[Closed] Sports day fail...

Ouch. Does your leg hurt more than your pride?

i pull that trick after about 10 meters though, just need to remember which leg 😉

My Dad still recounts the story of beating this chap: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hemery
to the win at my primary school Fathers race, to be fair he looked like he had held back a bit 😉

Always seize any opportunity that comes your way.....

An excuse to buy an e-bike? 😀

I had to "walk" back past all the other parents to my mother in law, all the time trying to resist the desire to lie on the ground and groan....

Last time I did this I was fit and 15 years younger. It took months to fix.

Now I'm out of shape and not even supposed to do stuff like this FFS! At least my daughter and I have something in common: we both finished last.

An excuse to buy an e-bike?

Sadly, for the other reasons referred to in my second paragraph, that will no doubt become a reality rather sooner in life than I had expected.

my last ever dads' race was a revelation to me in 2 ways:

1) I honestly think I found a "gear" that I never knew about when younger (was never a fast sprinter but I accelerated and made big gains on the leaders in the second half)

2) leather-soled shoes, lush grass and [b]ENORMOUS[/b] speed are all perfectly fine together - it's just the hawthorn hedge that ruined everything

ourman - I thought you'd been let off those restrictions ? 🙁

ourman - I thought you'd been let off those restrictions ?

Thought things were looking better then a standard test indicated it may not be as good as I'd hoped.

Can still do "low to moderate" exercise, whatever that is.

Would have thought Dads races would have been banned by now as to dangerous or something.
Heal up quick!

[img] [/img]

Dad's race.

Does that t-short say "Have you hugged a fool today?"

Because if it does, I could do with a hug off that fella right now. Ouch!

my geography teacher got a javelin through his shoulder on sports day. You lucked out buster

Went to my daughter's sports day yesterday. Thankfully no dad's race. However, one girl came a cropper at pace over a low hurdle. She was upset for a bit, but quite proud afterwards. The reason for the pride was a grass stain in the middle of her head. It's the first time I have ever seen grass stained hair!

Fair play to the kids and the school, though. No namby pamby 'no winners' nonsense, but still making sure that all the kids had a good time trying their best.

My daughter has melted my heart a bit a both of the last two sports days as she genuinely doesn't mind never winning anything, has a really good time trying, and seems genuinely pleased for the ones that do win.

My son starts school this September. I can guarantee it won't be the same story with him!

[quote=LoCo ]Would have thought Dads races would have been banned by now as to dangerous or something.

We don't have them here - which was a relief to me in a way attending my first sports day, as I'm sure a lot of people think of me as very sporty, and would be expected to do well, but I've never been a sprinter (apart from after an hour or two of racing). Do most people still have them at primary schools?

Heal quick omitn

Our's is not a straight running race, various tasks to be performed, unfortunately I lost my crown this year.

My daughter was in the same class as Daley Thomson's son.

The dad's race was a bit of a foregone conclusion, tbh.

Attended my first ever Sports Day today, and had a blast. The cheating that was going on was ridiculous, bu comical at the same time. The parents race was an eye-opener, as I got trounced by most of the folk there. (Note to self - wear running shoes, not Crocs next time, and elbows. More elbows.)

I have a picture mid mums race finish, as one of them is going down hard face first into the grass. The look of delight on one of the faces behind is superb...

Let me see if I can find it....

It's the first time I have ever seen grass stained hair!

The Dads are turbo competitive at my Sons school, mental cross-fitters and tough mudders the lot of them - I still fancy my chances - but last year three of them not only ducked for the line, but actually threw themselves at it - I'm not prepared to get involved with that level of stupidity.

I'll wait until there's a bike race.

Ouch - heal quickly omitn.

No parents races here since an ambulance was needed a few years ago. No great loss imo.

ourmaninthenorth - Member
Does that t-short say "Have you hugged a fool today?"

Because if it does, I could do with a hug off that fella right now. Ouch!

His hat says dont do it too.

I had the pleasure of watching all my students train for the x country race at school, from KG up to 16 year olds.

My daughter, was never going to win the KG race, about 500m, as she was just too slow, and easily distracted.

Race day came, and the school is outside, we are all there cheering on the KG, my daughter is going for it for the first meter or so then gets slower and slower, then walks.

As the running group of KG kids passes the furthest away corner, my daughter is no where to be seen, and then we spot her squated down on the floor examining something.

One of her TA's heads back to spur her on. we are now opposite the crowd about 100m away. THe rest of the KG have now finished. Kids are cheering her on, its the heads daughter, go on , you can do it.

