Kids' coach loses sight of goal

Your son has the hard luck of landing the word “hors d'oeuvres” in the spelling bee. He scowls after getting the word wrong and sulks in his chair, refusing to clap when the champion eventually triumphs. When he irritably rebuffs your offer to go for pizza to celebrate a job well done, you wonder if he can spell s-p-o-r-t-s-m-a-n-s-h-i-p.

The movie Kicking & Screaming, released on home video October 11, can teach your kids why being a good sport is a good choice. After watching the movie, use our questions below to spark a family conversation about over-competitive consequences. Then do our activity and put on your “Game Face” to bring the big-screen lesson to life!

The film features Phil Weston (Will Ferrell)—a happy-go-lucky suburban dad who is at odds with his hyper-competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall). When Buck, who coaches a top-ranked youth soccer team, trades Phil's bench-warming son (Dylan McLaughlin) to the last-place Tigers, Phil volunteers to coach this anti-dream team.

As the Tigers begin to win, Phil turns into the mirror image of his victory-crazed father. The young soccer players become Phil's pawns in the cutthroat competition to win the championship title. Will Phil's bloodthirsty coaching get in the way of the kids learning how to become true champions?

Talk Together

Which character from the movie would you most like to have as your teammate? What skills did he possess that would help you win? What is it about his personality that would help make you a better person on and off the field? Do you think you are a good teammate? Why or why not?

Take turns sharing the time in the movie when you thought Phil was the biggest poor sport. If you acted like that, can you think of anyone who would want to listen to you or be around you? What kinds of lessons were the kids on his team learning about being a leader?

Think about the last time you lost a competition. How did you react? It's okay to be disappointed and frustrated, but you should still be a good sport regardless of the score. In your opinion, what does being a good sport mean?

Play Together: Game Face

Have a ball with this game to remind you to have fun in the face of competition.

You will need:
• Soccer ball
• Various colors of permanent markers

Take turns drawing strange and funny faces on the small sections of the soccer ball. Include faces that are happy, outraged, confused, frustrated, and elated. Pass the ball around until all the spaces are filled with faces.

Once the ink is dry, toss the ball back and forth to each other. When you catch the ball, check to see on which face your left thumb lands. Now you have to do your best impression of that expression while saying the phrase “Pass me the ball” before you pass the ball on to another player.

Screaming “Pass me the ball” while rolling your eyes and stomping your feet may annoy the other players, while whispering the phrase with a goofy grin may cause giggles. Which kinds of commands do you respond to best?

After a few tosses, your family will realize, just like Coach Phil, that approaching competition with good attitude makes for a win-win situation.