Why do youth sports leagues make kids vote for each other?
Publicly announcing exact peer vote counts turns team selections into a popularity contest. This practice hurts children's feelings and makes the process feel pointless for parents who see it alienating kids instead of fostering teamwork.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Questioning league norms or discussing whether coaches should handle selections insteadDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Idk if I’m too “woke” but I just don’t see the point in an all-star team to begin with. It just makes some kids feel bad.”source ↗
“(FWIW my son was voted to the team, but I feel it’s more of a popularity contest).”source ↗
“It does seem a little weird they would announce all the votes. Also a little weird the kids are voting for each other.”source ↗
Where this came up
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