Right, this fucking annoys me. I can only speak of football with any great experience as that’s the only sport I have coached kids in. But let me tell you that when they play they are naturally super competitive and know exactly what the score is in every match and training game. https://twitter.com/maxchalm/status/1283494578239057920

In my opinion much of the guidelines around not recording scores, having league tables etc at a very young age not to stop them being competitive. It is to protect these kids from the worst traits of the adults (parents, coaches).

Adults who play out their mini Mourinho fantasies, shouting and bawling at kids because they want to win and make themselves look big and clever. Again I can only speak of football, but that stunts kids development by not given them the freedom to try new skills and tricks.

Free from fear of being lambasted for giving the ball away and impacting the chances of winning. As a kid I used to play highly competitive matches in parks and playgrounds with that freedom and without any adults watching.

It allowed me to fall in love with the game. Just so happens I was shit but I still loved playing. Some of our group were good and played professionally though. Point is the world is a different place now and kids aren’t out playing from dawn till dusk.

So in many ways at a very young age we need to recreate that environment to play with freedom and love the sport. If they’re any good it gets serious soon enough. Let them have fun for a bit, and actually they’ll be better players in the long run too.

Maybe that doesn’t apply to other sports? Maybe they need to do laps round the ‘oval’ at 7 years old and be shouted and bawled at to be better Rugby or Aussie Rules players? Don’t know, and care even less. But it 100% doesn’t work in football.