NH Ditch Junior rep sides
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They talk about making things 'fun' for the kids and go down the participation route to achieve this. What about the kids that are like I was, highly competitive and get their fun from competing to win? Anything that wasn't competitive I found boring and I walked away from it? I still do nowadays.
I remember back in the 80s being stopped from playing sport at my primary school because I was too competitive and the other kids were getting upset (especially when the only person I let win, and therefore stay 'in', was the cute girl with brown eyes, big lips and long legs - it worked because I got more than my share of kisses out of her š). I would hate to think how bad it has become for competitive kids now.
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@taniwharugby said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
As I said above, I really struggle to understand the logic and how this is supposed to encourage kids to stay in the sport, let alone return/start, if anything, I think it could have the opposite effect.
They seem to be saying that those who miss out are disappointed, and less likely to stay in. Therefore, by removing the (very young) talent pathway, they hope to keep more people on till later.
Not sure if it works, but good luck to them for trying. Being aspirational is all good, but at 11, dollars to donuts it's the parents with unrealistic expectations. I still cringe at the thought of some parents of another cricket club videotaping their six year old batting to work on it later. Other teams were getting growled at and shamed by their coach ... betting the drop out rate is high there
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@nzzp so like everything in life then? Not rewarding excellence and hard work?
As I have said before, I have coached my sons team now into my 8th year, and I can tell you when they were 5 and adults werent keeping score, the kids knew who won, how many tries everyone got and couldn't understand why the ref was taking it easy on the other team when they were thrashing them.
The sub-union TR Jnr made last year was a big deal for him, more so as he almost had to pull out after injuring himself weeks prior and being put in a cast as a pre-caution, shoulda seen the disappointment in his face when the Dr said he was putting a cast on and he realised that there was a chance he wouldnt be able to play the tournament, almost broke my heart.
Fuck, its be great if my boy was awesome, but he isnt, I know he is better than he thinks he is, but he will not make a career out of rugby and playing that last year will likely be his ceiling in terms of rep rugby, so seeing how much it meant to him, I know denying other kids that opportunity seems wrong to me.
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@taniwharugby said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@nzzp so like everything in life then? Not rewarding excellence and hard work?
I think that's an over-reaction. At 11, it's not usually hard work, but more like early growers or people born early in the year.
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@Stargazer said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@Kirwan said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@Stargazer said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
I agree with @Chester-Draws and it has absolutely nothing to do with political correctness. The analysis is based on research. But we'll have to wait and see whether North Harbour has addressed the issue of decreasing player numbers with the right response (whether this will be a solution) to keep kids in rugby longer.
Not having seen the research, we canāt tell if the conclusions were valid or not.
Itās a fact that player numbers are decreasing, but is that to do with rep teams or the modern life impact on childrenās activity levels?
It stinks of PC participation bollocks, and with the infestation of extreme leftist views in academia Iād want to take a very thorough look at the methodology used before throwing away pathways for kids to excel.
Remember too thatās Rugby is not popular with certain types and is seen as representing made up issues like toxic masculinity.
It's this kind of nonsense why I don't go to the politics threads.
Too hard to refute?
I find it hard to believe that kids who genuinely love rugby will become so demoralised at not making a junior rep team that they'll just give the game away.
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It's this kind of nonsense why I don't go to the politics threads.
Fair enough, and it is best left to discuss there. But I will say even a quick glance at some of the āresearchā being done by universities shows a worrying amount of (to use your word) nonsense.
Thatās why you canāt take the word research at face value anymore.
It would be interesting if they released it so it could be evaluated. Bet some of the more scientifically minded posters on here would have some interesting observations.
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Thereās some reasonable correlational evidence to suggest a Mathew effect in other sports, so Iām not entirely against steps to combat that - assuming that theyāve identified it in rugby and it relates to younger players getting better coaching due to attributes that arenāt related to rugby skill (primarily age and size).
Whether this is a good response or not to that, Iām not sure, and if also like to see the studies, because as @Kirwan points out, they could be based on bogus science.
Personally, I donāt think itās the end of the world, as long as the games themselves remain a contest.
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I've listened to this on RS all day, still hasnt changed my opinion, it does seem a bit of a 'well we gotta try something different' angle, but by the same token, I think maybe in my experience (which obviously drives my thinking) I have been lucky with the kids and parents I have been involved with (well 1 dad was a dick, but so was his son, and not a good player either...) as I can see that some parents are likely to be a big part of the problem.
Still like to see more around thier 'research' and the questions asked, how etc.
I have always dreamed of being an AB, but when I was about 15 I realised I would never achieve that goal, I didnt give up rugby
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Not rep rugby, but thought this was the best place to post this.
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@JK said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
I think its just ripper rugby but for older kids who aren't keen on the contact?
What kids who want to play rugby aren't keen on contact? I had two friends at primary/intermediate whose Mum's wouldn't let them play rugby when they were kids (as they were small) and they were the roughest little buggers when playing league at lunch time.
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@Nepia said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@JK said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
I think its just ripper rugby but for older kids who aren't keen on the contact?
What kids who want to play rugby aren't keen on contact? I had two friends at primary/intermediate whose Mum's wouldn't let them play rugby when they were kids (as they were small) and they were the roughest little buggers when playing league at lunch time.
No idea eh! When my lad played ripper (4,5 and 6 years old) he was gagging to play tackle asap. His whole team were. But had to wait until was 7 before they could. Cant imagine any of them not wanting to go to tackle. It was hard enough stopping them from tackling while playing ripper!
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@Nepia yeah IMO you teach the kids the right technique when they are 20kg dripping wet and the opposition are all mostly similar sizes it sets them up better for when they get into thier teens and facing kids over 100kg.
My sons U14 team has a kid who is 39kg, facing a kid last weekend who is 104kg, he made a copy book tackle on him...I dont expect that would have happened if it was his first year of contact rugby.
