Pastoral Wellbeing 

How to help your child be a good sport, whether they win or lose.

With our school athletics approaching we place a focus on teaching our young people the value of fair and kind competition. The following excerpt from Triple P Parenting provides some valuable insights.

For many children, playing games and sports is all about having fun with family, friends and teammates. For others, it can feel a lot more intense. When they’re winning, they feel on top of the world, but when they’re losing, they feel miserable.

If you’re a parent or carer with a child who has trouble losing or playing games or sports, you’re not alone. You might be wondering why your child gets upset, cries, throws a tantrum, acts aggressively or storms off when they lose. Or what to do when they cheat to try and win, make excuses when they lose, falsely accuse other players of cheating, or blame unfair calls or conditions for their loss.

Should you let them win to keep the peace? Refuse to play with them? Make them sit out until they calm down? Only let them play cooperative games where there are no winners or losers? There are no easy answers and every child is different. Sometimes these responses can help children build confidence, learn the consequences of their actions or take a much-needed break from competitive sports and games. But used too often and without teaching children the fundamental skills needed for good sportsmanship, they can accidentally do more harm than good.

By taking the focus off winning, using positive reinforcement, role modelling good sportsmanship and helping your child cope with big feelings, you can help them learn how to be a good sport and bring the fun back into play time.