Once, sometimes twice a year, my sons judo club has a tournament. Tonight was just such a night. The club is broken into 2 classes (beginner and intermediate) but for the tournament all the kids show up at the designated time. They are then split up into weight groups (actually by height) which consist of about 4 kids in each group. The matches are carried out within the groups and prizes are handed out for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place. The purpose of the event is to have fun and teach the kids about tournament rules and sportsmanship. For the most part I enjoy myself and my son usually does quite well tonight being no exception, 1st place. (He has been going for 3 years now and has seniority on most of the other children). I did however notice two things that bothered me.
First there was the 4th place boy in my sons group, who has come a long way since he began taking the classes and tried very hard but received no recognition for his efforts. I know everyone can't win. But these are not the Olympics and were dealing with 7 year olds here. I have to wonder how much extra it would have cost the club to provide a 4th place ribbon? I think this would have meant a lot to the boys self esteem. Secondly I could not help but notice how the majority of kids had learned very little in regards to technique. The boy I mentioned lost all his matches the exact same way and almost all the children attempted the same throw over and over again, poorly I might add. I have to wonder if the instructors were/are aware of this?

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.
~ John Cotton Dana ~
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
~ William A. Ward ~