The Milan News-Leader
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Blast from the past
Jana Miller
PUBLISHED: October 9, 2008
I miss the good old days of sports. And when I say the good old days, I'm not referring to a time before professionalism or a time when college teams were clean and not televised. I'm talking about elementary school games.
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I have yet to encounter a sport that brings me as many fond memories as kickball. Those good, old-fashioned youngster games train us all how to interact in athletics, how to love the game, make friends with teammates and conduct oneself fairly.
And they're really fun. I can name off at least 10 favorites right now, and I bet you can, too. Because they're never forgotten, no matter how old we get.
Think of the flag football, the thunder and lightning (which, yes, I know goes by many different names from place to place), p-i-g, four square, kickball, bombers and jets, red light green light, dodgeball (touchy one) and heads up seven up.
I can't even fathom what I currently would be remembering about elementary school if it weren't for these games. Eating glue, maybe?
I know I learned all the basic skills I would need to be an intelligent human being from really great teachers, but my appreciation for the simple game has not gone away.
I do believe adult leagues in these simple sports should be more common. I feel like leagues are the perfect place to see a major comeback from kickball and the like.
If you think about it, the reason these games were so hot at young ages is because they A) included everyone, B) weren't hard to learn and C) weren't that difficult to play. No longstanding rulebooks, no jerseys, no special plays, just sports. Just a good, old-fashioned workout.
And that's what we all really need these days, anyway. It was never supposed to be about the uniform or the press coverage or the complexities. It's supposed to be about being active and staying healthy in a fun, interactive way. What better way to do that than to play a "kid" sport?
At a time when obesity levels are at an all-time high and about one in three Americans is overweight, it's time to return the fun. Running on a treadmill isn't fun. Watching television on an elliptical for hours isn't fun, either. And what's more, they only help your body for so long. Once a muscle group adjusts to a certain workout regime, that regime is no longer truly effective.
Your motions should vary from day to day, and sports always have been the best way to do that, encompassing multiple motions and actions all at once.
But let's face it, some of the current adult leagues are kind of scary and competitive. I joined a volleyball league and the 40-year-old women yell at me, and I'm a good volleyball player. Now, I understand this is probably the exception rather than the rule, but some people are like that and competitiveness isn't for everyone.
So change it up. Let's get back to the basics, back to the fun, and find some exercise in the most fool-proof ways to actively enjoy ourselves. Contact your local community education leaders and request new league formations in activities that sound enjoyable to you. See you at the four square!
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