Skip, skip hooray? No, I don’t think so

THERE was a remarkable story in yesterday's Daily Echo that you might have missed.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley wants to do away with school sports days because of the trauma it inflicts on the little darlings who finish last.

She said, and I quote, "I would ask that we try to get away from competitive sport in schools and think about increasing exercise and activity."

Instead, Mrs Gidley wants a greater focus on activities which concentrate on "personal improvement" like skipping, dance and games."

Hell's teeth. And we put power in the hands of people like her?

It wasn't a great leap from Mrs Gidley's comments to the worrying sight on Sunday of a horserider, a golfer and a gymnast dominating the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

I've really got nothing against Zara Phillips - even though she might not have paid for her riding lessons from a paper round when she was young - or horseriding for that matter.

I'm not a huge fan of golf but I can appreciate why people are, and I'm sure Beth Tweedle is a superb gymnast.

But horseriding and gymnastics will never get the nation's pulse going like football, cricket or rugby - our top three team sports in this country.

At the moment we're not going great guns in any of them, and the state of British athletics - whose sports made up the staple diet of sports days during my school years - is also a cause for some concern to say the least.

Is Mrs Gidley concerned that kids might leave school with no real experience of, and therefore interest in, competitive team sports?

What's a maths exam if it isn't competitive? Should we do away with those as well.

Sunday's sports awards was a sad indictment of our competitive team sports' current standings in the international arena.

Look at Theo Walcott. He got an award for sitting on the bench for most of 2006. Was he really the best on offer?

Oh well, as a sports-lover it's good to know that we've had 40 years of hurt when it comes to our national game, but at least the future looks promising for us as a skipping nation if Mrs Gidley has her way.

The last time I looked, though, that wasn't an Olympic sport.

The only skipping I want to see is thousands of English men and women skipping to the pub during World Cups to watch our competitive team sports heroes do well.

That'll get the feelgood factor going, something that our politicians can rarely muster.

I want my son and daughter to experience team sports at school. If they don't like them, or aren't much good, then fine - at least they've had a go. I just fear for them if they tell me dad, I'd like to be a politician one day ...' What do you think? Email us at echosport@soton-echo.co.uk or write to us at the Echo sports desk, Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton.

School sports days put children off sport - MP AN MP has slammed school sports days for publicly humiliating children who finish last.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley described the traditional annual competition as her "pet hate" and accused schools of failing to consider the feelings of children with little sporting ability.

The Liberal Democrat MP also criticised team sports like hockey and football and claimed many adults had been put off exercise for life because they were still haunted by their experiences at school.

Speaking in a House of Commons debate on public health, Mrs Gidley said: "Those children who are towards the end of the queue when the teams are being picked soon get the message and decide that they do not want to exercise because they do not want to make fools of themselves.

"That is not a positive experience. If a child cannot read, they are not put on a stage and made to stumble through the alphabet or a passage of Shakespeare, yet little thought is given to the children who do not excel at sport."

The MP called for a greater focus on activities which focused on "personal improvement" like skipping, dance and games.

She said: "I would ask that we try to get away from competitive sport in schools and think about increasing exercise and activity.

"Personal improvement initiatives are much more positive and inspiring for children than those in which their performance is compared with that of others."

Mrs Gidley stressed the importance of exercise in tackling the "growing problem" of childhood obesity and welcomed moves to restrict advertising of junk food.

She said: "The figures are stark. The British Medical Association estimates that there already one million obese children under 16. If the trends continue, one fifth of boys and one third of girls will be obese by 2020."

However, Paul Creeden, Hampshire Football Association's spokesman said boys and girls of all ages, abilities and ethnic backgrounds benefited from taking part in team sports.

The Hampshire FA currently works with many schools across the region promoting the "beautiful game" at every level.

He said. "Team sports are both good for personal development, learning to have respect for others and encouraging teamwork.

"It's also good for learning to be successful, accepting defeat and working together towards one goal."

Health Minister Ivan Lewis described Mrs Gidley's attack on competitive sport as "strange". He said: "In my experience, thousands of young people around the country play football and hockey and do so happily."

Published in the Daily Echo on Monday December 11 2006