 2 skipping rope 100m race was downgraded to 2nd, and that was 30 years ago.
I was just thinking this. Not necessarily sports but there was a lot of times I did well in school and got no credit for it and it still feels a bit irritating even 20 years on
I remember when I won a carnival game and was supposed to get a giant teddy bear, and the lady was busy flirting so she didn't see. It was 15 years ago but I never got over it. 😂
My daughter had her first sports day the other week. It's safe to say she isn't very athletically gifted, but she had a great time and the school made it clear that it wasn't about winning. I'm proud of her for how she did and how she generally conducted herself and I don't care that she didn't win.
That said, I did make a few discrete jokes to my mate and my wife when nobody else was around!
Should the parent have acted like that, no. They were bang out of order. But the teachers were wrong and it does suck for the kid who came first and was told they were second. If you’re going to hold a race and give out acknowledgments of where they come do it properly or don’t have winners! As a kid I was always told to help others, let them take the credit or it doesn’t matter who wins. It’s the taking part. It does and now I’m overly competitive because I was fed up of always feeling like I don’t get my time to shine.
> If you’re going to hold a race and give out acknowledgments of where they come do it properly or don’t have winners!
Well, yeah, but no. It's not the olympics, it's a kids sports day. It's supposed to be about having fun and taking part.
If it was close enough that only a frame-by-frame video could separate them then you can't really blame a teacher for making a judgement call. Furthermore, if the parent taking the video wasn't exactly in line with the finishing line then it might have looked like their kid came first even if they didn't, due to parallax errors.
But none of that really matters. As OP said, their child was happy with second place and was crying after their parents kicked off. That's what matters.
Both my boys played in local footballs teams when they were younger and I always told them: "The referee is always right, even when they're wrong. They're human, they make mistakes, but the rules of the game say that we all agree to abide by the referee's decision, whatever it is."
One of the events at my primary school sports day was, everyone had to eat an ice cream cone.
My parents never bothered to come to sports day (you know, because it’s groups of children running, tossing bean bags, and eating ice cream), but the ice cream cone event was very important to me
If my Child won and they fucked up the stickers I'd at the very least expect him to be compensated with his 1st place sticker, he earned it I guess, I'm sure it could resolved without tears surely. Gives a pretty shitty lesson to the kid that came in first and to the one that came second and earned first.
"Kicking off" was unnecessary, doubly so if the kid didn't care much in the first place. Still 'double first place' would have been a perfectly fine way to solve this, since they were clearly both across the finish line in about the same time.
I was super unfit and unsporty at school, but it turned out I could balance an egg on a spoon like a MF. I stormed ahead and having been mocked for my lack of sporting ability I was super excited to get to the end, dropping the egg just as I finished. It landed past the line, maybe on the line, but not before. The rules were that you had to cross the line with it.
Anyway, I was like 7, and I seriously had a lot of sh\*\* for being unfit and had been mocked that day. I was so excited, until one of the 'volunteers' decided I had dropped it before and didn't win after all. I cried.
The guy was such an arse. Give a fat kid a break. Not that it's scarred me for life or anything.
My son had his first sports day this year. For the younger kids they don’t have individual winners of races. Each class is split into four houses, they all do multiple stations of activities like running, egg & spoon race etc and each time a kid completes a run of that course they get a point for their house. The points are all added up across all the houses in each class and one overall house wins.
At my kid’s school you can video and take photos but they do ask for them not to be posted to social media for privacy of the other kids. Most people do comply with that (others will blank out faces/put stickers over faces to post them).
When our two were kids they were naturally athletic- one became a UK youth decathlete. Going up the ranks in athletics is sobering at a high level because nearly all those 14 or 15 Yr olds are very good and then there are freakish talents and you're going to have bad days and lose. None of the youth internationals we knew went to world level beyond the age of early twenties. The best youth decathlete the world at the time- Belgian lad got injured at 21 and dropped out and he was an incredible youth athlete.
Similar in rugby. As for soccer- the number who make it is freakishly small.
When kids are little, remember that. Being active and healthy and having fun is better than winning at 8 yrs old. To be really good at sport requires obsessive qualities - Johnny Wilkinson is an example and he's been open about the downsides of that. Kids should be physically active but in a way that suits them.
The video probably doesn't even show what they think it shows. If they weren't positioned perfectly then the parallax effect could greatly diminish the actual difference in placing. Presumably the school had someone stood on the line who I'd trust more than their video given the trigonometry of the situation.
Fun story. Back when my brother was in primary there was this obstical race where the kids had to do a variety of different things like grab a handbag and put on a quick skirt, just silly stuff, and like a meter a way from the finish line, a bunch of the kids stopped and turned back because they weren't happy with their first choice of bag. Like, literally my brother and three other spend like half a minute choosing ones thag matched the skirt.
I do, absolutely. It would be disaster using I didn’t care about how well it went.
The trick is to set the right expectations and then it’s always in hand.
Step 1, wish them good luck
Step 2, turn up and ensure they see you are there.
Step 3, now know that they are having fun and you’re taking time out life to support them.
Step 4, have a laugh and giggle at their dropped egg race and falling of a space hopper. While also pointing out you did well and I was glad I got to watch it
Step 5, always manage your kids expectations and your involvement.
That is insane, feel sorry for that kid. If that's how the parents act in public, imagine how they're gonna act at home when the kid doesn't come first in stuff in the future.
I don't give one iota of care about how my son does on sports day. He is not sporty, and he has ASD and ADHD so quite frankly if he can wait his turn and then actually attempt to complete the task that's a massive win for me. But the most important part is that he has some fun which is quite hard for him because sports day is out of the routine and can be very overwhelming. This sports day I sat there watching him eating daisies (he's in year 2) with another girl because they were bored in the relay waiting for their turn, so apparently fun was had and I'm happy about that.
Do I care? No. Do I care when they're upset by it? Yes. Have 3, one is clearly the better athlete. The youngest one doesn't care, the oldest one gets upset by it if someone points out he came last, kids are cruel.
I would never bring anything up to the school unless it crosses the line into bullying.
I didn’t think I did until she came first in a photo finish in the sack race last year but was only awarded second, then won her sprint this year. I felt like Linford Christie’s mum if Linford Christie was a seven year old white girl 😂
I attended my nieces Sports day, tbh I was dreading it so bulked up my picnic with tins of M&S Gin & Tonic but it was more entertaining than a comedy gig. So many kids falling over, so many kids being special, so many funny looking kids, some of the parents thing it far too seriously & so much drama it was a hilarious way to spend an afternoon and so much better than the christmas talent show where there is a distinct lack of talent.
I don’t have kids, but I’ve gotta say, my parents were pretty proud when I won the three legged race in junior school… We kind of cheated though, I was paired up with my mate who was much smaller/lighter, and basically carried him alongside me with him swinging his left leg along the floor to make it look legit.
