When were you usually picked for school sports teams?

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Every time a celeb mentions this, they say "I was always picked last". So when were you usually picked? Did it leave any permanent psychological scars? Did you have a brief period when you were actually pissed off about being last? And is anyone going to admit to being always first, or (SCUMBAG) one of the people the teacher always picked to do the picking?

― Graham, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When I was a foot taller than the rest of the rowing squad.

― Ed, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Basketball was the one where I was always the "picker" until me and a mate started playing in the UVI team towards the end of the fourth year. But most of the time it depends what sport and who's picking. Kids just pick their mates most of the time, so if it was a mate picking I was generally alright.

― Greg, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My schools always picked kids to be "team captains," who picked their friends first, athletic ability not a concern. If one of my friends was picking, I was one of the first, of course; if one of my friends got picked they would nag the team captain so i got picked in the middle or not quite last; if there was no one in the class i was even friendly with, which was rare, i'd be too busy moping to care about being picked last.

― Lyra, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I pulled off my best scam in tenth grade -- thankfully, the last phys ed class I had to take -- when I refused to 'suit up' and was therefore assigned to be the referee. Lovely.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was normally picked about second or third to last - not quite last. Fortunately, there were some people in my class who were even worse than me at sport. It wouldn't have bothered me if I was last. I hated PE and PE hated me.

My finest hour in PE was the time the teacher looked over at me during a game of football and said "James, the least you can do is stand up"

― jamesmichaelward, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was usually last, because not only was I the fat kid but my hatred of football was legendary. The only time I wasn't last was when Woolly was in the group, and no-one wanted him on their team cos he smelled of poo.

― DG, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i never made the 1st team, i just made the 1st team laugh...

― Geoff, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was usually picked last, well either me or the lad with the wooden leg.

If the same guys were being picked I think I'd be one of the first coz' most of them are useless beer bellied, fat fucks.

― Billy Dods, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was never picked last, so ha ha. Er, sorry. No, I was ok at most sporty things so I was usually in the top half or around the middle. My best result was being picked second for football I think.

― Ally C, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Near the end usually, I suppose, but where possible I tended to do non-team sports (tennis, badminton, running), or those where talent was really quite irrelevant, such as rounders (a magnificent doss which took place in a land of lazy sunny afternoons whose existence in school games mornings I still don't quite believe).

One particularly able teacher dealt with the selection process by letting it get half-way, and then a swift 'you lot with him and you lot with him'. Which got around both the division of talent question, assuming it was concentrated in the top half of the class and that deadwieghts didn't matter, while being senstitive to tubbies and duffers. He didn't call them tubbies and duffers, either.

― Magnus, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've just noticed my deliberate mistake. Have you?

― Magnus, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In a bizzarre attempt for losers to feel important our elemenatry school teacher made those most likely to be choosen last captains. Hence i was a captain.

― anthony, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Last, until I got moved down to a not-quite-as-good-in-fact- admittedly-worse group when I proved quite a handy right-winger and sometimes even got to pick a team. Also at this point was sometimes picked to play on the teachers team which was always about 6 v 20 on the other side. Bizarrely, may well have made 3rd XI hockey if any other school in the nearby area had had a 3rd XI hockey side, alas...

― Bill, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Last year.

― Ronan, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Picked last in early school years due to being generally runty and sickly. My fortunes improved later because I could run fast, and chubby girls who cut gym to smoke are USELESS when they actually turn up.

In girl games (skipping, double Dutch, Chinese rope, four square) nearly always picked near the top.

― suzy, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was never picked first because I am weedy and in school I looked like a toy assembled out of wire scraps. The joke was on those who did not pick me though, because I am deceptively strong and fast and I am ace at softball.

However, being chosen nearly last at school games has scarred me and I shun sports even though I would have the ability to excel if I chose to.

I prefer to be a quiet, bookish type anyway.

― rainy, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i was always picked last when i was at primary school. it only bothered me at first until got accustomed to having no mates.

at high school, i dunno. why? cos i always bunked Physical Education. (bunking means playing hooky, BTW)

― lady die, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hm I was decent at soccer, or at least a pain to play against because I had a tendancy to kick peoples shins instead of the ball. Otherwise, I would just skip PE and go home. It got me a truckload of detentions but so what. Sit in the library for an hour reading vs running cross country. Gee, let me think about that one....

