http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...-children.html

How the bloody hell can you have a game of soccer without anyone winning.

If parents want kids to get excercise without the stress of losing - enrol em into ballet class.

and what the hell are the defence going to do - defend what???? Not the goal, theres none of them allowed, and what about the goalie????? Nope he / she doesn't exist now either.

So when all these kids get to 12, Calagry is gonna be a city full of crap forwards with no idea what a goal is

(idea for the thread from A lovely friend on FB!!!)

Having read the article, I assume they mean not keeping score rather than not actually scoring goals. Otherwise as you say it would be unrecognisable as the game of soccer.
In some of our rec league games we dont keep score past a certain point, but we all still try to score a goal!!
x

surely one of the most important lessons in life is learning how to accept and deal with losing. (one of the reasons the uk is in a mess because many teenagers cannot accept or handle being critiscised of losing)

i coach u4's in calgary. We dont keep score but everyone knows who won and who didnt. we had one set of parents take there team off after we put 8 past them.

i agree it has to be fun but wheres the drive and will to win, if a score isnt kept.

I have coached in rec leagues where scores/standings aren't posted. It's not a big deal. The kids still try to score and they know who has scored the most goals. The game looks the same and they still have kick-offs after goals are scored. It's just that scores and standings aren't posted.

There will always be coaches whose primary goal is to win rather than develop players. These coaches will use primitive tactics (kick it up to the big, fast kid) and will not allocate fair playing time to all players (the weaker players will warm the bench). The main objective of not posting scores/standings is to give a break to those coaches who value player development and participation over winning at all costs - and to encourage other coaches to do the same. If they lose heavily at least they don't have to see it posted on a league web site.

And you can certainly have a game of soccer without anyone winning. I play most weekends with a bunch of guys in the park and so many goals are scored that we've no idea who has won or lost. The objective is exercise and fun - not winning.

U-14s I hope you meant to type... though nothing would surprise me about the obsession with 'coaching' rather than just allowing kids to play for the fun of it.

It's the right thing to do. They should rename the game to 'shareball' where there is only one team and everyone hugs the ball before passing it to the next player.

Didn't the idea come from Arsenal when they decided to just pass the ball around instead of taking the odd shot at goal?

Good one..I like that...I think Wilshire and Walcott were playing that today.

When junior played rec hockey they had mercy rules that meant you didn't post goals once one team was 5 ahead.

Surely that's the best time to post goals....salted wounds and all that.

so hang on - each team still knows whos won - but as long as no-one reads it in black and white its alright??????????

Dear god give me strength

What's so important about reading about it? The most important thing is that the kids play soccer. The only people interested in reading about it are the adults - the same people who cause most of the problems in youth sports.

Billy "we beat you"

Jonny "no you didn't, the scores don't count because there are none"

Billy "you've just got the ump cos you lost"

Jonny "no, theres no scores so no one wins or loses"

Billy "we won, get over it"

jonny "muuuuuuuum, he said we lost but we didn't" Goes off whinging to mother who puts jonnies tied dyed llama wool anorak on and gives him a lentil bar to make him feel better.

Moral of the story? teach jonny to lose gracefully instead of wrapping him in cotton wool coated pc nonsense so as not to hurt feelings.

All sports are about being the best you can, you don't see Accrington Stanley winning the FA cup just because they try hard.

FWIW my kids have varying degress of aptitude for sports / competitive events, daughter 1 - super good at everything, wins lots of things, Son 1 middle of the road, tries hard, has a laugh,doesn't really care who wins or loses, and son 2 <sighs> school sports day bike race, teacher blows whistle, kids bomb off towards finish line, my son turns his bike round and goes the other way - needless to say he kows lots about not coming in first!!!!! daughter 2 pretty well rounded actually, wins and loses gracefully.

I've coached youth soccer for many years - in a recreational environment where scores/standings are not posted and also in a more competitive environment where they are posted. In all cases, the kids know who won/lost the game because they keep score themselves anyway. It doesn't matter to them whether an adult is actually posting the scores on a web site. However, they usually forget about it as soon as the first ice cream is thrust into their hands.

The whole point of this is to reign in the adults who put winning at all costs before skills development. In youth soccer, a common winning tactic is to put the big fast kid (the early developer) up front, whack the ball up to him and let him muscle his way through to goal. Over the years I've seen these teams win at the younger age groups and then be humiliated at the older age groups by better coached teams who actually have skill - often the same teams they used to beat at the younger age groups..

Good coaches will try to instill real skills (e.g a possession game, building from the back and through the midfield, etc.) that will make their players better in the long term. This is what we want to encourage.

So you as coaches can't do this anyway?????