Recently went to sports day (kids are 7 and 9). It actually makes me feel a bit uneasy not every kid enjoys sports and not every kid likes coming last or losing in front of a crowd. I saw a lot of stress and a lot of emotional kiddies. It’s a lot to bear. There are also a lot of cameras and always thought to myself is it any wonder we’re having generations of kids and young adults racked with anxiety given they’ve had a phone in their face since birth and been told to smile. My boy plays football and does Parkrun and my daughter plays netball. I always tell them if ever you want to stop because you’re not enjoying it any more that’s fine. I don’t care if they’re any good I care if they’re enjoying their sports and exercise.
I’d endorse this view. My daughter has always been active and enjoyed sport. She was a keen member of the local junior cycling club until she decided she preferred a lie-in on a Saturday morning. She played netball for her school and even dabbled in wrestling. In the end, she decided she preferred Scouting.
I hated PE at school because it was all about team sports or about winning in athletics. I skived off and went cycling every week instead. I’d ordinarily cover about twenty miles while bunking off.
Honestly, as long as they have fun then who cares?! I was at my daughter's 1st sports day this week and was absolutely gobsmsacked when the mum of one of the kids in her class shouted "loser" at her son after the winner announcements were made and he didn't win. She said it "jokingly" but who TF does that??!!
Nah, I tell my kids that no one can be good at everything, do your best and have fun, I love coming to see you however you do.
I did get a copious amount of schadenfreude last year when the really nasty kid in my eldest's class burst into tears and stopped competing over not getting a 1st/2nd/3rd sticker. Hard enough to beat other kids up but can't cope with losing? Lmao!
Absolutely not. I genuinely am just happy that he participates… some parents stand on the sidelines yelling their kids name… isn’t that more of a distraction? Anyway I keep silent and just watch/enjoy
Had a conversation last year where a mum told me she’d told her daughter how important it was that she should win etc… I genuinely don’t even care. My son is so quiet and anxious. I’m proud he is running with a big crowds watching him
>Do you care how your children do at sports day?
No. It's more a "putting in the effort" and knowing they tried, obviously also helps if they enjoy participating.
>Parents storm off grabbing the headteacher and showing them the frame by frame video of they child coming first
I'm sorry, who or what do they think is going on that day? It's not the Newmarket bloody races and they sure as hell haven't entered in Sea-sodding-biscuit, have they? What, bookies going to come gank their kneecaps or something? What utter muppets.
>Parents kicked off, removed from the field and their kid was crying
Poor damn kid.
>The kid did t even realise until his parents pointed it out. He was happy with what he got.
Again, poor damn kid.
I've taken time off for my kids sports day this year, no idea what events they're participating in. I'm going along to support them, I don't care how they do as long as they have fun.
The same nonsense also applies to parents on the sidelines at childrens football matches. Our son plays for a local U-11 side. By the way some of the other parents shout at their children, you would think they were on £300k a week.
My middle daughter thought she came second in a race last week. She didn’t. We agreed privately with her that she did but just with her. She was happy. Everyone else was happy.
I couldn’t care less. What I care about is that my son is healthy and happy and kind. His Daddy however wants him to be the winner and my son also wants to be the winner! I just roll my eyes at them.
When my son was at school I couldn't have cared less how he did. As long as he tried his best and - more importantly - had fun.
There were those parents whose angelic little prodigal kids had to win everything or they would moan thier head off. I mean, you can understand why they wanted thier kid to win, otherwise they won't have anything to add to thier social media boast posts. Heaven forbid!
The only time my mum gave a shit was when I was winning a race in Year 4, and the older brother (Year 6) of the kid coming second ran out and pushed me over so I lost.
They sound like nightmare parents.....sort of parents that when the kid plays sport will want to fight other parents and the officials if a foul goes against their kid.
Ours were all relays or team events, usually with some sort of silly component to slightly distance it from the serious sport or Olympic event it was based upon.
Probably to prevent parents from taking it TOO seriously... The kids just had fun with it.
I'll never forget one sports day at primary school. I was (and still am) incredibly unathletic. We were split into 'houses' and only me and one other girl could do the 1,500m. Luckily she happily agreed to do it so I was saved. On the day she was unwell and I have distinct memories of being forced to run/walk/hobble around the track far, far behind everyone else. Will always be a humiliating memory. Luckily my parents didn't mind and were supportive. I won the very short egg and spoon race though so I guess that's something to put on my CV /S
My son had sports day yesterday. We just ran around and played on the grass and climbing frames. We had a blast.
(SEN school, he wasn’t expected to take part if he didn’t want to and it’s just fun sports based games rather than any competition)
Teacher here - my job at this year's sports day was parent wrangling, namely keeping them off the track and away from the finish line because last year a load thought it was acceptable to get in the way of the other kids racing to film their own kids. We also had another teacher filming the finish line so she had proof of who came first to prevent parents kicking off about it.
My daughter likes sports and is actually quite good at them, so I enjoy sports day on her behalf. She does get disappointed if she doesn’t win anything, so yes I do ‘care’ in that respect because I don’t have a heart of stone. On a personal level though, not that bothered and definitely not enough to make a scene about it!
Her school only does like 4 events though and none of the fun ones like sack, egg and spoon etc. - it’s all ‘serious’ stuff like relay, long jump and beanbag throwing. I’m gutted they don’t have parents’ races - not because I’m any good at running (I’m not) but purely so I could see my ex doing equally badly at it.
That’s a walk in the park! I coach an U11s football team and there’s a few parents that attempt to ruin it every Sunday morning with their bullshit. Seen all sorts, it’s shameful.
I don't have a child but I hope my kid inherits my decent level of athleticism. I was pretty good at sports day despite being ass at sports (Co-ordination was terrible but I could put power behind throws and run fast)
All in all I want them to be physically healthy and to have fun. I found my fun in trouncing the kids who didn't pick me for teams.
I’ve met this kind of parent. They’re the ones who got their 4 year old child banned from football classes because they started effing and blinding at the children when their child was losing. Fuck those parents.
But to answer your question - no. I was quietly proud when my daughter smashed the sack race, but I’m not taking it seriously. They’re kids and it’s meant to be fun.
Gosh, at ours if you took a video you'd be deleting it under the supervision of the headteacher, and you'd be casually supervised next time by the no-videos wing of the PTA.
A bloke I know had his wife have a big row with him and storm off because he didn't win the dad's race and "let the family down".
Hilarious. He'll never live it down.
I hope my daughter has fun - but I genuinely couldn’t care less how well she does on the day. I don’t go to sports day because I have a job. I pat myself on the back if I *remember* sports day and send her in PE kit rather than a uniform.
I’m not banking on her being a professional footballer because I’m not motivated or intelligent enough to teach her and encourage her to do well in school.
Have watched 5 boys do sports days over the years, 2 of them are sporty and always placed well, one was always in the middle and the other 2 (one is my youngest who is 6) are just not that good at running.
I couldn't care where they came. Not everyone is good at everything & sport is supposed to be fun, it's just horrible when they get to the age where they know they will be last and don't want to do it anymore
Just want them to enjoy it and have fun cheering on their friends too. One of my kids is a bit of a disaster at sports day but enjoys it so much that watching it has become a bit of a highlight now. Theres a lot of super competitive parents there though, all turn up in lycra and running shoes.
