Recent changes to the National School Games Junior Division will see more participants in sport being recognised. But does giving out broad-based awards blunt the competitive edge and the drive for excellence in sport?
By Nicole Chia, The Straits Times, 14 Feb 2019
Rafael Nadal, at 1.85m and 85kg, is afraid of the dark, dogs and thunderstorms. On losing, however, the 17-time Grand Slam champion has this to say: "Losing is not my enemy… Fear of losing is my enemy."
When his four-year unbeaten streak at the French Open ended in 2009 after a shock fourth-round defeat by world No. 25 Robin Soderling, Nadal said at the post-match press conference: "Sometimes you need a defeat to give value to your victories."
Perhaps, as the Spaniard uttered those words, one particular victory from the year before might have come to mind: his maiden Wimbledon title.
In his book Rafa, published in 2011 and co-written with John Carlin, Nadal describes how he "cried incessantly" for half an hour in the dressing room after his five-set loss in the 2007 Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard also admitted that the defeat had left him "utterly destroyed", and that it had continued to haunt him even as he contested another Wimbledon final a year later.
But the start of the fifth set during the 2008 final was when Nadal realised: "This was the moment in the match when that experience of defeat proved most valuable… (Back then) I hadn't been prepared to cope with the inevitable nerves and tension with the due measure of mental calm."
Armed with the memory of that defeat and its lessons, Nadal went on to win his first Wimbledon title in a nearly five-hour match.
Losses, no matter how painful, do not mean failure. There is value in defeat and there are lessons to be learnt from losing.
And the merit of these lessons must not be diminished with the changes taking place at this year's National School Games (NSG) junior division for children aged nine to 11.
The changes are part of an ongoing review of the NSG competitions, which started in 2015 and was completed last year.
One change, announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) last month, will see recognition awarded to the top eight positions in some sports, instead of the top four. This is to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to experience success.
Criterion-based recognition will also be introduced for some sports, such as timings for track and field and the number of pinfalls in bowling. This is to "promote self-improvement, mastery and the importance of striving for goals based on objective targets", MOE said.
On the review of the NSG, Mrs Tan Chen Kee, MOE's divisional director of its student development curriculum division, said: "The review was started because, first, we wanted to look at our students' initial encounter with sports and how we can strengthen that - how we can make it a lot more enjoyable, less competitive and how we can adopt a long-term athlete-development view of things and... help the children slowly ease into the competition and the sports."
While making sport enjoyable is a worthwhile goal, some observers have questioned the wisdom of reducing the competitive element in school sports. Everyone can participate in sport, but if everyone is a winner, then no one learns from losing.
By Nicole Chia, The Straits Times, 14 Feb 2019
Rafael Nadal, at 1.85m and 85kg, is afraid of the dark, dogs and thunderstorms. On losing, however, the 17-time Grand Slam champion has this to say: "Losing is not my enemy… Fear of losing is my enemy."
When his four-year unbeaten streak at the French Open ended in 2009 after a shock fourth-round defeat by world No. 25 Robin Soderling, Nadal said at the post-match press conference: "Sometimes you need a defeat to give value to your victories."
Perhaps, as the Spaniard uttered those words, one particular victory from the year before might have come to mind: his maiden Wimbledon title.
In his book Rafa, published in 2011 and co-written with John Carlin, Nadal describes how he "cried incessantly" for half an hour in the dressing room after his five-set loss in the 2007 Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard also admitted that the defeat had left him "utterly destroyed", and that it had continued to haunt him even as he contested another Wimbledon final a year later.
But the start of the fifth set during the 2008 final was when Nadal realised: "This was the moment in the match when that experience of defeat proved most valuable… (Back then) I hadn't been prepared to cope with the inevitable nerves and tension with the due measure of mental calm."
Armed with the memory of that defeat and its lessons, Nadal went on to win his first Wimbledon title in a nearly five-hour match.
