Comments on: Breaking the rules? http://www.lanniebyrd.com/2008/10/25/breaking-the-rules/ Converged media notes Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:33:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jason http://www.lanniebyrd.com/2008/10/25/breaking-the-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Jason Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:48:35 +0000 http://lanniebyrd.com/?p=363#comment-53 At Caleb’s age, I would vote for teaching him the rules. As he gets older and plays more, he will learn the art of the “professional foul” but by clearly understanding the rules his first instinct will be to follow the rules. From a sports perspective, this is much better in the long run as in the older leagues, the refs will be more strict in calling these fouls and by understanding them instinctively he will be a better player. From a life and sports perspective, I don’t think you have to teach “professional fouls” as much as you have to teach rules. Our human nature is to cut corners and figure out what we can get away with while it takes discipline and practice to follow the rules. Once he clearly understands the rules, and it sounds like he might already be there, you can explain to him that there are consequences to breaking the rules and sometimes you have to weight that against the consequences of not breaking them. In soccer, the ball is going into the goal and the only to stop it is to use you hands. You do so knowing that you will get called for a hand foul and the other team will get a penalty kick but that is less of a consequence than the other team scoring a goal. In life, you see someone was has a flat tire and needs your help but stopping will make you late for work. You stop and help because breaking the rule is the right thing to do. At Caleb’s age, I would vote for teaching him the rules. As he gets older and plays more, he will learn the art of the “professional foul” but by clearly understanding the rules his first instinct will be to follow the rules. From a sports perspective, this is much better in the long run as in the older leagues, the refs will be more strict in calling these fouls and by understanding them instinctively he will be a better player.

From a life and sports perspective, I don’t think you have to teach “professional fouls” as much as you have to teach rules. Our human nature is to cut corners and figure out what we can get away with while it takes discipline and practice to follow the rules.

Once he clearly understands the rules, and it sounds like he might already be there, you can explain to him that there are consequences to breaking the rules and sometimes you have to weight that against the consequences of not breaking them. In soccer, the ball is going into the goal and the only to stop it is to use you hands. You do so knowing that you will get called for a hand foul and the other team will get a penalty kick but that is less of a consequence than the other team scoring a goal. In life, you see someone was has a flat tire and needs your help but stopping will make you late for work. You stop and help because breaking the rule is the right thing to do.

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