This sent out to pupils by our local Highschool p.e teacher:
Dear Men of Forms 5 & 6,
"In life you never regret the things you did; just the things you did not do"
Would you like the words 'committed', 'determined to succeed', 'has leadership potential' and 'is a team player' on a reference from the school? Would you like to actually achieve something to be proud of this weekend? If so, read on.
You have a choice tomorrow morning. You can either lie in bed and achieve NOTHING or get up and start to be the person you want to be. You can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow men in the senior years, do battle with a rival school and walk away feeling proud of what you have achieved. Or stay in bed. Achieve NOTHING. The choice is yours.
For tomorrow morning the High School are sending a 2nd XV to XXXXXX Academy - we have a few spaces left. If you think "this is not my thing" - think again. If you have 'reasons' for not playing - are you totally sure they are not excuses? For example, "I haven't played in a while" - EXCUSE! Or, "I am not fit enough" - EXCUSE! Or even, "I am not any good" - EXCUSE! Or, my favourite, "I am going to study" - EXCUSE (stop lying to yourself!).
Do the right thing and click 'reply' to this email. Say "count me in" and achieve something this weekend. It will be a decision you will never regret. Think about the future, think about in twenty years' time when your adoring children look you in the eye and ask, "Daddy, did you play rugby for the twos?" You already know the answer you will want to give. Choose 2nds Rugby - achieve something. Choose bed - achieve nothing.
I am waiting to hear from you.
Mr XXXXX
PS. Acceptable Reasons are:
1. I am not over 16 years
2. I am playing for the 1st XV
3. I am actually a girl and should not be reading this email
G
Posted on: 27 August 2016 by DrMark
Why is 3 an accepted excuse?
For the same reason that they have men's and women's sports in the Olympics, and a separate circuit for both tennis and golf. Ditto basketball and ice hockey, among many others.
If we want everything to be "equal" then let's have one league for all humans, and we will see how many females get to participate based strictly on athletic ability compared to their male counterparts. It wouldn't be more than a handful, if that. (More at the lower levels, and fewer, ending up at near zero at the top ranks.) Obviously the type of sport would also affect that as well.
And that is not "prejudice" or "anti-feminist" - just a simple statement of physiologic fact.
Posted on: 27 August 2016 by winkyincanada
Why is 3 an accepted excuse?
For the same reason that they have men's and women's sports in the Olympics, and a separate circuit for both tennis and golf. Ditto basketball and ice hockey, among many others.
If we want everything to be "equal" then let's have one league for all humans, and we will see how many females get to participate based strictly on athletic ability compared to their male counterparts. It wouldn't be more than a handful, if that. (More at the lower levels, and fewer, ending up at near zero at the top ranks.) Obviously the type of sport would also affect that as well.
And that is not "prejudice" or "anti-feminist" - just a simple statement of physiologic fact.
Interesting discussion for sure. I have always been at a severe disadvantage in terms of making a professional career out of sport due to my relatively inadequate physiology (and probably my lack of interest in doing so, of course). I don't consider this to be unfair nor discriminatory. Sport is played at all levels, and I can participate as I choose at the level appropriate for the combination of my level of natural ability/physiology and commitment to training.
Posted on: 27 August 2016 by DrMark
Granted...and as an ice hockey player and referee, women's hockey has made strides in quality of play that are nothing short of phenomenal. Back in my playing days there were probably only a handful of women in the world who were better than me - now there are many who are better than I ever was. But they can't come close to competing at the higher levels. (And of course, neither could I.)
At the "pre-puberty" levels many compete very favorably with the boys (and from what I hear from the coaches, they are much more coach-able than their male counterparts...owing I am sure to their generally better maturity level at younger ages. They tend to listen much better...boys tend, well, to be boys.)
However once it gets to the 13 and above ages, there is very little they can do to keep up and that is also when body checking enters the game, which also widens the chasm. Testosterone is a powerful hormone.
When Chris Evert was ranked number 1 to 2 in the world, she would practice against her then husband John Lloyd (whose best ATP ranking was 21) and I read in an interview with her that she said it was no contest - his power was more than she could handle. Even Venus and Serena would have trouble against the men, and they are far more powerful than any women players I have ever seen...I bet they couldn't crack the top 20 or even 30. Also why do women play only 3 sets as opposed to 5? Or have shorter tee distances in golf? Or why the circumference of a women's basketball is smaller. It's just physiology.
Women's sport is a great thing. It gives women the opportunity to compete that would never exist if there was only one equal platform irrespective of gender. It has also given women the opportunity to make a living at sport, where they never could if it were one platform for all sports. (Think WNBA, LPGA, WTA.)
Some sports are more popular in their female versions than their male (e.g., figure skating, gymnastics) - in fact I think the most valuable medal financially and in terms of fame in the Olympics is the Women's Figure Skating gold medal winner. (Followed by the 100 meter Men's winner - the "fastest man in the world".)
Vive la difference, and celebrate the similarities...
Posted on: 27 August 2016 by DrMark
And as for sports participation, it should only be if the kid wants to do it and finds it fun. I had one friend who pushed his kid too far into hockey, from the earliest age had him on the ice with leagues, private skating lessons, etc all the time. Skating 6-7 days a week pretty much year round. His kid was great - always playing with the next age group because he was to good for his own, league leader in scoring, etc. Once day at about age 15, Tony woke up and announced, "I hate hockey, and I am done." - he's never played since.
Nothing wrong with pushing a kid to try something, but it has to be fun...and it has to largely be their choice.
Another friend has 2 daughters who are great athletes - everything they take up they are at state level within 2 years - they were in gymnastics, and the older one was recruited by Kim Zmeskal's gym (she of 1992 US Olympic and World Champion fame). They wanted her in the gym 32+ hours a week, which would have precluded regular school and meant private tutoring. This friend was "No, my kids are going to have a normal life and have friends and go to parties, and lead a regular childhood." Ironically after competing at the state level, the older one quit gymnastics too, because she wasn't enjoying it. Took up golf, and got a scholarship for college out of that.