She stops again and starts examining a tree, TA tries to spur her on a bi tmore, they get a few more minutes she crouches down to pick something up, and shows it to everybody, 100m or so away and shouts something, we can't hear, but it must be important.

Again the TA moves her on, oh no, she is now running the opposite way and heading back, what is she doing. Oh returning to the spot she just saw something interesting at to look at it again.

I send out an older student to help run with her.

THey move prbably another good 50m on the crowd goes wild, she decides that the trees are probabl more interesting than running. The older student looks on bemused, the TA encourages, she examines.

Two more students are sent out, to try and get her to the finish.

AFter another 5 minutes of walking, talking, looking and touching things, she nears the finish line and in she comes

13 and a bit minutes after everybody else on a 500m course.

As she crossed the line she ran up to her teacher - " I saw a butterfly, catterpillars and lots of ants."

Last time my dad decided to take part in a school sports day, he kicked a small child in the face. You're doing OK.

My dad tripped up during a dads race and shattered his kneecap, he'd already done the other one in a motorbike crash a few years earlier. Still struggles kneeling for long periods now, not good for a sparky really!

One of best bits of being a chair of governors was re-instating competition at the sports day. Head was very weary about the whole thing. Luckily for me it was a massive success (helped by the great weather we had on the day). I sat out the Dad's Race.

Hope you heal soon.

As she crossed the line she ran up to her teacher - " I saw a butterfly, catterpillars and lots of ants."

😀 Ace.

I had the pleasure of watching all my students train for the x country race at school, from KG up to 16 year olds.

My daughter, was never going to win the KG race, about 500m, as she was just too slow, and easily distracted.

Race day came, and the school is outside, we are all there cheering on the KG, my daughter is going for it for the first meter or so then gets slower and slower, then walks.

As the running group of KG kids passes the furthest away corner, my daughter is no where to be seen, and then we spot her squated down on the floor examining something.

One of her TA's heads back to spur her on. we are now opposite the crowd about 100m away. THe rest of the KG have now finished. Kids are cheering her on, its the heads daughter, go on , you can do it.

She stops again and starts examining a tree, TA tries to spur her on a bi tmore, they get a few more minutes she crouches down to pick something up, and shows it to everybody, 100m or so away and shouts something, we can't hear, but it must be important.

Again the TA moves her on, oh no, she is now running the opposite way and heading back, what is she doing. Oh returning to the spot she just saw something interesting at to look at it again.

I send out an older student to help run with her.

THey move prbably another good 50m on the crowd goes wild, she decides that the trees are probabl more interesting than running. The older student looks on bemused, the TA encourages, she examines.

Two more students are sent out, to try and get her to the finish.

AFter another 5 minutes of walking, talking, looking and touching things, she nears the finish line and in she comes

13 and a bit minutes after everybody else on a 500m course.

As she crossed the line she ran up to her teacher - " I saw a butterfly, catterpillars and lots of ants."

I really hope my children (if I ever have any) have the same outlook as your daughter.

Parents races at my daughters school are ultra competitive.
Some folks turn up in full running gear, etc.
The Dad who won last year (a fireman who runs/does Tough mudders etc) won by about 30 yards then went back down the track high-fiving all the kids - hideous.

I won't get involved - this week I reminded my daughter I'm doing a sportive in France on Sunday, and couldn't do it with a sprained ankle.

as others have said - I'll wait until there's a bike race...

who's school was it that got sick of the ultra competitive Dad's race and as the dad's all lined up, in their running outfits complete with spikes, placed a skipping rope in front of each one?

That's what dad's races should be, wheel barrow, Sack race or similar.

then suddenly BANG! a searing pain shoots through the back of my left leg.

When i read this I immediately thought of that Derek Redmond photo. Did your daughter come and give you her shoulder? Or, like mine would, did she hide in embarrassment?

who's school was it that got sick of the ultra competitive Dad's race and as the dad's all lined up, in their running outfits complete with spikes, placed a skipping rope in front of each one?

Do dads actually turn up in running kit?! really?? 😐

Missing daughter first ever sports day next week due to work commitments in North Wales 😥

Mini-g's first school sports day was last summer, I prefer the distance running, but I fancied myself against what I had seen of the other dads in a sprint. I didn't want to look too try hard, so I had trainers that were ok for running, but not proper running trainers, and 3/4 shorts with enough wiggle room to not be constrictive, shirt. I was certain I was going to at least podium. When I got there it turns out they don't have a dads race, then the following 90 minutes was watching the kids split into 5 teams work their way round a series of activity stations where they spend 5 minutes each taking a turn at doing the kicking/throwing/jumping or whatever until the time runs out. At the end the teachers decided which teams were the best for various ridiculous reasons and every team was the winner at something, like best cheering, best helping the other kids, and then we all went home having witnessed no sport at all. The whole thing was totally poitless.

