Comments on: The Basket Case http://drexelpublishing.org/2009/11/19/the-basket-case/ providing literary publications that highlight outstanding writing ranging from student work to international submissions Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:25:18 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Maia Livengood http://drexelpublishing.org/2009/11/19/the-basket-case/comment-page-1/#comment-500 Maia Livengood Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:32 +0000 http://drexelpublishing.org/?p=996#comment-500 *cliques *cliques

]]> By: Maia Livengood http://drexelpublishing.org/2009/11/19/the-basket-case/comment-page-1/#comment-498 Maia Livengood Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:55:44 +0000 http://drexelpublishing.org/?p=996#comment-498 As someone who has played pretty much every sport growing up (with the exception of softball...yuck) I can definitely relate to the “clickiness” of sports. And with girls sports, it doesn’t always stem from who’s the most talented; rather, from who has the most expensive shinguards, cleats, iceskates, and swimsuits, or who looks the best in a tennis skirt, for that matter. Clicks develop as a product of social hierarchies, and when you’re entering a sports arena, egos and die-hard competitors aren’t hard to find. Many coaches and even parents play into the scene too—which often discourages team members from continuing in a sport where they don’t thrive (sigh). In private leagues, they try to avoid this problem by separating “competitive” teams from “noncompetitive” teams. But even if your goal in sports is just to have fun, who wants to try out for the noncompetitive team and be instantly stuck with THAT stigma? Heck, I’m still embarrassed to say I play Drexel club soccer instead of D1! Growing up, I loved basketball. I played 1 v. 1 with my dad daily, and spent hours on my own just shooting hoops. Never having played in a league, I decided to try out for the high school team as a freshman. I saw very clearly that I wasn’t as good as the other girls, but I kept at it for a few weeks because I truly enjoyed it. Then, one day at practice, I heard our coach whisper to our team’s star, “Go easy on her,” right as we were about to start a drill. It broke my heart, and I haven’t picked up a basketball more than twice since. On the other hand, I played in my first soccer league at 5, and started playing in a private competitive league at 12. I got irritated with girls who weren’t as competitive. I’ve even been red-carded and thrown out of games for verbal abuse(yes…that bad). So having seen both ends of the spectrum (somewhat ashamedly), it’s really hard to say how inclusive sports ought to be. By nature they breed competition, but, do we want kids to quit at things just because they don’t excel? There’s definitely something to be said for the fact that you stuck with it Julia, I couldn’t. Kudos! As someone who has played pretty much every sport growing up (with the exception of softball…yuck) I can definitely relate to the “clickiness” of sports. And with girls sports, it doesn’t always stem from who’s the most talented; rather, from who has the most expensive shinguards, cleats, iceskates, and swimsuits, or who looks the best in a tennis skirt, for that matter. Clicks develop as a product of social hierarchies, and when you’re entering a sports arena, egos and die-hard competitors aren’t hard to find. Many coaches and even parents play into the scene too—which often discourages team members from continuing in a sport where they don’t thrive (sigh).

In private leagues, they try to avoid this problem by separating “competitive” teams from “noncompetitive” teams. But even if your goal in sports is just to have fun, who wants to try out for the noncompetitive team and be instantly stuck with THAT stigma? Heck, I’m still embarrassed to say I play Drexel club soccer instead of D1!

Growing up, I loved basketball. I played 1 v. 1 with my dad daily, and spent hours on my own just shooting hoops. Never having played in a league, I decided to try out for the high school team as a freshman. I saw very clearly that I wasn’t as good as the other girls, but I kept at it for a few weeks because I truly enjoyed it. Then, one day at practice, I heard our coach whisper to our team’s star, “Go easy on her,” right as we were about to start a drill. It broke my heart, and I haven’t picked up a basketball more than twice since.

On the other hand, I played in my first soccer league at 5, and started playing in a private competitive league at 12. I got irritated with girls who weren’t as competitive. I’ve even been red-carded and thrown out of games for verbal abuse(yes…that bad).
So having seen both ends of the spectrum (somewhat ashamedly), it’s really hard to say how inclusive sports ought to be. By nature they breed competition, but, do we want kids to quit at things just because they don’t excel? There’s definitely something to be said for the fact that you stuck with it Julia, I couldn’t. Kudos!

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