National Post wrote:In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.
The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.
Kevin Cappon said he first heard about the rule on May 20 — right after he had scored his team’s last allowable goal. His team then tossed the ball around for fear of losing the game.
He said if anything, the league’s new rule will coddle sore losers.
“They should be saying anything is possible. If we can get five goals really fast, well, so can the other team,” said Kevin, 17, who has played in the league for five years. “People grow in adversity, they don’t really get worse…. I think you’ll see more leadership skills being used if a losing team tries to recuperate than if they never got into that situation at all.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/01 ... ague-says/
As a competitor, I'm (naturally) disgusted. It's ridiculous to tell a competitor in any sport to let up because the other team can't beat you. Sure, you don't steal a base when you're up 10 runs, you don't throw deep passes when your American football team is up by 40 points, you don't keep sending through balls to your ace striker when your team is up 5 or 6 goals, and you don't dance your ass off if you're up big and do something to help your team go up more in any sport.
But this essentially tells someone that it's in bad taste to excel above your peers, that everyone will go easy on you when things get tough, that you needn't lose too badly, but only badly enough.
Personally, there's no better motivator for me to do better than when I get my ass handed to me when I feel like I'm more than prepared enough to achieve victory. Sometimes you even have to lose terribly to realize how much more you need to improve.
I feel that the only rule that could be any more gutless than this one is if both teams get a point for every goal scored. That way, no one wins.
