10/31/2025
💰 Stop Paying Kids for Scoring Goals
Many parents mean well when they offer a few pounds or a treat for scoring goals but research shows it can actually harm motivation in the long run.
📉 What studies show
When children get external rewards (money, sweets, prizes) for doing something fun like sport, their intrinsic motivation drops they start playing for the reward, not for the joy of it.
Once the rewards stop, the motivation often disappears too. Kids may lose interest because the reason they played was never truly their own.
Paying per goal can also lead to selfish play, chasing personal rewards instead of teamwork, learning, and effort.
⚽️ What we should encourage instead
Praise effort, teamwork, and improvement: “I love how hard you worked back to defend”, not “Here’s £5 for scoring.”
Celebrate the process, passing, movement, helping others, not just the end result.
Keep sport about fun and development