Losses, no matter how painful, do not mean failure. There is value in defeat and there are lessons to be learnt from losing.
And the merit of these lessons must not be diminished with the changes taking place at this year's National School Games (NSG) junior division for children aged nine to 11.
The changes are part of an ongoing review of the NSG competitions, which started in 2015 and was completed last year.
One change, announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) last month, will see recognition awarded to the top eight positions in some sports, instead of the top four. This is to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to experience success.
Criterion-based recognition will also be introduced for some sports, such as timings for track and field and the number of pinfalls in bowling. This is to "promote self-improvement, mastery and the importance of striving for goals based on objective targets", MOE said.
On the review of the NSG, Mrs Tan Chen Kee, MOE's divisional director of its student development curriculum division, said: "The review was started because, first, we wanted to look at our students' initial encounter with sports and how we can strengthen that - how we can make it a lot more enjoyable, less competitive and how we can adopt a long-term athlete-development view of things and... help the children slowly ease into the competition and the sports."
While making sport enjoyable is a worthwhile goal, some observers have questioned the wisdom of reducing the competitive element in school sports. Everyone can participate in sport, but if everyone is a winner, then no one learns from losing.
Admittedly, the stakes of the junior division competition are far lower than that of a Grand Slam tournament. But there is so much that even a child who places ninth can gain from competition, such as developing resilience and building strength of character.
There will also be changes in areas such as game formats, equipment and the use of substitutes. These changes were conceptualised and customised for schools in consultation with the National Youth Sports Institute, relevant national sports associations and Sport Singapore.
In implementing the changes to the award and recognition system, however, it is important to maintain a balance between recognising effort and coddling, and this responsibility should be shared by parents, teachers and coaches.
TROPHY FOR PARTICIPATION OR FOR A WIN?
As with most topics in sport, there are two views on this.
Google the phrase "participation trophy", which has in recent years been used to criticise millennials (and their alleged sense of entitlement), and there are pages of results with articles debating the pros and cons of awarding one.
When actress Mindy Kaling was in the fourth grade (age nine or 10), her mother "put away" a trophy she received for having the "Coolest Clothes" at a basketball camp. Her mother's gently delivered reason for removing the trophy from its original position on top of the television set was this: "They gave you that trophy so you wouldn't feel bad, not because you deserved it. You should know the difference."
Kaling eventually realised that "a bunch of unearned trophies around the house would make me hooked on awards, which is bad in general, but especially bad if you don't deserve them". That experience, she said, made her want to win another trophy, "but win it for actually doing something great".
Awarding recognition to a greater number of student-athletes may lead to children relying on external validation (whether in the form of pins, medals or plaques) to motivate them in sport and in life.
Singapore Sailing chief executive Lim Han Ee, who has a master's degree in sports psychology and has worked as a sports psychologist in the United States, cautioned that the changes to the award and recognition structure could foster a sense of entitlement.
In implementing the changes to the award and recognition system, however, it is important to maintain a balance between recognising effort and coddling, and this responsibility should be shared by parents, teachers and coaches.
TROPHY FOR PARTICIPATION OR FOR A WIN?
As with most topics in sport, there are two views on this.
Google the phrase "participation trophy", which has in recent years been used to criticise millennials (and their alleged sense of entitlement), and there are pages of results with articles debating the pros and cons of awarding one.
When actress Mindy Kaling was in the fourth grade (age nine or 10), her mother "put away" a trophy she received for having the "Coolest Clothes" at a basketball camp. Her mother's gently delivered reason for removing the trophy from its original position on top of the television set was this: "They gave you that trophy so you wouldn't feel bad, not because you deserved it. You should know the difference."
Kaling eventually realised that "a bunch of unearned trophies around the house would make me hooked on awards, which is bad in general, but especially bad if you don't deserve them". That experience, she said, made her want to win another trophy, "but win it for actually doing something great".
