Were you picked first or last for the sports team?

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I was almost always picked first or near first through most of school. The reason was that I grew very early. As a 12 year old, I was 6 feet, 185 lbs, fast and very strong for that age. I was able to bench 200 lbs without too much trouble when I was 13.

Of course, I'm now 25 and I'm 6 feet, 205 lbs. So I'm a little more normal now. But even through most of high school, I was still one of the biggest and most athletic kids. So I was favored in various gym competitions such as the one described in this post.

[LazyBob]

Would be picked late the first time, early after that. It always felt good to impress the people who didnt pick me [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[ArcticKnight]

1st in floor hockey/ground hockey
1st in touch football (QB and DB)
2nd or 3rd in baseball
middle in ice-hockey
last in basketball (and deservedly so). If they had waivers at the time, I think I would have been ended up there.lol

I see no problem with the picking method. When you are picked last there are no expections and any play you make is appreciated by your team. If you screw up...well...you were expected to screw up.

That said, I think there is a signifant difference in two scenerios.

1. Bunch of guys show up at the school-yard to play something, and then decide to pick teams. In this case, if it bothers you that much that you might be last, you just don't play.

2. In gym when it's a "mandatory" thing and all the class is playing volleyball or whatever. If you are picked last here it might suck if you are at an awkward age, because you really don't have the option to opt out.

I remember in junior high we had two really weak kids, and the gym teacher was really cool. He made them captains, and that took the pressure off them. They knew why they were captains, but felt some power and control by picking the teams. Heck, they'd even offer to sit out first so their team would do good - they got right into it.

[sonneti]

I was always about 4th or 5th from last, not the complete rejects.. but close..

[jtown1010]

Your gym teacher sounds like a cool guy arcticknight, I think it would do a lot of kids a lot of good if their gym teachers put a lot more effort into putting them in a situation to be succesfull. Athletics can be great for your self esteem when you're young, and being awkward athletically can really stunt your social growth.

[Jim14Qc]

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I had a Sociology of Sport class that taught us it is better to have even teams than to have one team blow-out the other and drafting (normally) creates the best opportunity to make the most even teams. Basically it is better to be picked last and play in a competitive game than to be shoved on a team and get killed.

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Yeah, I can see this. And I think you're all correct about it being the best way to do it. The thing that really bummed me out was that I went to a school that used sport as a means to grade general excellence, but only those who were naturally talented. If you weren't naturally gifted then you were left behind. I only realised this when I changed schools and had a few great coaches and suddenly I was in the first teams for all the sports that I played.

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There are plenty of American schools with Math teams, business competitions, debate teams, science competitions, mock trials, trivia teams and more. There were so many other ways to excel and be recognized for mental acuity.

When it came time for chem lab partners, you certainly weren't picking a partner based on their athletic skill. When it came time to do math projects, you didn't get picked based on your ability to pass or set. [I was always picked last in math class. People avoided me and the teacher had to find me a partner.] The mock trial team wasn't based on the ability to jump. There are plenty of opportunities to excel, and if you weren't good enough in athletics, it smacks more of jealousy than anything else.

I was a very good student, except I was awful in math. I never got it, I still don't get it. I was basically a 7 subject A student and 1 subject C/D student. When it came time for math class, I didn't weep because I was crappy at math and got picked last.

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I am a very sociable guy. I'm friends with many people who were in the popular crew in high school (at least those who grew up to actually do something w/ their lives and not become bums). Yet at that HS time, although just about everyone knew me, I was THE guy to pick on and although I was among the smartest kids in whatever class I was in, I nearly always had a hard time finding partners for science or whatever other mental classes, unless one (or more) of my friends was w/ me in the class.

The whole popularity teams thing extends beyond gym class, but being picked last (I'm not great at sports, although in good shape) there wasn't great either.

[Zefa]

Was the first asian picked.

But was also the last asian picked.

Predominantly white communities ftw.

[quickfetus]

First for soccer (pacey goalscorer through middle school, intelligent/aggressive defender high school onwards) early middle for football (fast with decent hands, but soft Jewish boy who was always scared to get nailed) late in basketball (generally useless, can't shoot/dribble) and baseball (no explanation necessary, dumbest sport ever).

[peachy]

I was usually the captain...prolly cause I was/am so out-spoken and "my" team usually won so they kept making me a captain, weirdly enough it was usually me as one captain and a boy as the other. I rarely remember it being me vs another girl, but then again I can only recall doing the team picking thing a number of times anyway. If I wasnt captain I was picked among the 1st, depending on what we were doing and if the person picking was a friend. (most of these things were for kickball, softball, volleyball, red rover, etc. - obviously)

[kkcountry]

i was in g&t classes all through elementary and middle school with a bunch of uncoordinated nerds so I was always one of the first picked no matter the sport, but in high school i started to get picked closer to the middle of the pack when the level of competition increased, and i wasn't getting any taller or faster.