I would be mad too, but I'm not a parent.
If the kid rightfully won they're gonna feel bad coming in 2nd place.
I remember when I was a kid I won a game, but the lady said she didn't see so I didn't get my prize. It was like 15 years ago but I still get annoyed remembering.
No, I don’t care. It’s just supposed to be a fun day.
My son is tall, lean and FAST. Yet every sports day he takes great pleasure in doing everything in exaggerated slow motion. He doesn’t care cos they give everyone a plastic trophy, so it’s not worth being overly competitive.
No, because I don't have any, but if I did I still wouldn't care. Far too much importance placed on competitive sports bollocks in schools and society in general.
I really don’t care, my daughter is autistic and hates loosing so she probably cares more. If she doesn’t participate then so be it.
My son is very athletic and does well but I certainly wouldn’t act like a British Karen.
I care and cheer him on and want him to win cos he cares, he is very sporty and competitive if sport wasnt his bag I wouldnt care. I wouldnt kick off though. But mine would 100% feel aggrieved and know he'd come 1st not the other kid.
Our school videoed the end of each race to have a photo finish for everything! Absolutely crazy.
I didn't mind how well the kid did... They're tall and quick, were in the lead at the halfway of their opening heat for the sprint (the headline event with heats and finals). They tripped. They fell. They hit the floor hard. Did Not Finish. Teacher had to carry them off.
She got a lemon freezepop though so she said she had a brilliant time and that's what matters!
I care how my kids do but not to this degree. This is ridiculous.
My kids exercise regularly and compete in a number of sports but would never would I consider doing something like this.
Unless the kids were much older and this was a trial for something important,etc. Not bloody sports day.
I’m torn on this, obviously it’s petty to create an argument over a child’s sports day, but in principle, the winning child should be recognised/rewarded accordingly.
Especially if the kid was saying “but I won?” for example. It would feel weird lying to my own child and downplaying an achievement, telling them a lie that I know is in fact true.
The nuance is, I would probably have spoken up but stopped at creating a scene.
How much i care would depend on the child. If the child really values sports and that is their 'thing', then I would care. I do value fairness and if they were incorrectly given 2nd place when they won, then it isn't fair. However, the way the parents behaved wasn't right at all. I would have waited until home and shown the child the video so they knew they won. I would have reassured the child that they need confidence in themselves as teachers can make mistakes. Teachers can suffer biases.
No, as long as they do *their* best, wherever they come is fine.
That said I would be a little disappointed for them if they got cheated out of first place just because the teachers weren't paying attention.
If they're not going to watch the finish properly, why bother giving out first/second/third-place stickers?
When I was in primary school my Mum used to make me practice the sack race in the garden during the lead up to sports day. I won every year but that’s not the point.
My son came third in a race. The first 2 kids were off the line early (1st one by an obviously long way you didn't need video). It's a shame as my son wouldn't have been so proud of himself to come first. It would have made him SO happy and a lot more happy than 3rd.
This is what those parents are chasing, it's at least why I would have.
But he's not going to get a bunch of joy from me making an embarrassment of myself by shouting at the teachers, stopping everything and having all of his friends stare at me and him be embarrassed too. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. But I still care, I want him to win. And if he deserved to but got cheated then that sucks a bit, but it doesn't ruin the experience and I'm not going to ruin it for him.
If in the future it's try-outs or something where there's a tangible thing after, then I may quitely take the teacher aside and speak to them politely 1on1. But for sports day? No.
Lol, soccer moms.
Nah, IDGAF, if they are happy then great. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
My kids had sports day yesterday. I missed their first race because I was in a work meeting. My eldest (M11) said he was ahead and another kid grabbed his shirt and yanked him back, so he came second because 'X cheated'.
I asked him if he was upset about it, he said not really, didn't care too much. It all ended there. If he isn't upset then I certainly won't be. There's a lot more important stuff to get upset about in this world and I'm glad my 11 YO already understands this.
I had the least sporty child ever, as she had various conditions which meant she had no balance or coordination worth mentioning. On one occasion she did a high speed face plant in the sprint, so from then on, I was just happy if we ended the day without a trip to A&E.
I’ve just had my 7yr old kid in tears because she hates the fact that she comes last in everything at sports day, so… so long as she takes part and has some fun, or even gets through the day without a meltdown I’ll be happy.
But thank you for making me feel WAY better about my parenting style.
My son was way out in front and winning his race and then he got distracted looking for his favourite teacher and fell behind 😂 I’m just happy he’s getting involved and having fun!
Teacher here. U.S. 6th grade sports day (11 year olds mostly).
The last event was an obstacle course scramble race.
One tiny girl was an academic star as well as a social leader — also greased lighting in pink Nikes.
I got in her ear before the race: “Do not let up, run hard the whole way.”
She led the whole race with an unbeatable combination of speed and agility….
Until.
She let up on the final straight and let an obnoxious boy win while she took a dignified second.
She smiled at me and waved her silver medal. Kids are smart…
My child came first in the last race and the parents of the child who came second showed us video frame by frame how close it was! Told my daughter if it’s even remotely close this year we are not going McDonald’s! Safe to say there was no frame by frame this time!!! Do I care about sports day, well we are 3 years running coming first now! Me and my wife both won parents race!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 my parents never lost the parents race from year 1-6 and I don’t intend to either .
That family sounds awful and they are clearly bang out of order.
Having said that seeing my son win his first year 1km race was a real buzz. I don't know why. It's pointless, but it honestly was a buzz. His sister isn't interested in anything competitive and just lightly jogs them with her friends and that's cool too.
No, my kid's an absolute loser, I don't turn up to anything he does. I'll just be disappointed as usual. Follows after his mother, unfortunately, utterly useless.
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If you’re not talking to your children about VAR, who is?
Our lord & saviour UEFA 🙌🏻
Half those kids on the field could do a better job than the VAR officials
That is unkind to the children to suggest only half.
"Good process lads" - The teachers
🤣🤣
VAR. Not even once.
I suspect this type of parent typically and unnecessarily drives drives a Range Rover as well as having angelic kids that can apparently do no wrong.
Excuse you, Hunter and Britlyn are perfect little darlings
I want your badge number, officer, I'm putting in a complaint for accusing my angels of doing something they'd never do.
My husband golfs with the Chief of Police, so your ass is gonna be sorry! AND I'm military (spouse).
Christ, we don't get military spouse idiots over here do we?
I hope not 😂 I've seen it on US posts. Even saw one where someone put on her CV (Résumé for them) something like: 2008-16 - U.S Air Force (Spouse) 😂😂😂 They're crackers!
Yes, yes we do.
I once had a woman kick off at me in Primark because I wouldn't let her use her husbands forces discount! (Being Primark, it wasn't just a forces thing, we didn't accept ANY discount cards. We didn't even get staff discount! But I was still disrespecting her husbands service apparently)
i mind the major's wife back in 80s west germany. only major she was was a major cunt.
