Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I spoke to my 11 year old sister today on the phone, (she lives in Australia, I live a long, long way away). She told me that she got picked first for netball today. I was like;

"What, they nominated two kids to be captain and then you all stood in a line and got picked one by one?"

"Yep. And I got picked first!"

"That's great," I said, but inside I was seething. I never got picked first, if anything I was the last pick. Which is funny because after school I was the only one of my class to make a living from sport.

I had assumed that the school system would have phased this sort of stuff out by now. If anything is designed to make kids feel like a piece of [censored] it's watching all the other kids being picked, desperately hoping that the little bastard who is captain is going to pick you, until finally you're picked because there's nobody else left.

And then you play like crap and confirm why you're last pick.

So were you guys first or last pick? And were any of you the captains? Oh man, to be the captain and GET TO PICK! That was a dream.....

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was almost always the captain, don't know why. Guess the gym teachers loved me.
I was usually picked among the first, I don't think I was ever picked first though. Good enough to get picked first, not popular enough to get picked first.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Soccer - First
Baseball/Softball, Football - Middle
Basketball - Last

I'm pretty athletic, but have always sucked at basketball. It didn't help that I didn't hit my major growth spurt until high school (I'm now 5'9").

I'm also surprised they still do things like this at school.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Somewhere in the middle usually, but it depended on the sport.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Always last. I would be picked last today. As able-bodied young men go, I must be in the bottom tenth in terms of athletic gifts, which makes the fact that I am a serious amateur athlete particularly odd.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Never the captain, and it always depended on the sport. Usually first for baseball/softball and 2nd or 3rd in basketball (tall and slow). Middle of the pack in most other sports.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Last, last, last and last.

The only thing that bothered me was having to play sport in the first place - would much rather have been reading.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

i was usually the first white kid picked

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

almost always picked last except senior year when I wasn't athletically superior but at least showed effort in gym class. That year I got picked above people who had no interest.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Kickball - First pick or captain
Dodge ball - First pick or captain
Basketball - Early/medium Pick
Soccer - Medium Pick
Football - Medium/Late Pick
Baseball - Late/Last Pick

Obviously I should join that professional dodgeball league...

Ray

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was always picked last for everthing, even Ultimate Frisbee :/

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was always picked around the middle with friends. I was known as the kid who would always try really hard, so it made up for the lack of physical gifts.

I went to play in a random pick up basketball game over the summer and I was picked last. That pretty much sucked.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Am i the only kid who went from last the 1st day, middle the 2nd day, Then 1st(top pick) the rest of the year?

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

It sucks. I was never first, thankfully never last either.

I always felt bad for the boys who got picked after a few girls.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I can't really remember, but somewhere just after half way, maybe 60-70%. I was the best in the school at basketball, but was always designated a captain so never had the chance to swagger up as I got picked first [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was usually a top 3 pick for every sport that we did this, although this was usually on the playground as my school gym class didn't do the pick teams thing. Also, my HS had no gym class, which I was thankful for. I hit my growth spurt pretty early though, so I was always bigger and taller than everyone else, so I was an easy early pick.

Even having "grown up" the whole pick thing still hurts when you don't get picked early. It definitely puts a chip on my shoulder when I get picked in the later rounds for basketball (my height prevents me from ever being the default kid), makes me play harder though.

It's pretty satisfying when you have to switch up teams after a few games because you were a late round suprise. I haven't played baseball in forever, so in a fast pitch game, I'd probably not pick myself high at all. Soccer is a bit more intuitive, so I think I'd be ok.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

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I always felt bad for the boys who got picked after a few girls.

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Oh yeah, that's brutal. In basketball often it's because they don't understand how terrible they are, or don't care, and turn it over or hoist a terrible shot anytime they touch the ball. You'd rather have 4 people - it's practically 6 on 4 anyway.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Last, always. I had asthma and couldn't run worth a crap.

Didn't get fat until after puberty (ie 8th grade) so that wasn't part of the reason during elementary school. They just all knew I couldn't run.

T

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was usually picked first for most sports. Growing up I was fairly athletic in swimming, baseball and football. I was usually picked close to first in sports I didn't excel at like basketball, soccer and ultimate in college.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Closer to the end than the beginning. Part of this was that I was a year and a half younger than everybody in my grade, and my gym classes would frequently have people from a grade or two higher, as well, so I was scrawny and runty as hell. I found it only slightly unpleasant, as I recall.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Sometimes I was captain, sometimes I was picked first, and sometimes last. It all mattered on what I was playing and who I was playing with.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Was usually picked near the top in baseball and football (speed ftw), usually in the bottom half in basketball because I was really small (but had decent skills).

