Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The comedy routine of sports trials

One of the first things many secondary schools put their newbie sec 1 kids through are sports trials. These often take place during the first week of school or orientation, as the various sports attempt to identify and recruit potential players for the school teams.

The sports trials at Lesley-Anne's school were held last week and every sec 1 student had to undergo them. Basically, they had to try out at the sports stations to see if they would be shortlisted. The advantage is that you get to try out for a ton of different sports, many of which the kids probably would never have experienced before. The downside is that many of these kids, as I discovered, are decidedly unsporty and having to undergo one sports trial after another must be nothing short of torture.

Lesley-Anne was recounting what happened and it was just hilarious. Sports ranks lowly on her range of interests and it appears that she's not the only one. They had to shoot hoops for netball and basketball, do leaps for wushu, run sprints, do a long distance run, flip an opponent for judo, do catches for volleyball, among other tests. The kids huffed and puffed. They complained about how heavy the short putt ball was. For gym, they had to jump on a trampoline and many bounced awkwardly in circles before falling off.

The seniors would call out, "Who's interested in basketball?" *silence* "Who's keen on volleyball?" *crickets chirping* Finally they said in desperation, "You can't ALL be interested in the performing arts, right??"

When Lesley-Anne told me that she recorded one of the fastest times in her class for sprints, I figured her classmates were no Flo-Jos. Then I discovered she was even shortlisted for softball.

"Wah, maybe you got hidden talent! Did you hit the ball very well?"

"Err... the first time I hit the stand. The second time the ball bounced off."

I thought maybe it's just her school with the sports duds, until Elan shared similar stories of the sports trials in her son's school. According to her son, the standards for the trials fluctuated, ie as the coaches got more desperate, the standards got lower. By the time it came to her son's class which was the last one, he got selected for softball even though he didn't know what the sport was, as well as soccer even though he knocked down half the cones he was supposed to dribble around!

The wushu test initially was to squat with one leg in front and one extended behind, then jump up and kick until your leg is parallel to your cheek. By the time the last class did it, the test became: "see how high you can jump".

Thanks for allowing me to share, Elan. I laughed until my sides ached. No wonder schools nowadays are putting more focus on sports DSAs. If they had to rely on all these bookworms with two left feet, the schools ain't entering the Sports Hall of Fame anytime soon.

11 comments:

Elan said...

More of the hilarious sports saga. So my son went for his first soccer training today. He really loves soccer so against my motherly instincts, I've let join soccer.
Result: he scored an own goal by falling on the goalie and then falling on the ball. He also got his first sports injury - his toenail came off as his soccer boots were too tight. 2 months ago, when he last wore them they were ok at size 6, tonight we went to buy another pair and he is now size 9.5!!!
Does anyone want to invest in Nike shares?

elan

monlim said...

Aiyoh Elan, you really make me chioh gao peng lah! So comical - but looks like you're letting him continue on his soccer adventure eh? Never say die!!

Lilian said...

Aiyoh, this post is just so funny. Really laughed out loud about the girls jumping on the trampoline and falling off!

Elan: C can't be that bad at soccer, cos he's one of the boys who played soccer at recess last year right? Brian, meanwhile, played chess during recess last year :) And C was actually able to dribble, so having some cones fall is probably loads better than the other klutzes whose soccer balls probably went all over the place! Future Fandi Ahmad all the way! And 9.5!!! He didn't seem to have grown that much from last year, how come his feet grew so much?!

Anonymous said...

Children nowadays really need to be an all-rounder - Pass NAPFA test, do well in CCA and even academics. Gone are the lobo days we used to have. BTW, does the CCA considered as a subject in school and will mark with grade?

~ my

monlim said...

Yah, I agree with Lilian that C can't be that bad esp since the school is known for its soccer prowess, if I'm not mistaken. He must really be quite solid!

Lilian, I think Brian might have discovered a hidden talent in wushu too so you see? The school might still make a sportsman out of him yet!

MY: CCA doesn't count as a subject but I think they get points for it. Definitely a different world our kids live in nowadays.

breve1970 said...

Wa Monica.. looks like I must be quite serious about this CCA business this year. Do the kids need to take a sport CCA and/or a society CCA in secondary school??

Hannah was in Drama CCA last year and we missed the audition for it this year. Yikes! She has her regular 1.5hr golf lesson every Sunday and her swimming (thats the survival test and not competitive swimming so its not regarded as a CCA). She is pretty fickle, one minute she wants table tennis, the other minute, volleyball and the next minute, badminton. Aiyoh...

monlim said...

Ann: It's good that Hannah wants to try out all the different sports, at her age, it's too early to limit her. She'll discover what she really enjoys eventually!

Schools differ in their requirements, some sec schools require you to take a sport but for L-A's school, it can any CCA as long as you have one.

Elan said...

My son's school requires 2 CCAs, 1 must be a uniformed group and the other can be either a sport or club.

Yin said...

Hi Monica, could barely suppress my laughs as I read this post, can't imagine if Ryan had to go thru sports trials!! So far he hasn't had to .. yet. Read with interest your other posts - so much fun & info as usual. I'm going to see if I can get hold of a copy of Young Parents! You look Fab! I love the Can't live with ém, can't live without ém post, I know what you mean!! As much as I look on with pride and thankfulness at his growing independence, it's so hard to let go! And thank you for the list of wishes for wisdom for 2010...so well put. Same to you!

monlim said...

Hey Yin, so great to see you here! Yeah, our kids are growing up fast but as much as I will miss all their antics in pri school, I'm starting to realise that there are equally funny moments in sec school :P Hope Ryan is having a fabulous time in school and please do keep in touch!

breve1970 said...

Thanks Monica and Elan for your advice :)

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