Keeping score isn't goal -- or is it?

LINCOLN -- The pint-sized player booted the soccer ball into the net, then thrust his arms out like an airplane, and zoomed back toward his own goal.

``Three to nothing! Three to nothing! Three to nothing!" he shouted.

Seven-year-old James Sanderson was keeping score.

The only problem: He wasn't supposed to.

In many suburbs around Boston, where thousands of soccer players join such scrums every weekend, the score in the youngest children's games hasn't been kept in recent years, with the idea that deemphasizing the score protects the feelings of players and preserves their interest.

No-score games and no-trophy tournaments have been contentious in the past. The issue of keeping score in youth and school sports flared up again recently, when the governing body for Connecticut high school football adopted a ``score management" rule intended to prevent strong teams from humiliating weaker ones by more than 50 points.

Some specialists have long held that avoiding scoring in younger children's games counterbalances hypercompetitive parents and a focus on winning that dominates everything from sports telecasts to video games. But Harold Engstrom, a first-grade volunteer coach in Lincoln , said the drive to keep score often comes from the children.

``Even at this age, some like the idea of a hierarchy," he said. ``They don't just want to win. They want to see others lose."

His view was confirmed at Lincoln's school complex on a recent Soccer Saturday. In between gulps of water, several youngsters debated a just-completed match.

``It was 5 to 2," James Sanderson said.

``No, it was a tie," said his friend Reid Shilling, 8.

``I think it was 5 to 2," James responded.

The scene doesn't surprise Mike Singleton, director of coaching and head state coach for the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association. While his organization stresses development and enjoyment over scoring, he said, ``youngsters will always keep scores."

The idea of not keeping score and standings -- or not awarding trophies to winners in younger children's soccer games -- has had strong support in Massachusetts since US Youth Soccer endorsed the approach in the early 1990s.

``I think it's healthy to deemphasize the score, especially at early ages. As soon as you start to formalize the score, the pressure and expectations rise on everyone's part: coaches, parents, kids," said Peter Roby , director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University .

The state and national ruling bodies for youth soccer leagues have recommended that scores and standings not be kept in under-10 contests, saying that is the best way to keep youngsters interested in the sport.

In 1998, the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association drew some flak for taking the stand that tournaments for under-10 teams should not award trophies to winners. Dr. Richard Ginsburg, who directs the Massachusetts General Hospital sports psychology program, said parents should emphasize ``the joy of playing, a safe environment, and areas for development."

``These make up the foundations for good play and good kids," Ginsburg said.

Engstrom said the question of how much competition youngsters should be exposed to and at what age has created heated debate in his town.

Some parents, ``want their kids to be extremely competitive," he said. ``They want them to win; that's their primary goal.

``Other parents really want their kids to be well socialized, and they think keeping score is somehow antithetic to that goal," Engstrom said. ``I don't think there is a right answer."

Lincoln parent Cathy Jahrling has a son in second grade who, in addition to soccer, plays in Little League baseball games during which players can't strike out and the teams switch sides after five runs are scored, regardless of whether three outs have been recorded.

``They take as much competition out of it, but the kids always know who won or lost the game," she said. ``They know, as you're driving to the game, the stats of the team they're playing against and how much they won or lost in a previous game."

In Lincoln, children play from prekindergarten to second grade in an in-town soccer league. The scores are kept informally only toward the end of the spring second-grade season.

Official scores are kept from the third grade on, as teams travel to other towns. The town's teams are balanced to ensure that each is equally strong. Then, at the under-14-year-old level, the best players are grouped together for the first time.

After a recent passionate debate, Lincoln will begin separating players by skill level at the under-12-year-old level, starting this fall.

Engstrom said he has noticed that at the prekindergarten level, ``it's mostly about being with other kids," but by kindergarten many youngsters ``want to scrimmage and are absolutely keeping score. They want to win."

During the recent Saturday scrimmage for second-graders, James Sanderson, the 7-year-old, fell to the ground after narrowly missing a goal.

``It's shocking," James said of his missed shot. ``It's not good."'

So, what was good about the contest?

The reply came quickly and with gusto: ``How many goals we scored."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.