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

i grew early, was picked first in everything. oh the glory days...

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Last.

Obv.

Although I learned early on that being a decent free throw shooter helped you not get picked last in basketball, because then you could be the one doing the picking. I seem to have lost that ability after years of neglect however.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I was typically picked in the 1st tier. Super brag: I was picked as Gym Class Hero, which basically meant I got a certificate for being the best in my gym class.

For some reason, I used to be really athletic in high school and gradually got worse at sports. Now, I'm just kind of average at most sports.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was almost always the captain, don't know why. Guess the gym teachers loved me.
I was usually picked among the first, I don't think I was ever picked first though. Good enough to get picked first, not popular enough to get picked first.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same here.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

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It all mattered on ...... who I was playing with.

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See, this is why I'm surprised that they still do it. So often it turns into a popularity contest with all the "cool" kids being picked first. I was the opposite of a cool kid in junior school.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Although I learned early on that being a decent free throw shooter helped you not get picked last in basketball.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone consistently play with guys who do the first five to make a free throw on the same team thing? Retarded if the goal is a good game. Yeah, variance, doesn't measure defense or ball handling, etc. Still retarded.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

I always got picked near last, except for ultimate frisbee(which I was by far the best player in the class at during high school)

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Always in top tier...any sport. I was superjock.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Basically last for everything but soccer and kickball where I was middle despite being one of the best players ([censored] schoolyard politics). My elementary school class had this weird system in football where the best players always played on the same team, but this one guy that was way faster than everyone decided to play for the scrubs so the games were competitive.

I spend many afternoons dominating 4 square though, I was quite the force to be reckoned with.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It all mattered on ...... who I was playing with.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, this is why I'm surprised that they still do it. So often it turns into a popularity contest with all the "cool" kids being picked first. I was the opposite of a cool kid in junior school.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was pretty bad at most sports, but the captains often picked me early because I had ingratiated myself to them through Machiavellian machinations. Looking back, it may not have been worth the effort.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

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Am i the only kid who went from last the 1st day, middle the 2nd day, Then 1st(top pick) the rest of the year?

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Me too

I usually went in the top 50% the first time playing with a group. After that it was top few slots.

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Am I the only one who doesn't think picking is at all bad? I guess in a perfect world, some authority figure splits the teams up evenly or just divides the bottom four, but if the goal is relatively fair teams, isn't picking the easiest way to go?

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

My first memory of picking was for soccer and I remember getting picked last and thinking, "what? I KNOW I am better than all these kids!" I was new to the game and of course I was picked last. The kids picked were a combo of the good players and friends and I was unknown which meant neither a friend nor did they know if I was any good. We played the game and did great and was picked first from there on.

I am pretty athletic and am good at most sports so once whatever social scene I was in knew me I was usually the one wanted on both teams. I am not a cocky person at all, but I had confidence within myself so when I was a little kid and wasn't picked it didn't bother me--it just made me want to prove them wrong for picking me last.

I understand where you're coming from Adsman but I am really having to look at it from a different prospective b/c I never had that beaten feeling before--even when I was picked last.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

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Am I the only one who doesn't think picking is at all bad? I guess in a perfect world, some authority figure splits the teams up evenly or just divides the bottom four, but if the goal is relatively fair teams, isn't picking the easiest way to go?

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No I agree picking isn't bad. I got picked last the first bunch of times I played ultimate frisbee because I was absolutely terrible so I definitely know what it feels like. It's disappointing, but it's a pretty realistic assessment of your skills and provides motivation to improve.

The best was in places where one captain is picking all his buddies and the other is trying to pick the best players. The popular team gets slaughtered and then in the future the game becomes less cliquish.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

i think the defeatist/everyone gets a trophy attitude bothers me b/c so much of what separates kids athletically until college is pure effort and fitness. I was a 3 sporter in high school who basically got by on pure heart and it often irked me when I saw a lot of people with better physical gifts than me shy away from contact or hard work or the ball come clutch time.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

[ QUOTE ]
clutch time.

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R U VY?

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

Towards the middle. I was always one of the better athletes, but I was a quiet, shy kid and it was easy to overlook me. I never minded, it felt good to excel and have your teamates be surprised by that.

Re: Were you picked first or last for the sports team?
 

How deep in school were you guys experiancing these drafts? After elementary school, P.E. became very organised in my schools, so the draft became a thing of the past. The only times after 5th grade that I was in this situation were during intramurals and the occasional pick-up basketball/football game among friends.