Awarding recognition to a greater number of student-athletes may lead to children relying on external validation (whether in the form of pins, medals or plaques) to motivate them in sport and in life.
Singapore Sailing chief executive Lim Han Ee, who has a master's degree in sports psychology and has worked as a sports psychologist in the United States, cautioned that the changes to the award and recognition structure could foster a sense of entitlement.
Noting that part of the power of sport lies in learning to recover from setbacks, he also stressed the importance of children being guided when they experience such setbacks. "There is nothing wrong with not winning. With the correct mindset, they will learn and grow from it," he added.
"You can't have people play only because they get a prize… (If) someone is intrinsically motivated, they love the sport and want to develop mastery of the skills and enjoy the experience of getting better not just for medals' sake.
"What's critical is not whether children experience a setback; it's how we support and equip them with the skills to cope. It's about how coaches, teachers and parents position themselves to teach kids how to bounce back."
Mr Lim's sentiments are best illustrated by what retired basketball star Kobe Bryant told his daughters when they finished fourth at a basketball tournament.
They did not want to accept their trophies for placing fourth, and the five-time NBA champion told them: "Get the fourth-place trophy, go home. You take the fourth-place trophy, you put it up right where you can see it, and when you wake up in the morning, you look at the trophy and you remind yourself of what you'll never win again."
If MOE wants to encourage participation and enjoyment in sport, it can do so at the intra-school level, not at the national level, some observers suggest. Mrs May Schooling, mother of Olympic swimming champion Joseph, suggests that this be done at inter-house games within school competitions. She said: "Encouraging participation and kids to be active is good, but maybe at the national level where you represent the school there should be some (distinction)… There should be a higher level for those who maybe make the effort to train a bit more or who maybe have a bit more talent."
Having too broad-based recognition could make top student-athletes feel the value of their achievements is being diluted. "The meritocracy of sports must still exist even as mass participation is encouraged," she said.
But a different argument can be made: That it is good to give a little extra encouragement to children experiencing their first taste of sporting competition.
After all, even competitors who finish fourth to eighth at the Olympic Games are honoured with a diploma. According to a 2014 New York Times article, diplomas have been awarded since 1896, with only the winners of each event initially receiving them. This grew to include the top three finishers in 1923, the top six in 1949, and by 1981 the top eight.
Consultant psychiatrist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre Brian Yeo acknowledged that some of the top performers in the NSG junior division may feel discouraged about not being specifically recognised, but otherwise felt there are no other downsides to the amendments.
"You're not hiding the kids from reality… I don't think children are so isolated that they cannot see beyond (these) changes. I think they are aware of reality between ages nine and 11," said Dr Yeo, whose credentials include postgraduate qualifications in child and adolescent psychiatry.
"Many of our kids are mature; they do surf the Internet and they know the timings for kids of their age in international competitions. I don't think anyone can operate in isolation; everyone knows what's happening in the world. I don't think (the changes) are intended to pull down or discourage the top three."
Children could pick up sport for many reasons, some of which could simply be to hang out with their friends and to learn something new, said Olympian Mark Chay, now the chief executive officer of the International Sports Academy. It is only when they realise that the sport makes them happy that the drive to excel follows.
The move to introduce criterion-based recognition would see students ranked within different levels of achievement, and the real test here to Mr Chay, a former swimmer, is how this is implemented.
"The banding has to be realistic. If the gold standard (at primary school level) cannot get you to the final or the school team in secondary school, there's no meaning to it," he added.
"You can't change one system and expect the secondary school system to remain the same. It has to be changed to slowly inculcate competitive values in the kids, although we'd hope this will happen naturally because there's an increased base of kids competing."
Updating school sport competitions to encourage self-mastery and make sport more fun is a good thing - so long as the changes do not blunt the competitive edge in sport.
"Many of our kids are mature; they do surf the Internet and they know the timings for kids of their age in international competitions. I don't think anyone can operate in isolation; everyone knows what's happening in the world. I don't think (the changes) are intended to pull down or discourage the top three."
