one of my most embarassing non-athletic moments

T

Tallchick

Cathlete
Not that I am athletic, I really am not, but I was doing a Cathe this a.m., one with all her leaping and jumping and realizing that she started out with gymnastics, reminded me of one of those embarassing times. When I was a sophomore in high school, our year was forced into doing gymnastics. I hated all of it, I couldn't do any of it and all I wanted was out. One of those days, they forced us to do the uneven parallel bars. My 72" inches would not, could not allow me to move from one bar to the other. Two of the P.E. teachers were trying to force me over while I was screaming "NO NO NO". Everyone was watching, it was horrible. The next day, one of the teachers anounced that there was going to be a soccer group for anyone not interested in gymnastics. About 40 of us went for it. I like to think I was instumental in that. I realize that most gymnasts tend to be petite and I know that even if I was petite, I still wouldn't be able to do any of that. By the way, soccer was so much fun that I joined a soccer club for the next summer.
How about the rest of you, any athletic or P.E. horror stories???
 
The only thing I can think of right off hand: When I was in middle school (called Jr. High in my era) we had to take showers after P.E. Then, we had to "parade" past our P.E. teacher and if we weren't wet enough, she sent us back in to shower again. Remember how you used to shower in 5 seconds so no one saw you naked? Yep, that was me!!!
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie")http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
We didn't have to shower in Jr. High (I still call it that too, I will not give in). Can you believe what schools used to get away with in comparison to today? Count the lawsuits it you can!
 
I have blocked memories of high school PE from my mind. I was the most unathletic person EVER. The only sport I was any good at was badminton - I used to LOVE free Fridays in gym class because they'd let me set up the badminton net and I would kick all my friends' butts. I could whack that shuttlecock like no one else! :p But, I digress... most of my PE experiences were not so positive.

Like the time my family moved from VA to IL after my sophomore year. I was starting at a new school and their PE classes were different than what I was used to - you got to pick different "modules" that lasted 6 weeks each. You could do anything from step aerobics to golf to dance, etc. Well, I was new at this school and didn't know what all the modules were about. The girl next to me excitedly signed up for something called "Skill & Body", and I excitedly signed up for it too, having no clue what it was. Turned out it was an intense cardio and weight training routine - weights on M-W-F and TOUGH cardio on T-Th. Keep in mind that I was very out of shape and hated anything exercise related. This module was my worst nightmare come true! The coach made us "run the bleachers" one day. We were all in a line and had to go at the same pace as everyone else, lest we trip and fall and break our necks. Well, you can probably imagine, I did not last very long doing this. I started hyperventilating and had to get myself out of the line and out of the bleachers. Coach came over and was like "Ohhhh, you're okay - you haven't thrown up yet!" And I was ready to have a heart attack. Needless to say, he didn't have us run the bleachers anymore during that module!!

After that module was over, I picked things like tap dance and, of course, badminton. That Skill & Body module made me really hate serious exercise. I'd probably really enjoy it if I did it now though. Funny, eh? :)
 
I'm with Emily. Bad memories that I don't care to bring up again too much. But I will tell you that I hated the shower scene and refused to parade around my nude undeveloped body for all to laugh at so I failed gym from Middle School thru High School. I didn't participate in the activities because I got use to being the last one being picked for the team. Why should I humiliate myself everyday, instead just sit on the bleachers and fail was better for me. Just the way it was then.

Charlotte~~
 
Picture this:

Twelve years old. Don't really need a bra. Decide to be cool and buy a strapless bra (as in practically a tube top because I didn't need a real bra). Gym class comes around. We're supposed to do jumping jacks. Strapless bra rolls down and becomes cloth donut around my waist. Boys point and laugh. Lunacat runs to the showers in shame. :(

Fortunately that year I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis and got a doctor's excuse to get out of P.E. all the way through high school!
 
Only that I was ALWAYS picked last for the teams. It's a horrible thing that gym teachers allow that to happen - it really wrecks your self-esteem.
 
:D You all will get a kick out of this. Today is the official start to the competition. Everyone who is participating has to get a health screening done today at our Benefits Fair. I was out picking up my paperwork and this woman said to the occupational nurse, who is on my team and also organizing the competition, "We're going to win this, Diane." And Diane said, "No you won't. We've got Donna and she's our team captain." So the woman said, "Well, I used to be a Weight Watchers coach" and I said, "That doesn't matter. The focus is on exercise and eating your fruits and veggies. Weight loss isn't a factor." So she said, "Well, Sally over here is an aerobics instructor" and I said, "Well you know what they say...'those who can't, teach." Then I winked and left.

