Team Sports classes are a good way for students to play a variety of different sports in a non-competitive environment. One of the reasons I’m taking a Team Sports class this year is because I wanted a stress-free part of my day where I could get some exercise. However, the “just for fun” atmosphere of the  class can easily be compromised if just one person in the class is extremely competitive.

Unfortunately, my class contains a few individuals who take the games way too seriously. The first time I noticed this was at the beginning of the semester when we did the soccer unit.

Normally, the majority of the class walked or jogged around the gym and passed the ball to one another. Nothing too exciting. The more competitive students, on the other hand, felt the need to sprint all around the gym and kick the ball as hard as they could. More often than not, the ball ended up drilling an unsuspecting student in the face.

After an event like this, the competitive player would say something along the lines of “Sorry, bro. I get really competitive sometimes. We all good bro?”

To prevent any future injuries, I think that if someone wants to play a sport competitively, then they should explore that interest by joining a league. That way, they can be as competitive as they want, play against other people who are competitive and stop making things less fun for people in their Team Sports class.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with being competitive, it can help people push themselves to work harder. However, I do not think that Team Sports is the place to go all out.

Team Sports should be a place where students can try different activities in an judgment-free environment. From my experiences, students in the class are eager to participate and try new things, but become afraid to get involved when someone begins taking the class too seriously.

As soon as the first “my bad, bro” is uttered, everyone knows it’s time to sit out because they will have absolutely no fun if they stay in the game.

If you know someone who takes team sports too seriously, don’t be afraid to speak up. The students of Team Sports classes need to work together if we want to solve this problem. We must be united if we ever want to reclaim the “just for fun” environment of Team Sports.

It may take some time, but it will be worth it, especially for future team sports classes. So please, speak up in your Team Sports classes so future classes can rest easy.