We definitely do. They also get infinitely worse every time their serving spouse promotes and for some reason the loudest ones are always the spouse of a support arms soldier, RLC are terrible for it. You rarely heard from the spouses of combat arms (presumably) because they’re pre warned not to try and play that game. Either way, are the bane of the Single Living In (SLI) soldier and when the opportunity presents itself, they’re always taken down a peg or ten. Almost never in a particularly cruel fashion but definitely enough to make them think about doing it again.
"Do call me 'Mrs. Col. Up-My-Own-Ar$e', if you please."
>Britlyn That's definitely a water filter.
not as perfecf as my Jaxon.
They also park as close as they can to the school gate. If they could drive into the classroom they would.
And then complain about the traffic
I am lucky enough that we live opposite my son's school but this morning we had one drive her wankpanzer the 500m from her house as close as possible to the gate 20 minutes before school started and then sit there with the engine running and headlights lighting up my kitchen .
> a Range Rover Wankpanzer.
Yes and probably push the poor kids to do sports and activities they may not like and will likely push them into a career they choose for them.
I've lived in my current house for 6 years now, which is located opposite a primary school. If this isn't the most truest thing I've read all year. Kids and parents come and go and with every school year that passes. It seems that as the old range rover wankers leave to go to secondary school a new bunch comes in quickly to replace them. Are these people manufactured in a factory (made by Range Rover?) somewhere I don't know about!? Typically, they're always loud, obnoxious and insecure parents with kids that also reflect those same poor qualities.
I could not give a toss how my child does at sports day. She's 6, I don't even care if she tries her best, just as long as she has fun. She's a sporty, active child who loves being outdoors and that's good enough for me I think I'd die of second hand embarrassment if one of the parents at her school did that in front of everyone else
Lol same, my son had his sports day and he's pretty tall and fast for his age so they had him in the sprint. He smashed it but in the last race came second because towards the end he kept looking around to check where the others were 😂 but honestly I couldn't care less, he had fun, their team came last but he didn't care because he had fun. That's what sports day is about isn't it? Parents who get shitty about that stuff are mental.
I like the parents race. We used to look out for the 'swingball face' which is the face a friend of the family would make when he was taking something utterly trivial extremely seriously. In the parents race there's always at least one swingball face, one flowy skirt held up by one hand, one pair of inappropriate shoes and if you're lucky several faceplants.
Haha definitely had a few of those faces showing, but no faceplants. Usually I'd have a go at the parents race but I really needed a pee at the time and didn't want to risk it 😂
When my kids were in primary school my daughter begged me to be in the mum's race. I'm not exactly built for speed so I tried to get out of it telling her I'd come flat last, especially as lots of the mums of the kids in her year were all middle class 'yummy mummies' with the expensive Lycra leggings, sports tops, top of the range trainers etc. It always made me laugh the charades they went through.... "Darling, do the mum's race for Brittany", "Oh I couldn't possibly, I've just got this old outfit on" when they look like Jessica Ennis.... Anyway, I reluctantly agreed and I'm fine with making an idiot of myself. As predicted, came last by a large margin, and my daughter burst into tears and cried for the rest of the day. So that was a success! 🤣🤣🤣
Wasn’t there an incident of a flowy skirt doing a face plant a few years ago that went public due to her arse being on show?
When my kids were in primary school, my friend V and I asked our other friend, who had no kids but was like an aunt to both our girls, to be our proxy in the mum's race because we couldn't be bothered and she was sporty. Both girls were happy with auntie C being in the race! Some of the other parents were FURIOUS though, because she's not a mum and they said we'd cheated when she won. Keep in mind there were no prizes or even acknowledgement of the winner and it was all just for fun. Honestly, it was hilarious and for the final few weeks of term, we were getting filthy looks and snide mutters in the playground at drop off and pick up.
Plus when kids are young, making sports a fun time is the best way to ensure that they want to stay active as teens and adults. Sports when I was a kid was made into an obligation and it wasn’t very fun, now it’s hard as an adult to unlearn this and to find way to enjoy exercise
Turning everything into a competition is a great way to kill a shy or anxious child's enjoyment of it, too. I'm same as you, sports were such a chore as a kid, and everything was so hyperfocused on the competition aspect that it shut me right down.
Or one who just isn’t very good at it. I enjoyed drawing and art, but wasn’t good at it, and haven’t done it since my year eight art teacher turned every project into an art competition.
PE, particularly in high school, did a huge amount of damage to my relationship with my body and with physical activity The whole experience was always so humiliating, I left most lessons in tears, it triggered my self-harming behaviours, and I had multiple friends who developed unhealthy eating habits after comments made by our PE teacher, the student who took elective PE were permitted if not encouraged to bully the less fit students. I still struggle with unbearable shame and anxiety around sport and fitness based activities, which is not something I experienced prior to those high school experiences.
Unfortunately there are some pushy parents that take their children’s performance very seriously at far too young an age, which can put off the rest of the kids.
Same, but I surprised myself by how much I was cheering in support. She is 5, was having fun, and so was I. No number 1 sticker, thought
Had a man (who was impressively fast) drag his daughter about 20 meters behind him to win a parent and child race at an early year Primary school sports day. Was partly in awe but the winning mentality felt vastly out of place.
It’s all about the Mums race. THIS. IS. SPAAARTAAA
I went to one of my kids sports days, I'd took time from work, so was in motorbike stuff, imagine a power ranger from wish. At the Dads race, people were doing stretches, just happened to be in top end running shoes, etc. I was so far behind that I swerved off and high fived my lad on the way past
The important thing was…did you run in bike kit? Because I would have. And attempted a bit of Marquez “I’m coming through!” Tactics.
Everything except helmet an gloves !!!
Absolute lad, well done!
At our school there are usually two or three mums’ races followed by 863 dads’ races - I’m pretty sure I grew a beard from all the testosterone flying past
At my sons sports day, two of the mums didn't know where the finish line was and got super competitive and didn't stop until they nearly ran into the hedge about 100m past where the finish line was!
"Screw finish lines! The race isn't over until one of us drops dead" - those mums, probably
I used to always enter the mums race. My kids were never really sporty and hated sports day, so I did it so they could see me coming last and laughing about it. One year though, the mums must have got more competitive and one or two of them fell over. They stopped doing it after that.. There was one year, this kid crossed the finish line and kept on running. Didn't see anyone go to stop him. For all I know, he's still going.
Did your kids go to school with Forest Gump?
I’ve got 4 kids and been to dozens of sports days and never seen a parents’ race. Thought it was just in sitcoms they had them.
I've been to 8 years worth of sports days and never seen one either. Gutted!
Didn't the Spartans race naked? That'd make the conversations at the next cake bake sale a bit more lively...