I asked the head why it was done like that and it was so the kids who aren't good at sport dont feel bad about not being good at sport. It just had the feel of the whole thing was the brain child of some sport hating nutter who had a bad enough time in PE as a kid that it gave them PTSD or something.

I appreciate that turning up to the dads race ready to take it seriously is a bit pathetic, but not allowing any of the kids in the school to so much have a foot race against each other for fear of hurting someone's feeling is equally pathetic.

Maybe they should change the maths lessons so that only the smartest kid can understand them

It's not the same thing though is it.

Whats would be the same thing, would be watching a film instead of doing maths, so the kids who can't do maths don't have to feel bad about it

No it would not, because they're still doing sports, just in a way that more of them will enjoy and benefit from. You said first school sports day, how old were they?

did the kids have fun though?

yep, I can understand making the parents race utterly embarrassing for the over triers but at least give some prizes to the fastest kids etc.

Our school has a team based activities with points scored to give an overall house winner... and then a by year group foot-race. So a bit of both. Happy with that.

Parents races are a ridiculous and unnecessary distraction from what should be a great day for kids.

Quirrel great story !

Have had some epic sports days, mothers egg and spoon with blatant cheating and ensuing theatrical arguments plus the finish line was close to a hedge and quite a few mums ended up in it as they where looking at the egg's not where they where going. Not one of mine but at a friend's school two of the dad's started playfully barging and then one went down heavily and broke his collar bone !

steve-g

Probably saved you some embarrassment TBH. I suspect you'd have been well out in front, only to start to stumble uncontrollably, trip over a dandelion, and hand the win to the rich Dad that everyone hates but who always seems to go home with the trophy.

So, kids were between 5 and 9

They weren't still doing sports, they were outside, they were doing mildy physically exerting non competitive tasks, but it wasn't "sports". Once you remove the competitive element from something it's no longer sport.

Kids seemed to enjoy it at first, but as the experience for them was 95% queue, then 5% activity the young ones lost interest fairly quickly, all sports days are going to be mostly waiting, but usually there would be some sort of sport to watch.

When I was at school there was a wide enough range of things to do at sports day that everyone was at least reasonable at something, i would have thought that was the way to go in terms of not leaving any kids feeling left out

No it would not, because they're still doing sports, just in a way that more of them will enjoy and benefit from.

But this

As she crossed the line she ran up to her teacher - " I saw a butterfly, catterpillars and lots of ants."

I never worked harder each year than on sports day. I was a reasonably bright kid but the things I could do best involved a field or a sports hall and a pair of trainers.

I would have been heartbroken if they had removed the competitive element, the clever kids won at maths and science, the artistic kids won at drama and art, why should my moment of glory be taken away from me, the sporty kid?

Team based activities are not sports. They are team based activities.

I am too hungover to articulate my thoughts properly here today, but lunge and donk have hit the 2 points I am trying to make.

For some kids the thing they are good at has been taken away, to not upset other kids who are presumably good at other things and get their time to shine.

Then like exams, the core thing about sport is the competition, the winning, the losing, and all that goes with it. Removing the competition is akin to setting an exam that every child gets 100% at. Yes they all feel good, but you have lost the entire meaning, no one is learning anything from an exams that easy, and no one is learning the lessons that sport teaches when there is no competition.

Would like to add, in school as in life I was/am way more closely aligned to nerd than sporty guy and mini-g is the same.

Quirrel - Member
I had the pleasure of watching all my students train for the x country race at school, from KG up to 16 year olds.

My daughter, was never going to win the KG race, about 500m, as she was just too slow, and easily distracted.

Am I reading that correctly? 500m for a kindergarten race? 😯

D0NK - Member

I try to do the inclusive bleeding heart liberal hippy shit normally but I do find the no racing sports day a bit of a conundrum (and I was shite at every sport going at my school) Racing is like exams/tests we want everyone to take part and give it a good go but we all end up seeing who comes out on top in the end, seems weird that sport is now exempt.

Most sports days are for everyone, not just for the sporty kids. I'm not talking about removing competition in schools, as well as competitive PE there are sport clubs, inter-school competitions etc, and then other stuff outwith schools. But if you want everyont to take part, you should do it in a way that everyone can take part in, otherwise it's just alienating and offputting. Competition for those that want it, and not forced on those who don't.