― bnw, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't really understand *why* games teachers adopted this system of selection. Why didn't they just pick them teams themselves to avoid psychological scarring? ........ Oh, I see.

― Nick, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not very good at team sports, so I usually just about avoided being in the last half dozen. I used to beat a lot of the boys at cross country though, back in the days when I could run for more than five minutes without chugging up a lung. I have legendary darting skills, although it has been noted that, as I am taller than many lads, I shouldn't really play from the girls' oche. But I say HAHAHAHA to them and take full advantage of my gurl priveleges.

― Madchen, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

privileges

― Madchen, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I always got picked third/fourth after the obvious Sport Billy's and popular dudes. Thanks to being pretty useful fellow at teamsports esp. baseball and footie (of course). Sadly my game got worse in my late teen years as I had to adjust my footie skills to my hard man persona, enter the Spanish Razor.

― Omar, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I would either get picked first or second, not unfortunately because I was any good at sport, merely because I was liked and irrationally feared a touch and no-one wanted to hurt my feelings. I would get picked first of there were an odd number of participants. I would get picked second if there was an even number of participants. Can anyone work out why?

― Pete, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't think a fear of someone who throws chairs at people's heads could really be described as irrational.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

May I take this opportunity to remind the ILE community of something. PETE LIES.

― Emma, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Richard. I very rarely let go of the chairs. Its gifting the opposition a weapon.

Okay, okay. I used to get picked last. Always. If there were an odd number of people the team captains would rather be down one person than pick me. In team sport I am like Jonah. Except there is no whale involved. (Actually what is so bad about Jonah?)

― Pete, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He cursed a fig tree. Gods get very upset about that sort of thing.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Motherfucking fig trees.

Still no thunderbolts.

― Emma, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He cursed you in advance with a cold.

― Pete, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I rocked bombardment, by the way. Being skinny and knowing how to avoid being hit often left me as the last man standing on the losing team. I remember the gym teacher having to call off the game because no one could hit me.

― bnw, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I always got picked last, mates or no mates picking. We had a rotation system of captaincy and in fact the very very worst weeks were the ones when I was captain and had no idea who to pick or where to put people. Whereas with me everybody knew I was crap and would go in defence, and what is more they knew I knew I was crap and would want to go in defence. So if they were my mates they'd just concentrate on getting the people who weren't crap and could happily pick me up at the end.

It's one of the aspects of school life which has left the least scarring at all. Actually playing the fucking games was far worse.

― Tom, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Actually a similar rotational system operated with the teachers who would be in charge of the games. Molesworth was completely right on this - there is a real division between Mr Hebert the PE teacher who would do everything to 'motivate' you short of firing a gun at your feet and telling you to dance, and Mr Bush who usually did music and just stood there with rain dripping off his nose in a classic study of our old friend Beckettian futility.

― Tom, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Never picked last at sports -- always had a deceptive atheletic ability.

In a similar, but not entirely related story: We were assigned groups to work in in elementary school, and I, being the smart one, was always put with the obnoxious kids by teachers who thought I would be a good influence. I tried to have those kids traded to other groups. Seriously. I would talk to other group leaders and swap people so that all the smart kids would be together. Teachers didn't like that so much.

― JM, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

seventeen years pass...

Hey jocks!

I was never involved in school sports. I hate sports. But last year my kid mentioned wanting to play lacrosse. So I was talking to him again about trying out for the team next spring, and he was like "I don't have any lacrosse experience, so I can't do that. I'll be on the bench all year."

Is that the way it works in JV sports? It sounds to me like he might have it at least partially wrong, but I honestly have no fucking clue.

― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 16:25 (six years ago)

I hate sports.

Exempting hackey-sack, of course.

― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 16:26 (six years ago)

If the team is all absolute beginners, he can rely on his raw talent to show off his potential to the coaches. But to your sons' point it sounds like he'll be playing with kids who have experience, so he will need to work on fundamentals, drills and off-season conditioning if he wants to be competitive and acquire playing time. If he has the motivation, he will envision what it takes to be a regular contributor during the season and take the steps in the offseason to ramp-up-to/achieve that. Also worth him talking to the coach and ask for advice to get to that level.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 16:48 (six years ago)

Got it. Yeah, tons of kids around here probably got their start in middle school.

― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 16:53 (six years ago)

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