The Catholic Weekly 30 October 2022

CATHOLIC VALUES including resilience, fairness, empathy and justicewill be lost on a gen- erationof young childrendue to new rules being introduced to junior rugby league in 2023. In the biggest shake-up the game has seen, NSW Rugby League is abolishing competi- tive games until the age of 13. Under the new structure, there will be no scoring, no winners or losers and no grand finals. In addition, players will be banned from participating in tackle rugby league until midway through the under 7s season. Aimed at increasing junior participation numbers and protecting children from inju- ries, sporting experts believe the new strategy will have dis- astrous results. Generations of rugby league players have come from Catholic schools; the game is in the top two sports played around the country. Angry parents, coaches and players have this week taken to social media to sign petitions against the revised rules and ex- press their outrage. “Winning and losing teaches valuable life lessons. Children need to understand that life has its ups anddowns and toappre- ciate the highs, you need to ex- perience the lows,” one parent posted. “Kids love the competi- tion. As soon as they learn how to count, they know if they’ve lost or won,” posted another. “This is absolutely ridicu- lous!!! Kids need to learn how to lose and how to respond to losing!! They won’t go through life winning every time,” anoth- er added. Catholic Schools NSW Di- rector Sport Services, Robert Rush, saidmany of theCatholic social values taught in schools may not be reflected in the new rules. He said that while he supported measures to grow participation in sport he wanted this to be balanced by allowing young players to gain exposure to the qualities tradi- tionally learnt through rugby league including winning and losing, humility, fairness and discipline. “I do not want Catholic val- ues taught by playing rugby league from a young age to dissipate,” he said. “Sport in es- sence is an opportunity to teach kids to be humble in victory as well as to teach you how to lose. “You could be the much bet- ter teamand youdeserve towin but the ball actually bounces the wrong way and the other team wins and it just wasn’t your day - but you learn to ac- cept this is part of life and in life you don’t always win and have to accept it. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cruel competition RugbyLeague refuses to let kids losewithdignity - and learn important lessonsabout life in theprocess ¾ Debbie Cramsie egacy of Faith, Hope future generations Contact : Thomas Ng on 1800 753 969 | thomas.ng@sydneycathol ic .org for a conf ident ial discussion or a f ree Wi l ls guide. DO YOU HAVE A WILL? CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY Scan QR code for more info www.ourfaithourworks. org/bequests Early Sydney Catholics had the will, passion and vision for the majestic St Mary’s Cathedral. Leave a gift in your Will to support St Mary’s Cathedral for generations to come. CatholicWeekly The S P E C I AL F EATUR E Culture Wars v Common Sense EDUCAT I ON S PORT MED I A THE WORKP LAC E $2 SUNDAY 30 October, 2022