Children could pick up sport for many reasons, some of which could simply be to hang out with their friends and to learn something new, said Olympian Mark Chay, now the chief executive officer of the International Sports Academy. It is only when they realise that the sport makes them happy that the drive to excel follows.
The move to introduce criterion-based recognition would see students ranked within different levels of achievement, and the real test here to Mr Chay, a former swimmer, is how this is implemented.
"The banding has to be realistic. If the gold standard (at primary school level) cannot get you to the final or the school team in secondary school, there's no meaning to it," he added.
"You can't change one system and expect the secondary school system to remain the same. It has to be changed to slowly inculcate competitive values in the kids, although we'd hope this will happen naturally because there's an increased base of kids competing."
Updating school sport competitions to encourage self-mastery and make sport more fun is a good thing - so long as the changes do not blunt the competitive edge in sport.
* Medals award a move to recognise achievement: Ministry of Education
We refer to recent articles and letters on the changes to the National School Games Junior Division competition (Trophy for coming in 8th?, Feb 14; and Are schools blunting excellence?, Feb 17).
It is important to remember that these changes only affect nine-to 11-year-old pupils, not the entire student population.
All students learn sports as part of their school's physical education programme, and many participate in inter-class competitions.
Those who are interested and talented in sport also join co-curricular activities (CCAs) and even compete in the National School Games.
Beyond CCAs and competitions, students may also participate in ActiveSG sports academies and competitions.
For our Primary 3 to 5 pupils, the Junior Division represents their first formal inter-school competition.
Hence, we believe that there is room to provide these younger student-athletes with more developmentally-appropriate competition experiences, increase their playing opportunities and playing time, and encourage the joy of playing sports for life.
One change is the increase in position-based recognition for individual events from the current top four to the top eight positions - but only for events where there are at least 15 participants.
For competitions with fewer than this, the number of medals awarded will be reduced correspondingly.
The rationale for awarding up to eight medals is to create more opportunities for our young student-athletes to be recognised for their achievements.
However, these are not "participation medals".
We refer to recent articles and letters on the changes to the National School Games Junior Division competition (Trophy for coming in 8th?, Feb 14; and Are schools blunting excellence?, Feb 17).
It is important to remember that these changes only affect nine-to 11-year-old pupils, not the entire student population.
All students learn sports as part of their school's physical education programme, and many participate in inter-class competitions.
Those who are interested and talented in sport also join co-curricular activities (CCAs) and even compete in the National School Games.
Beyond CCAs and competitions, students may also participate in ActiveSG sports academies and competitions.
For our Primary 3 to 5 pupils, the Junior Division represents their first formal inter-school competition.
Hence, we believe that there is room to provide these younger student-athletes with more developmentally-appropriate competition experiences, increase their playing opportunities and playing time, and encourage the joy of playing sports for life.
One change is the increase in position-based recognition for individual events from the current top four to the top eight positions - but only for events where there are at least 15 participants.
For competitions with fewer than this, the number of medals awarded will be reduced correspondingly.
The rationale for awarding up to eight medals is to create more opportunities for our young student-athletes to be recognised for their achievements.
However, these are not "participation medals".
Pupils must still train hard, compete with a winning mindset and do their best during the competition to win medals.
By implementing these changes in partnership with coaches, parents and sports agencies, our aim is to strike a good balance between the different objectives.
Ultimately, we want our young student-athletes to learn and love sports for life.
Tan Chen Kee (Mrs)
Divisional Director
Student Development Curriculum Division
Ministry of Education
ST Forum, 20 Feb 2019
Ultimately, we want our young student-athletes to learn and love sports for life.
Tan Chen Kee (Mrs)
Divisional Director
Student Development Curriculum Division
Ministry of Education
ST Forum, 20 Feb 2019
Cultivating the Joy of Playing Sports for Life: Enhanced Junior Division Competitions -23 Jan 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment