I’m standing on the wet grass of an Elementary school soccer field with the April night cold seeping through my jacket, my legs aching from standing in one place for too long, and my throat sore from all the yelling. My hand forever paralyzed in the shape of a peace sign as it is the only symbol that will stop the clattering crowd of children in front of me on their feverish pursuit of a bounce house shaped as a Wipeout course. I dream sweet thoughts of warm chairs, blankets, and books; but that’s how I spend most of my Friday nights, and I do want the free run of the course that I was promised once the children are gone. I never got to try the course. I did, however, receive a lesson that impacted me for a long time afterwards. I turn to look at the progress of the child currently on the course. He is sitting on a giant red balloon that bends …show more content…
I begin to wonder if she is planning to help him complete the course. He is mumbling something, the children are talking, the crickets are chirping, and suddenly, there is a scream behind me. My eyes scan the tower, the girl is looking down onto the course with shock and worry. My eyes sweep over the course. I do not see the girl with the pigtails. I move closer to the ride to look over the low wall and see her. She fell between the first and third balloon and is lying in the soft moat, hurt. At that moment, the world stopped, but my mind and heart kept moving. Call the supervisor. Thump. No one is around. Thump. I can’t leave, someone needs to watch the kids. Thump. Is it safe to move her? Thump. Someone help! As I stood there, dumbfounded, a school teacher approached the girl and asked her few questions. She then helped her out and walked her away. My heart began to calm down and so did my brain. The girl’s friend scampered down the tower to join the group of people following the teacher. She seemed ok, despite the crying and slight
The soccer field is the only place he is able to do this, not at school, not at home, and not in his community. Paul has to leave Lake Windsor to be able to play soccer in Tangerine. The kids in Lake Windsor are snotty, rich, and self-centered. But the kids in Tangerine are hard working, resourceful, and proud. During their first soccer game, Paul described the game as, “The Palmetto players got down and dirty right away, and their fans cheered them on.”
able to call for help. She then walks back outside controlled by a strange force and going with
The first part of the series of articles The Physical Education Hall of Shame lists childhood games which are considered inappropriate for physical education classes. The author argues that some games are potentially unsafe, have minimal participation time factors, they are potential to embarrass the student in front of their classmates, and focus on eliminating students from participation. One of the harmful games is Dodgeball. Even though the game involves teamwork, strategy, and motor skills, the game might be dangerous, and also includes the highly skilled students. Another game mentioned by Williams is Duck, Duck, Goose. It is a game of a minimal participation, where generally five students
To do this, she paid close attention to the things in front her, such as all of the skiers zooming and gliding past the trees, which now began to look like ants from above. Sally thought, “This is easy, all I have to do is look straight ahead.” As time progressed, they got closer to the end of the ride. Since Sally felt comfortable with being on the ski lift now, she built the courage to look down to the ground that was now around 200 ft below her. She looked down and she saw a group of skiers looking up and pointing at the ski lift. Sally was confused, and wondering what she was missing out on. She looked back up and noticed that the ride had stopped! In an instant, this comfortable state vanished, as this was the exact reason why she was afraid of ski lifts. Little did she know that this was not a malfunction; the technician that heard the previous conversation stopped the ride on purpose, in order to scare her. The technician’s plan was not a secret, though, as there were cameras right near the controls, so anyone who checked the recorded footage could see it. This event was about to get a whole lot worse for Sally, her parents, and the
In Jessica Statsky’s article, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete’’ points out how competitive sports are not fit for children from ages 8-12,due to the fact that it could trigger both their physical and mental health. First,Statsky elaborates on the idea of children faking an injury due to the fear of getting hurt.She cites a mother of an eight-year-old Peewee Football player,who says “The kids get so scared. They get hit once and they don’t want anything to do with football anymore. They’ll sit on the bench and pretend their leg hurts…” (qtd in Tosches). Some children are driven to even more desperate measures. For example, in one Peewee Football game, a reporter watched the following scene as a player took himself out of the game:“Coach,
As more of my teammates began to show up, I recognized most of them. However, I learned later that if I went on to play in the Spring, this would not be the same exact team I would play with. With only twenty minutes until we began,I put on all of my gear and my dad gave me a thorough warm up. Time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, everyone was gathered together as positions were being assigned. I was originally overwhelmed with excitement, but as the game drew closer, the joy I had felt was replaced with anxiety. The lacrosse game taking place before ours ended and we entered and took our place on our bench. I recognized the opposing team’s jerseys quickly and identified them as a travel team from our area. Taking one final breath, I rushed into the lacrosse net enjoying my bird’s eye view, unsure of what was to
Youth Soccer has evolved into a fiercely competitive arena. More and more children are leaving recreational leagues to play in highly competitive select leagues. Select leagues are made up of teams, which players must tryout or be selected to play for. I had the unfortunate task of being an evaluator at such a tryout. Fifty ten-year-old boys had come out for a three day tryout in which forty five of them were placed on three teams. Cuts were made on the field and for those boys who had made a team it was a very exciting, but for the five boys who were cut it was absolutely heartbreaking. Had the children been older they might have been able to deal with the disappointment better, but for most of them it was their first real experience with public "failure". Select leagues have the potential to teach and promote important life skills such as hard work,...
According to a community soccer organization in Southern California, “the American Youth Soccer Organization hands out roughly 3,500 awards each season — each player gets one, while around a third get two” (Merryman). This community also spends up to twelve percent of the athletic budget a year on these types of trophies. The way this community values awards to children is not beneficial and does not teach them important life lessons. Giving every child a trophy in a community may cause them to underachieve; on the other hand it can also be a motivator to keep some kids active in sports. In sports as well as life there are winners and losers and children have to start understanding that little by little.
On February 28, 2005, I experienced one of the most exciting events that anyone could ever experience – winning a State Championship. The day my soccer team made history is a day I’ll never forget. However it is not just that day we won the title, but the whole experience of the preceding season that got us there. From start to finish, my team’s 2004-2005 season taught me that the platitude is true. You can do anything you set your mind to.
I took a deep breath and told myself it wasn’t going to be that bad and I could just use my instincts. As soon as I turned around the woman fainted, but luckily she was still breathing. She woke up about 30 seconds later and she asked what was going on, I tried to explain as much as I could, but I was just as lost as she was. I started asking all the appropriate questions and this time she had the energy to answer
To head, or not to head, that is the question In today’s world, the benefits of sports are huge. Sports are a way of teaching key skills that parents can’t such as sportsmanship, social values and many more. One of the most popular sports all over the world is soccer; hence soccer is the first sport that many children play and later on love. Within the past couple years, controversies have arisen over whether or not children should be heading the soccer ball while playing.
I ran back into my house and took my basketball from its case on my chest. I ran back down the stairs and stormed out of my house, trying to get my breath back while sweating profusely, and got back on the bus. The bus was filled with excited young peers’ ready to attend the first day of classes at a familiar school with friends; however, I had no reason to be happy. I was without my long time friends who I spent ten wonderful years with at Yeshiva Ohr Chaim. Nevertheless, I used my basketball as a means to get me through my first day of school because it was and will always be my “insurance policy.”
Suddenly, she heard a loud bang, followed by something heavy falling to the ground. At first, she wanted to stay under so she can stay hidden from whatever is happening on land, but a feeling of concern overcame her. Reluctantly, she swam to the surface and faced towards her friend’s direction. ----------Chapter 3: Triple
Finally, we have reached the age to play sports, but what sport would be the best? Many kids turn to baseball and football because these are America’s past time sport, but there is always a select few that choose soccer. Why, because their parents force them to play. Soccer, in a parents point of view, is seen as a safe exercise sport, you can make friends and most important, get outside. At such a young age, kids have never been the best at following directions, which leads to chaos on the field. Kids swarm around the ball wishing for the chance to kick the ball a couple of times. In all truth, “Kids don't grow up wanting to watch tag on TV, or be a professional tag player, and that's really how most kids who play it view soccer. It's fun, its outdoors and it involves running around, but that's about it” (Emen). Besides the fact of parents forcing soccer down the kids throat, they get the image that soccer will forever be a disorganized sport, which in all truth can be at some points. The main reason for this is because in America, we were never taught how to play s...
The teachers come, a large man begins CPR while the girl remains benevolent, in a matronly position, kneeling and cradling Al’s head in the cushion of her palms. Through it all she does not look up, even when spurts of blood from Al’s mouth reach her face and eyes, that blood built up within his orifice gurgling and geysering with each push of the teacher’s fists into his lungs. She does not turn from her grisly heroic task, though her arms shake from restraining and then supporting Al’s head, as she calmly reassures others that it will be all right. After seeing Al safely away with the EMTs, she takes only a few moments to collect herself, then, claiming no credit...