Kind of makes you think of a kid telling a story, doesn't it? "So I said, 'Get Out!' and she said, 'Make me!', and I said, 'I will', and she said....:)

BTW - we took the name "HR Huff n' Puff"
 
Oh my God! We had the exact same shower routine! Back then, as 13 year old girls, we were convinced the gym teacher must be a lesbian and was getting off on oggling our nubile (largely pre-pubescent and uninteresting!) bodies!

Adolescents are so predictable in their prejudices!


Clare
 
I know you meant this as a joke, but the "those who can't, teach" crack is so offensive. I am a teacher and next to being a parent, it's one of the toughest, most undervalued (as the "joke" demonstrates) professions out there.

I'd like to take a businessman or woman and stick them in the classroom and watch them fail and flounder......

I salute all teachers!

Clare
 
oh geez I think my whole life up until 16 was embarassing due to being quite obese, like 150 lbs. I always got made fun of, and worse than that, I could barely fit in those stand alone desks they have. I also remember one year going to Kings Dominion in VA & not being able to ride a roller coaster b/c they couldn't put the bar down. I was mortified! well, at 16 I took care of that and put them all to shame!

"you miss 100% of the shots you never take"

Debbie
 
>Only that I was ALWAYS picked last for the teams. It's a
>horrible thing that gym teachers allow that to happen - it
>really wrecks your self-esteem.

Me,too! Until a new girl came to town who was really geeky, and she was picked last (I was still second-to-last).

My entire grade school PE experience--probably into high school, but I like to block out bad experiences-- was horrible: embarrassing, humiliating, a severe blow to self esteem (whatever I had at the time).

And I agree with Donna, allowing "team captains" to choose teams is a barbaric practice that shouldn't be allowed. Obviously, gym teachers probably empathized more with the athletic kids, so had now idea how it made the "last chosens" feel.
 
I was always a "last picked" too -- mainly because I've never been the competitive sort, so I would never really "fight" for the team.

And the locker room stuff? What a nightmare. I had a serious case of "backne" - and cringed at the thought of people seeing me with a shirt off. I think at one point I claimed it was a "rash" during a scoliosis test. Ergh...

Isn't it funny now that we're all older and wiser and Cathe addicts that we could probably kick the butts of many if not all of our former classmates? Yeah - let's see who can do the 100 yard dash the fastest now!!!

}( }( }(
 
Oh goodness, school gym classes...

Up until about 5th or 6th grade we played a lot in gym. Then come junior high it was all about sports and competition and teams - it seemed like everything we did was team vs. team, or it was timed or measured. Our gym teachers didn't spend much time teaching a sport or skill - they assumed you could do it (or you couldn't). So instead of having instructional sessions and showing us how to, say, dribble a basketball or use our hands when guarding or techniques for mastering free throws, we'd get assigned teams and play half-court basketball for 45 minutes. If you played ball with your friends over the summer, you did fine. If you'd never played basketball in your life, you floundered. I've always enjoyed watching sports and grew up watching baseball, basketball, football and hockey at home but I never learned how to PLAY. Intellectually I understood what I was supposed to do but a gym teacher never showed me HOW. I was convinced all through school and into, oh, my late 20s that I was "unathletic" and "uncoordinated" when all I was, was untaught.

Allison
 
Oh Clare, I'm sorry. I obviously meant it as a joke to intimidate the other chick. I certainly don't believe that! I'm a lousy teacher, myself. And I have a lot of respect for teachers. That's one of the reasons I sent my daughter to preschool. Because I have more confidence in them getting her ready for "real" school than myself.

If it makes you feel any better, when I graduated college, I sold shoes for my first job and had to put up with all the "Al Bundy" cracks.
 
Allison, I could have written your post! My gym classes were the same way - our teacher just let us loose and hid in her office drinking booze. I thought I was so uncoordinated until someone took the time to show me how to do some basics, like throw a ball. Now I'm the "Most Valuable Chick" on my office softball team!
 
I skipped gym the entire first half of my senior year. I went to a Catholic all-girls school and they made us wear these stupid little blue dresses with bloomers underneath - EGADS!

The gym teacher finally caught me and I had to attend gym class everyday the second half of the year...guess who got the last laugh!

Tammy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top