STUFF YOU MAY NOT HAVE LEARNED IN MIDDLE SCHOOL: EVEN THOUGH IT’S WIDELY ATTRIBUTED TO HIM, SHAKESPEARE NEVER ACTUALLY USED THE WORD GADZOOKS.
P.E.—you either love it or hate it. If you’re an athlete and like physical activity, then you probably love it. If you’re not an athlete and therefore don’t like doing anything involving physical activity or some kind of ball, birdie, or puck, then you probably hate it.
Unfortunately, a big part of P.E. is the process of picking teams. The only people who typically like picking teams are the people who always get picked first; everybody else hates it. And nobody hates it more than the guys and girls who seem to always get picked last. It’s no fun being last, whether it’s your winless soccer team or getting picked last for the P.E. dodgeball tournament. It can be super-embarrassing and can really affect the way you feel about yourself. If you find yourself getting picked last for P.E. teams, here are a few things to remember:
Remember that P.E. class is not everybody’s favorite. Not everyone likes sports, and that’s okay. Not everyone likes competition, and that’s okay, too. Not everyone likes running around and working up a sweat, and that is totally fine. People dislike P.E. for a variety of reasons—I’m not an athlete, I’m not a fast runner, The mile stinks, My P.E. teacher is a wacko. You don’t have to like P.E., but giving a little extra effort may be all it takes to get a little better at some of that “P.E. stuff.” And getting a little better might be all it takes to keep you from getting picked last every time.
Ask the teacher if there’s another way to pick teams.
Like we said, it’s not fun to get picked last. The best way to avoid getting picked last is to come up with another way to assign teams. There are lots of other ways to create teams without having team captains pick them in front of the entire class. Ask the teacher if any of these alternatives can be used:
• The teacher puts the teams together before class starts.
• The teams are randomly created by giving each student a number or drawing names from a hat.
• The teacher picks three students at a time to form teams so no individual student is last picked.
Nobody likes to get picked last. But it’s important to remember that in life’s big picture it doesn’t really matter how quickly you get chosen for a team. God made you, and he loves you no matter when you get picked.