(My sport was swimming, so I didn't get to shine at sports day either, made no difference- I'd not have basked in the glory of beating a couple of hundred classmates who could barely swim and couldn't give a rat's ass but were ordered into the pool! No more than I'd enjoy being beaten by the runners or the rugbyists at their game. Beating people you outclass isn't fun; being beaten by people who outclass you isn't fun either)

Beating people you outclass isn't fun; being beaten by people who outclass you isn't fun either

TBH I think I'm basically arguing for [i]more[/i] sport in schools! So not taking anything away from anyone but giving more options for others

Our school stopped inviting parents before I joined (the staff) as the head was basically bored of telling off, then removing drunk (they brought cans with them) parents from the field every year. To be fair I am sure it would be different now.
Ours is a round robin affair with 14-16 teams doing two fewer events than teams (two drink stops) with 4 minutes of event, 1 minute to move on then the next 4 minutes. Mine is usually a hurdles relay, point for every lap of 6 hurdles. The 5 year olds are usually hearded by the older kids in the more successful teams and the winners, second and third are the ones who score the most. No praise for anyone's to sporting nature as they tend to win anyway by supporting their team. Then we spend the whole next day walking to another school via a country park for lunch, and walking back again. I hear the kids sleep well by the end of the week, I know the staff bloody do!
Edit- I think the walk is just shy of 8 miles in total, good walk for the Y6, proper adventure and challenge down at year 2 who I think are the youngest we take.

Was placing a solid 3rd in parents race. Moving up to 2nd. Then stumbled. Twisted ankle. Tore hamstring. Can't walk.

Currently sat in middle of Hebden Bridge park waiting for a parent to come and take me home.

#fail

At our school, they have competitive races, but almost all races are relays. So even the kids who are a bit rubbish have to try hard, and it counts if they do a bit better as they're up against the rubbish kids in the other houses (it's a state school, but they have houses for all sorts of things in school, though don't make a big deal about it). Seems just about the right balance has been struck - competition, the kids who are good don't run away with it all, the kids who aren't any good still contribute, less waiting around (they might not spend any more time running, but spend more time being involved), lots of team spirit.

Bog eyed jog at the kids school this morning
and I was running around with them , somehow managed to trip over 2 little girls

Only one cried though so it's not too bad 😳

Our daughter's infants' school has a team competition. All the kids compete in lots of different physical challenges and get points. Not a bad idea really - still competitive but far less personal pressure. Kids are to young to start blaming the weak ones for the team loss.

I'm all for competition, as anyone who knows me will testify.. but only where it's wanted. Making kids line up with everyone watching just to lose is pretty heart breaking for little kids. But on the other hand, young kids all want to participate and have fun.

Putting my competitive proud dad hat back on.. my daughter deliberately did her running races like they do in cartoons - run with everyone else for a bit so you can look sideways at them, then burn them all off 😈

Oh and - no dad's race. Gutted.

They stopped the parents races at the primary/junior a few years ago after a youngster got flattened 😆
I now it wasn't funny but the dad's were getting carried away and didn't pay attention to where the kids were at the finish line. (no youngster was harmed in the making of this lol btw).
I got banned by the Ex running in them after "embarrassing her" . Not sure how it was embarrassing unless you count winning as that?
But then thats why they all lined up - to win.
There is a certain satisfaction though to shutting up the loud, gym monkey, fitness freak; the "tri-athlete" and the ex-PE teacher 😛

Did my first one last year. Was surprised at the turn of speed TBH and only just made it into the top half of the field.

I blame it on my tight-ish jeans and flat soled-trainers - which made the halfway turn a bit comical.

Speaking to another dad after he told me his clubmate - a former national runner - had torn his hamstring in the dad's race too.

😀

[quote=molgrips ]Putting my competitive proud dad hat back on.. my daughter deliberately did her running races like they do in cartoons - run with everyone else for a bit so you can look sideways at them, then burn them all off

Isn't that like LA? 😈

Basically yes, just like that 🙂

It's not the same thing though is it.

Whats would be the same thing, would be watching a film instead of doing maths, so the kids who can't do maths don't have to feel bad about it

Sports day is different tho.

If maths was made the same as a competitive sports day, it would be all the parents in the hall then get the rubbish-at-maths kids up on stage to write the times tables against the clock. You can bet a lot of Dads would be getting hot under the collar at the thought of that Dads race.