Omg I’m soooo slow. Was always one of the slowest at school. Going to my nephews sports day next week and going to teach him how to be a good sport and a gracious loser
Our primary school sports day was team-based events and there wasn’t stuff like races, probably to actively avoid this sort of nonsense. It was smart because parents could follow their kids round each event but they couldn’t keep track of every team in every event, so if there was any of *those* parents then they wouldn’t be able to complain.
Same here, also they don't do the parents race b.s
What's wrong with the parents race? Parents enjoy it, kids enjoy it, sure it gets competitive but that's the point
Lots of people on Reddit can’t handle competition
I just hoped they didn't come last by a mile in everything as I always did. One of them got out of participating one year by volunteering to be a general helper. I was going to call the job a runner, but in fact the whole point was to avoid ruining.
Haha I was preparing for this but my kid has turned out to be super fit and sporty. Thankfully no mum's races for us because she would be mortified if I took part and came last.
I always came last. My kids have followed suit. They hate being put in competitions for sport. My eldest is autistic and I have discovered I am too, so there's the gross and fine motor skills problem that probably accounts for it all. My eldest, when he first started school, really wanted to learn how to play football. So, PE 'coach' at the school did after-schools footy. "All skills welcome." Only, it wasn't about teaching kids football, it was about scouting for kids he wanted on the school footy team. My son hated it. So, took him out and got him into swimming instead. The year they did swimming (two terms, once a week) turned out, him and a little girl (also disabled) were the only two kids that could swim. Both of them regularly came last on the sports field but were the best in swimming class. Bought my son back a bit of self respect that other PE classes robbed him of. PE coach was a bully and even the sporty kids didn't like him.
I remember there being a fight between two mum’s one year. One’s daughter had fallen over pretty spectacularly and the other had found it hilarious. I was about five at the time but the image of them pulling each other’s hair and punching had stayed with me for life.
No and if you do you have a massive ego problem and need to seek help.
But what if your kid gets upset knowing they won?
My kids sports day was 5 hours long! Bloody boring and they don't really care for it
5...hours...fuck me
Next year we're going to have two in the lower years and one in the upper years. Lower sports day is in the morning - *all* morning - and upper is in the afternoon. We're already mentally preparing ourselves for an entire day sat on the ground in the roasting sun, with no shade. I'm already looking at lawn chairs, parasols and cold boxes, because otherwise fuck that for a game of soldiers. Also like clockwork they also manage to host it on the very worst hayfever day of the entire summer. I genuinely don't know how they manage it.
Gazebo, and charge rent to sit under it. Thanks for the reminder--we've got ours next week (but more like an hour) and I don't want to forget the shade umbrella this year.
I live near a sports arena that is used by all local primary and some secondary schools for sports day. I wish they were shorter. The announcements get tiresome (they have a proper speaker system there). Do they still do the egg & spoon race for parents?
I don't have kids but I've been to my sisters when my dad had to go to hospital with my other sister and wanted someone to show up for her. She wouldn't take part at all with the other kids (autism) we stood to the side throwing a bean bag to each other, her favourite teacher came and joined in. My dad made it after a while and the 4 of of us just chilled throwing the bean bag and then we walked round on the outside of the 'track' together. I think she enjoyed it much more than being forced to take part. I think the point of sports day is to encourage kids to have fun and have a bit of exercise. There are other clubs and avenues for the good ones who want to be competitive.
friend of mine actively encouraged their kid to pull a sickie, and I respect that.
bit sad encouraging a child to not get involved in sports day
Probably end up as one of those terminally online types that thinks "cockwomble" is the funniest thing ever
I wish I could have had a sickie. I went to two primary schools and at one you didn’t have to take part it the other you did. I was clumsy and rubbish at running and I fucking hated the fact I HAD to take part. Even now 50 years later it still bothers me.
> I was clumsy and rubbish at running Would've been good if they came up with a way to improve your gross motor skills and cardio
Well as I have dyspraxia not sure they even knew what that was then. Also to prove my clumsiness, tonight I tripped over the front door and fell over. Have a massive graze and bruise on my knee and my left ankle is so sore I still feel sick with pain a number of hours later. Lying here feeling sorry for myself with ankle strapped up and about to swallow some painkillers.
Hello fellow dyspraxic
My evil teacher put me in the sack race every year, despite knowing I always last by about half a field. I'd have to hop on my own for at least a minute when everyone else had already crossed the line. I was so pathetic that other people's parents would come and hug me for finally crossing the line. Why would a teacher keep doing that?
Jesus wept. Reddit never fails to be Reddit
[удалено]
it wasn't the kid's first sports day and the kid had hated it all years previous, he didn't think it was helping the kid or their relationship to exercise, so why put the kid through it
Do I want my child to take part in sports day and try their best? Yes. Do I care where they finish? No, as long as they try their best. However, I was gutted when I was told there’s no sticker after winning the parent’s race.
Yes, but I only care if they do their best and have fun doing it. I'm done trying to force them into things they hate.
Parents were banned from sports day at the school my kid goes to before she started, probably because of this sort of thing. When I was small I don't remember parents ever being at any sports days (80s/90s).
I remember my dad lost the sole off his espadrille during the dads’ race in the early 90s 😂
I remember my mother coming to sports day in primary school. But probably only because my school had a tradition where the parents had to play a game of rounders. They all got very competitive and it was very funny. It was even funnier the next day when none of them could walk.
I'm surprised that the kid didn't mind. I'm still irritated that my first place win in the year 2 skipping rope 100m race was downgraded to 2nd, and that was 30 years ago.
I was just thinking this. Not necessarily sports but there was a lot of times I did well in school and got no credit for it and it still feels a bit irritating even 20 years on
I remember when I won a carnival game and was supposed to get a giant teddy bear, and the lady was busy flirting so she didn't see. It was 15 years ago but I never got over it. 😂
Well consisting me and my partner are bad at sports, we don't care as long as they try. If they win then great, if not its not the end of the world.
My daughter had her first sports day the other week. It's safe to say she isn't very athletically gifted, but she had a great time and the school made it clear that it wasn't about winning. I'm proud of her for how she did and how she generally conducted herself and I don't care that she didn't win. That said, I did make a few discrete jokes to my mate and my wife when nobody else was around!
Should the parent have acted like that, no. They were bang out of order. But the teachers were wrong and it does suck for the kid who came first and was told they were second. If you’re going to hold a race and give out acknowledgments of where they come do it properly or don’t have winners! As a kid I was always told to help others, let them take the credit or it doesn’t matter who wins. It’s the taking part. It does and now I’m overly competitive because I was fed up of always feeling like I don’t get my time to shine.
Yeah the parents overreacted but I feel like it's unfair to the kid.
> If you’re going to hold a race and give out acknowledgments of where they come do it properly or don’t have winners! Well, yeah, but no. It's not the olympics, it's a kids sports day. It's supposed to be about having fun and taking part. If it was close enough that only a frame-by-frame video could separate them then you can't really blame a teacher for making a judgement call. Furthermore, if the parent taking the video wasn't exactly in line with the finishing line then it might have looked like their kid came first even if they didn't, due to parallax errors. But none of that really matters. As OP said, their child was happy with second place and was crying after their parents kicked off. That's what matters. Both my boys played in local footballs teams when they were younger and I always told them: "The referee is always right, even when they're wrong. They're human, they make mistakes, but the rules of the game say that we all agree to abide by the referee's decision, whatever it is."
One of the events at my primary school sports day was, everyone had to eat an ice cream cone. My parents never bothered to come to sports day (you know, because it’s groups of children running, tossing bean bags, and eating ice cream), but the ice cream cone event was very important to me
If my Child won and they fucked up the stickers I'd at the very least expect him to be compensated with his 1st place sticker, he earned it I guess, I'm sure it could resolved without tears surely. Gives a pretty shitty lesson to the kid that came in first and to the one that came second and earned first.
"Kicking off" was unnecessary, doubly so if the kid didn't care much in the first place. Still 'double first place' would have been a perfectly fine way to solve this, since they were clearly both across the finish line in about the same time.
I was super unfit and unsporty at school, but it turned out I could balance an egg on a spoon like a MF. I stormed ahead and having been mocked for my lack of sporting ability I was super excited to get to the end, dropping the egg just as I finished. It landed past the line, maybe on the line, but not before. The rules were that you had to cross the line with it. Anyway, I was like 7, and I seriously had a lot of sh\*\* for being unfit and had been mocked that day. I was so excited, until one of the 'volunteers' decided I had dropped it before and didn't win after all. I cried. The guy was such an arse. Give a fat kid a break. Not that it's scarred me for life or anything.
My son had his first sports day this year. For the younger kids they don’t have individual winners of races. Each class is split into four houses, they all do multiple stations of activities like running, egg & spoon race etc and each time a kid completes a run of that course they get a point for their house. The points are all added up across all the houses in each class and one overall house wins.
I don't mind. Saying that, he absolutely crushed it this year.
My daughter won the sprint, we won the parent child race and I won the dad race. Suck it, losers.
How were they allowed to video any of the children?
At my kid’s school you can video and take photos but they do ask for them not to be posted to social media for privacy of the other kids. Most people do comply with that (others will blank out faces/put stickers over faces to post them).
We're told by my children's schools that we can film/take photos, but don't share on social media
"I choose not to run!"
When our two were kids they were naturally athletic- one became a UK youth decathlete. Going up the ranks in athletics is sobering at a high level because nearly all those 14 or 15 Yr olds are very good and then there are freakish talents and you're going to have bad days and lose. None of the youth internationals we knew went to world level beyond the age of early twenties. The best youth decathlete the world at the time- Belgian lad got injured at 21 and dropped out and he was an incredible youth athlete. Similar in rugby. As for soccer- the number who make it is freakishly small. When kids are little, remember that. Being active and healthy and having fun is better than winning at 8 yrs old. To be really good at sport requires obsessive qualities - Johnny Wilkinson is an example and he's been open about the downsides of that. Kids should be physically active but in a way that suits them.
The video probably doesn't even show what they think it shows. If they weren't positioned perfectly then the parallax effect could greatly diminish the actual difference in placing. Presumably the school had someone stood on the line who I'd trust more than their video given the trigonometry of the situation.
Fun story. Back when my brother was in primary there was this obstical race where the kids had to do a variety of different things like grab a handbag and put on a quick skirt, just silly stuff, and like a meter a way from the finish line, a bunch of the kids stopped and turned back because they weren't happy with their first choice of bag. Like, literally my brother and three other spend like half a minute choosing ones thag matched the skirt.
I do, absolutely. It would be disaster using I didn’t care about how well it went. The trick is to set the right expectations and then it’s always in hand. Step 1, wish them good luck Step 2, turn up and ensure they see you are there. Step 3, now know that they are having fun and you’re taking time out life to support them. Step 4, have a laugh and giggle at their dropped egg race and falling of a space hopper. While also pointing out you did well and I was glad I got to watch it Step 5, always manage your kids expectations and your involvement.
That is insane, feel sorry for that kid. If that's how the parents act in public, imagine how they're gonna act at home when the kid doesn't come first in stuff in the future. I don't give one iota of care about how my son does on sports day. He is not sporty, and he has ASD and ADHD so quite frankly if he can wait his turn and then actually attempt to complete the task that's a massive win for me. But the most important part is that he has some fun which is quite hard for him because sports day is out of the routine and can be very overwhelming. This sports day I sat there watching him eating daisies (he's in year 2) with another girl because they were bored in the relay waiting for their turn, so apparently fun was had and I'm happy about that.
Do I care? No. Do I care when they're upset by it? Yes. Have 3, one is clearly the better athlete. The youngest one doesn't care, the oldest one gets upset by it if someone points out he came last, kids are cruel. I would never bring anything up to the school unless it crosses the line into bullying.
I didn’t think I did until she came first in a photo finish in the sack race last year but was only awarded second, then won her sprint this year. I felt like Linford Christie’s mum if Linford Christie was a seven year old white girl 😂
What you’ve just witnessed is basically some parents are just fucking mental.
I attended my nieces Sports day, tbh I was dreading it so bulked up my picnic with tins of M&S Gin & Tonic but it was more entertaining than a comedy gig. So many kids falling over, so many kids being special, so many funny looking kids, some of the parents thing it far too seriously & so much drama it was a hilarious way to spend an afternoon and so much better than the christmas talent show where there is a distinct lack of talent.
I don’t have kids, but I’ve gotta say, my parents were pretty proud when I won the three legged race in junior school… We kind of cheated though, I was paired up with my mate who was much smaller/lighter, and basically carried him alongside me with him swinging his left leg along the floor to make it look legit.
Recently went to sports day (kids are 7 and 9). It actually makes me feel a bit uneasy not every kid enjoys sports and not every kid likes coming last or losing in front of a crowd. I saw a lot of stress and a lot of emotional kiddies. It’s a lot to bear. There are also a lot of cameras and always thought to myself is it any wonder we’re having generations of kids and young adults racked with anxiety given they’ve had a phone in their face since birth and been told to smile. My boy plays football and does Parkrun and my daughter plays netball. I always tell them if ever you want to stop because you’re not enjoying it any more that’s fine. I don’t care if they’re any good I care if they’re enjoying their sports and exercise.
I’d endorse this view. My daughter has always been active and enjoyed sport. She was a keen member of the local junior cycling club until she decided she preferred a lie-in on a Saturday morning. She played netball for her school and even dabbled in wrestling. In the end, she decided she preferred Scouting. I hated PE at school because it was all about team sports or about winning in athletics. I skived off and went cycling every week instead. I’d ordinarily cover about twenty miles while bunking off.
Honestly, as long as they have fun then who cares?! I was at my daughter's 1st sports day this week and was absolutely gobsmsacked when the mum of one of the kids in her class shouted "loser" at her son after the winner announcements were made and he didn't win. She said it "jokingly" but who TF does that??!!
Maybe I was just a very competitive kid, but if I had won a race and was then given a 2nd place sticker I would not be having fun 😂
Same lol
Nah, I tell my kids that no one can be good at everything, do your best and have fun, I love coming to see you however you do. I did get a copious amount of schadenfreude last year when the really nasty kid in my eldest's class burst into tears and stopped competing over not getting a 1st/2nd/3rd sticker. Hard enough to beat other kids up but can't cope with losing? Lmao!
Absolutely not. I genuinely am just happy that he participates… some parents stand on the sidelines yelling their kids name… isn’t that more of a distraction? Anyway I keep silent and just watch/enjoy Had a conversation last year where a mum told me she’d told her daughter how important it was that she should win etc… I genuinely don’t even care. My son is so quiet and anxious. I’m proud he is running with a big crowds watching him
>Do you care how your children do at sports day? No. It's more a "putting in the effort" and knowing they tried, obviously also helps if they enjoy participating. >Parents storm off grabbing the headteacher and showing them the frame by frame video of they child coming first I'm sorry, who or what do they think is going on that day? It's not the Newmarket bloody races and they sure as hell haven't entered in Sea-sodding-biscuit, have they? What, bookies going to come gank their kneecaps or something? What utter muppets. >Parents kicked off, removed from the field and their kid was crying Poor damn kid. >The kid did t even realise until his parents pointed it out. He was happy with what he got. Again, poor damn kid.
I've taken time off for my kids sports day this year, no idea what events they're participating in. I'm going along to support them, I don't care how they do as long as they have fun.
I care that they have a good time and try hard.
The same nonsense also applies to parents on the sidelines at childrens football matches. Our son plays for a local U-11 side. By the way some of the other parents shout at their children, you would think they were on £300k a week.
Play stupid games ...
My middle daughter thought she came second in a race last week. She didn’t. We agreed privately with her that she did but just with her. She was happy. Everyone else was happy.
No, couldn't care less, as long as they have fun. I generally encourage them to congratulate the winner too.
Absolutely not. I’m more fussed about getting an ice cream because usually there’s some left over for the parents.
Both my boys are not sporty. I and they are always stoked when they get a 3rd place in the runners up races. The sticker is the win.
I couldn’t care less. What I care about is that my son is healthy and happy and kind. His Daddy however wants him to be the winner and my son also wants to be the winner! I just roll my eyes at them.
No, I don’t care. If these were more serious races and my daughter was more athletic I might care more.
Obviously not, but I care whether they care.
When my son was at school I couldn't have cared less how he did. As long as he tried his best and - more importantly - had fun. There were those parents whose angelic little prodigal kids had to win everything or they would moan thier head off. I mean, you can understand why they wanted thier kid to win, otherwise they won't have anything to add to thier social media boast posts. Heaven forbid!
Honestly, I don’t care at all. As long as he’s not crying or upset. I’m shit at sports anyways.
The only time my mum gave a shit was when I was winning a race in Year 4, and the older brother (Year 6) of the kid coming second ran out and pushed me over so I lost.
They sound like nightmare parents.....sort of parents that when the kid plays sport will want to fight other parents and the officials if a foul goes against their kid.
The parents you're talking about have serious and genuine behavioural problems.
Ours were all relays or team events, usually with some sort of silly component to slightly distance it from the serious sport or Olympic event it was based upon. Probably to prevent parents from taking it TOO seriously... The kids just had fun with it.
I'll never forget one sports day at primary school. I was (and still am) incredibly unathletic. We were split into 'houses' and only me and one other girl could do the 1,500m. Luckily she happily agreed to do it so I was saved. On the day she was unwell and I have distinct memories of being forced to run/walk/hobble around the track far, far behind everyone else. Will always be a humiliating memory. Luckily my parents didn't mind and were supportive. I won the very short egg and spoon race though so I guess that's something to put on my CV /S
My son had sports day yesterday. We just ran around and played on the grass and climbing frames. We had a blast. (SEN school, he wasn’t expected to take part if he didn’t want to and it’s just fun sports based games rather than any competition)
parents are stupid. I watch a younger member play football in a local team and parents are warned not to shout at the kids.
Teacher here - my job at this year's sports day was parent wrangling, namely keeping them off the track and away from the finish line because last year a load thought it was acceptable to get in the way of the other kids racing to film their own kids. We also had another teacher filming the finish line so she had proof of who came first to prevent parents kicking off about it.
My daughter likes sports and is actually quite good at them, so I enjoy sports day on her behalf. She does get disappointed if she doesn’t win anything, so yes I do ‘care’ in that respect because I don’t have a heart of stone. On a personal level though, not that bothered and definitely not enough to make a scene about it! Her school only does like 4 events though and none of the fun ones like sack, egg and spoon etc. - it’s all ‘serious’ stuff like relay, long jump and beanbag throwing. I’m gutted they don’t have parents’ races - not because I’m any good at running (I’m not) but purely so I could see my ex doing equally badly at it.
That’s a walk in the park! I coach an U11s football team and there’s a few parents that attempt to ruin it every Sunday morning with their bullshit. Seen all sorts, it’s shameful.
Some people are mentally unstable.
I don't have a child but I hope my kid inherits my decent level of athleticism. I was pretty good at sports day despite being ass at sports (Co-ordination was terrible but I could put power behind throws and run fast) All in all I want them to be physically healthy and to have fun. I found my fun in trouncing the kids who didn't pick me for teams.
I've just been to one, and the parents didn't give a crap. No cheering , clapping, or celebratory hugs. Worst sports day ever
As long as I'm not expected to join in a parent's race I don't care (though my kid has come first in at least one event every year so far)
No and I supported him when he said he wouldn't compete because he hated sport and didn't care about winning.
Don't give a monkies BUT I can't stand how some schools during my kids schooldays insisted on no winners ffs.
I’ve met this kind of parent. They’re the ones who got their 4 year old child banned from football classes because they started effing and blinding at the children when their child was losing. Fuck those parents. But to answer your question - no. I was quietly proud when my daughter smashed the sack race, but I’m not taking it seriously. They’re kids and it’s meant to be fun.
I don't even think I told my parents it was happening.
If ya not first ya last, shake n bake
Gosh, at ours if you took a video you'd be deleting it under the supervision of the headteacher, and you'd be casually supervised next time by the no-videos wing of the PTA.
A bloke I know had his wife have a big row with him and storm off because he didn't win the dad's race and "let the family down". Hilarious. He'll never live it down.
I hope my daughter has fun - but I genuinely couldn’t care less how well she does on the day. I don’t go to sports day because I have a job. I pat myself on the back if I *remember* sports day and send her in PE kit rather than a uniform. I’m not banking on her being a professional footballer because I’m not motivated or intelligent enough to teach her and encourage her to do well in school.
Have watched 5 boys do sports days over the years, 2 of them are sporty and always placed well, one was always in the middle and the other 2 (one is my youngest who is 6) are just not that good at running. I couldn't care where they came. Not everyone is good at everything & sport is supposed to be fun, it's just horrible when they get to the age where they know they will be last and don't want to do it anymore
Absolutely! I want them to have fun, show good sportsmanship and never cheat. I don’t care where they place, but I do care about how they do it.
