Thank you, Louise for sending this to us. We’re delighted to share it.
It was my charge’s schools Sports Day today. I think times have changed and not necessarily for the better, and maybe you’ll agree, maybe you won’t but I’d like to share why I’m disappointed.
When I was younger our Sports Day was about friendly competition, about doing our best in races to go really fast and beat our friends. There were three races – the running race, the sack race and the egg and spoon race – for each and every year, with a long race and a short race for the older years, and no-one ever won all of them although we all tried. The best anyone managed was two and that was something to be marvelled at. Whoever was the winner won fair and square, no cheating allowed, and there were points for second and third place. We all tried our best to get points for our house. When you were in year 5 and 6 you got to go to the big athletics ground where we had Sports Day and try long jump, high jump, hurdles and very blunt javelin every fortnight in the summer term and there was a competition that everyone watched on the day itself.
Today there wasn’t a house system so there was no incentive to cheer on other classes. In fact I don’t think they were watching most of the time because each class was busy with their own event. It’s a shame that Sports Day is no longer a time for the whole school community to come together. Everyone got a prize for something, so the value of winning was lost, and the losers didn’t learn to lose gracefully or vow to do better next year because they got a medal for trying. I have nothing against trying but I worry about what children are learning when they get a medal for it!
There were so many events, some traditional and some not, and no consistency across the years, and that made me really think. We liked our simple races. The running races rewarded people who could run, but they often tried to go too fast in the egg and spoon. The sack race was down to luck on the day and not getting tangled in your sack and falling flat on your face. We were all desperate for it to be our turn to be in year 5 to do the Big Events and when we there we felt so special that it didn’t matter who won.
One thing I’m not sorry that they don’t have any more is the Parents Race. I think my charge would have made me run in it, and I like to think I would have lost with grace and shown her how to do that, but it was just too hot.