What sports have you played?
I was on a softball team for exactly one year, but sucked, and later on a volleyball team… for one year, but kinda sucked. I also did karate for four years, but gave up when they kept promoting all the boys and not teaching me the stuff I needed to know to move up with them. The kiddo seems to be much more athletic than I ever was; t-ball’s starting up this week and she loves swimming and soccer and she’s also tried out karate and gymnastics and dance. (Though I will admit she does most of these with much more enthusiasm than skill, which is fine for a 6-year-old. Except swimming; she’s pretty darn good at that!)
5 replies on “Lunchtime Poll: Sportsball”
I did a year of little league “Minors” softball when I was actually supposed to be in “Instructional”, but the coaches refused to accept girls that year. Definitely put me off of team sports there. A few years later I did half-court basketball and pretty much just stood there, chewing on my little finger.
I high school, I joined the golf team for free golfing and excused absences. I also was on my HS ski team for the only year that it existed. I got my varsity athletics letter on a technicality, basically. It went well with my academics and band letters.
My last year of college, I started playing roller derby. I was never rostered for actual competition, but I did pass my minimum skills test. I ended up quitting due to the distance I had to travel, exhausting drama, and a royally fucked up foot.
I, uh, don’t think that organized sports are for me. I’ll stick to geocaching and kayaking.
I’m hoping to do an Intro to Derby thingie this summer. Not that I really want to do Derby, but I’m kind of wimpy on wheels (I’ve been described as having a “higher than average survival instinct”) and I’m hoping Derby will help me get over that.
I dabbled in sports. I spent a year each with gymnastics, ballet, tap dance, volleyball, and softball. But I played basketball for 11 years. I really enjoyed it, but I think I would have danced longer if it hadn’t taken me so long to convince my parents to let me do it. I still dance a lot and try to take ballroom classes whenever I can find one that fits in my schedule. Also Zumba makes life so much easier for me because it’s almost like a dance class–just bouncier.
I don’t really “sport” per se. I did the obligatory soccer/softball as a kid, but did NOT miss it when I aged out of the non-competitive leagues. However, I do have a story!
My husband is really into in-line skating. Since he was spending all this time doing skate stuff, he convinced me to do it too. I did, so I could actually see my husband and also because the other people are fun to hang with. I’ve been doing this for about 2 years, and recently became a certified instructor.
Anyways, there’s this thing called freestyle slalom skating, which is really awesome moves done around cones and Husband is really into it. The slalom instructor is really involved in promoting it as a sport. Last year, there was a competition in Portland, and Husband signed up to compete. I don’t do slalom. HOWEVER! There was a Beginners competition. To be a beginner, you have to have not competed. Since there’s not a lot of competitions, there are some pretty skilled “beginners.” Instructor-lady comes and lays this big spiel about how they really want some beginners that are actually beginners and I was going to be there already and think of the inspiration and, long story short, somehow I ended up entered into the Beginners competition.
At this point, I knew ONE move! And it was a really basic move. There were 8 people in the Beginners comp. The first round was two groups of four, and the top 2 from each group moved up to the final round. Imagine my surprise when I came in 2nd in the first round and had to compete in the Finals.
At which point, the commentator (Instructor-lady) started making mildly snarky remarks regarding my ONE move, so I added a second move to my repertoire…one that involved a fully extended middle finger. :)
And now, I am a nationally ranked Ladies Freestyle Slalom skater. I’m approximately 500th IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (so, you know, above the women that haven’t competed in a qualifying event, but below everyone else).
My initial response to this was laughter. I’m not sure that bodes well for the rest of my answer: riding, and a bit of running. I am not a particularly sporty person. Exercise: yes; sport: not so much. (Is screwing about with punctuation a sport? No? Darn.) I’m fine on a horse, and do pretty well on my feet so long as they’re not engaged with anything else, otherwise, I’m not quite so nimble.