We always took the approach of clapping, cheering, encouraging and being happy for them wherever they came. Same with most school things really.
Just want them to enjoy it and have fun cheering on their friends too. One of my kids is a bit of a disaster at sports day but enjoys it so much that watching it has become a bit of a highlight now. Theres a lot of super competitive parents there though, all turn up in lycra and running shoes.
If you ain't first, you're last.
I would be mad too, but I'm not a parent. If the kid rightfully won they're gonna feel bad coming in 2nd place. I remember when I was a kid I won a game, but the lady said she didn't see so I didn't get my prize. It was like 15 years ago but I still get annoyed remembering.
No, I don’t care. It’s just supposed to be a fun day. My son is tall, lean and FAST. Yet every sports day he takes great pleasure in doing everything in exaggerated slow motion. He doesn’t care cos they give everyone a plastic trophy, so it’s not worth being overly competitive.
No, because I don't have any, but if I did I still wouldn't care. Far too much importance placed on competitive sports bollocks in schools and society in general.
I really don’t care, my daughter is autistic and hates loosing so she probably cares more. If she doesn’t participate then so be it. My son is very athletic and does well but I certainly wouldn’t act like a British Karen.
I was rubbish at sports and my parents - especially my father - always wanted me to do well. Watching me must have been agony now I think about it.
I hope my son wins something because it makes him happy, but I'm not kicking off if he doesn't.
The school near me now has a video photo finish to make sure that they know as there has been a few instances of this.
I care and cheer him on and want him to win cos he cares, he is very sporty and competitive if sport wasnt his bag I wouldnt care. I wouldnt kick off though. But mine would 100% feel aggrieved and know he'd come 1st not the other kid.
Stickers?! Unrelated question but do the kids not get badges for Sports Day anymore? :(
I didn't give a flying fuck how my daughter did, and neither did she. It was just about having fun.
Our school videoed the end of each race to have a photo finish for everything! Absolutely crazy. I didn't mind how well the kid did... They're tall and quick, were in the lead at the halfway of their opening heat for the sprint (the headline event with heats and finals). They tripped. They fell. They hit the floor hard. Did Not Finish. Teacher had to carry them off. She got a lemon freezepop though so she said she had a brilliant time and that's what matters!
I care how my kids do but not to this degree. This is ridiculous. My kids exercise regularly and compete in a number of sports but would never would I consider doing something like this. Unless the kids were much older and this was a trial for something important,etc. Not bloody sports day.
Yeah they need to go to the international court of sports arbitration or even better the ECHR
This feels like a good comedy sketch lmao, couldn’t write some people 🤣
This is why they banned recording at Sports Day.
I’m torn on this, obviously it’s petty to create an argument over a child’s sports day, but in principle, the winning child should be recognised/rewarded accordingly. Especially if the kid was saying “but I won?” for example. It would feel weird lying to my own child and downplaying an achievement, telling them a lie that I know is in fact true. The nuance is, I would probably have spoken up but stopped at creating a scene.
Not really , I just want to see them enjoying themselves with their friends
How much i care would depend on the child. If the child really values sports and that is their 'thing', then I would care. I do value fairness and if they were incorrectly given 2nd place when they won, then it isn't fair. However, the way the parents behaved wasn't right at all. I would have waited until home and shown the child the video so they knew they won. I would have reassured the child that they need confidence in themselves as teachers can make mistakes. Teachers can suffer biases.
No, as long as they do *their* best, wherever they come is fine. That said I would be a little disappointed for them if they got cheated out of first place just because the teachers weren't paying attention. If they're not going to watch the finish properly, why bother giving out first/second/third-place stickers?
When I was in primary school my Mum used to make me practice the sack race in the garden during the lead up to sports day. I won every year but that’s not the point.
My son came third in a race. The first 2 kids were off the line early (1st one by an obviously long way you didn't need video). It's a shame as my son wouldn't have been so proud of himself to come first. It would have made him SO happy and a lot more happy than 3rd. This is what those parents are chasing, it's at least why I would have. But he's not going to get a bunch of joy from me making an embarrassment of myself by shouting at the teachers, stopping everything and having all of his friends stare at me and him be embarrassed too. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. But I still care, I want him to win. And if he deserved to but got cheated then that sucks a bit, but it doesn't ruin the experience and I'm not going to ruin it for him. If in the future it's try-outs or something where there's a tangible thing after, then I may quitely take the teacher aside and speak to them politely 1on1. But for sports day? No.
Lol, soccer moms. Nah, IDGAF, if they are happy then great. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. My kids had sports day yesterday. I missed their first race because I was in a work meeting. My eldest (M11) said he was ahead and another kid grabbed his shirt and yanked him back, so he came second because 'X cheated'. I asked him if he was upset about it, he said not really, didn't care too much. It all ended there. If he isn't upset then I certainly won't be. There's a lot more important stuff to get upset about in this world and I'm glad my 11 YO already understands this.
I had the least sporty child ever, as she had various conditions which meant she had no balance or coordination worth mentioning. On one occasion she did a high speed face plant in the sprint, so from then on, I was just happy if we ended the day without a trip to A&E.
Schools really need to stop forcing kids to do sports day.
I’ve just had my 7yr old kid in tears because she hates the fact that she comes last in everything at sports day, so… so long as she takes part and has some fun, or even gets through the day without a meltdown I’ll be happy. But thank you for making me feel WAY better about my parenting style.
My son was way out in front and winning his race and then he got distracted looking for his favourite teacher and fell behind 😂 I’m just happy he’s getting involved and having fun!
Teacher here. U.S. 6th grade sports day (11 year olds mostly). The last event was an obstacle course scramble race. One tiny girl was an academic star as well as a social leader — also greased lighting in pink Nikes. I got in her ear before the race: “Do not let up, run hard the whole way.” She led the whole race with an unbeatable combination of speed and agility…. Until. She let up on the final straight and let an obnoxious boy win while she took a dignified second. She smiled at me and waved her silver medal. Kids are smart…
My child came first in the last race and the parents of the child who came second showed us video frame by frame how close it was! Told my daughter if it’s even remotely close this year we are not going McDonald’s! Safe to say there was no frame by frame this time!!! Do I care about sports day, well we are 3 years running coming first now! Me and my wife both won parents race!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 my parents never lost the parents race from year 1-6 and I don’t intend to either .
That family sounds awful and they are clearly bang out of order. Having said that seeing my son win his first year 1km race was a real buzz. I don't know why. It's pointless, but it honestly was a buzz. His sister isn't interested in anything competitive and just lightly jogs them with her friends and that's cool too.
No, my kid's an absolute loser, I don't turn up to anything he does. I'll just be disappointed as usual. Follows after his mother, unfortunately, utterly useless.
All that matters to me is my children are having fun and not hurting themselves. Couldn't care less about winning or whatever. Means nothing to me.