Five sports and games we should
totally reclaim from our childhood

> Staying active is much easier when you're having fun doing it

Rebecca Peterson
Staff Writer

 

Gres are not for everyone.
However, everyone can find
a sport they like. Unfortunately,
it seems as though some of the
most entertaining sports and
games from our childhood have
been cast aside in favour of more
“serious” sports such as soccer,
hockey, and football.

But just because freeze tag
doesn't have an Olympic Team
attached to it, doesn’t mean
we should abandon it now that
we've become, to an arguable
extent, adults. So in honour
of the forgotten games of the
elementary school playground,
here are a few fun sports we
should bring back into our lives.

1. Capture the Flag

The Hunger Games has
nothing on the intensity levels
that a good, rousing game of
“capture the flag” can achieve.
The competition is fiercely
cutthroat. Asa child, I remember
drawing up battle plans and
solemnly discussing war tactics
with other 10-year-olds. Imagine
what this game would look like
now, amongst adults.

It’s far easier to get wrapped
up ina game if there’s a common
goal to work towards, with many
different factors in play. Who will
be the unsung hero who rescues
people from the opposing team’s
“jail?” Who will act as decoy to
lead enemy players away from
the path of the fastest sprinter?
Who will climb a tree, risking life
and limb, to retrieve the flag for
their team and bring it across the
dividing line? And what penalties
will we, as adults, put in place for
the heinous offence of puppy-
guarding?

2. Manhunt

Similar to capture the flag, this
modified version of tag provides
a narrative to get the adrenaline
pumping. However, unlike
capture the flag, this game is less
about strategy and more about
tapping into our primal instincts.
The childhood version of this
game mostly involves running
laps around the school and trying
to fool your friends into thinking
you're still one of them so you can
get close enough to tag them.

However, the more “adult”
version of this game is often
played in the dark with flashlights
and radios, bringing the game to
a whole new intensity level. My
one suggestion would be to play
this game in a public park that
is known to be safe, and to let
the local authorities know not to

worry if they get a call about an
angry mob chasing that one last
lone survivor.

3. California Kickball

Baseballs are very hard and
can cause a lot of damage when
colliding with the face. Footballs
are pointed at either end and can
also cause a lot of damage when
colliding with the face. Anyone
who’s taken a soccer ball directly
to the gut off the foot of a well-
muscled and merciless player can
attest to the force and power with
which it can knock the air clean
from one’s lungs.

However, the balls employed
in California kickball are very
soft, and far less likely to cause
internal bleeding if propelled
into a defenceless body part. It
does not take a particular amount
of skill to roll the ball towards
one’s opponent, nor does it take
much skill to kick a ball twice
the size of one’s head. It’s a good
excuse to get out, enjoy the spring
sunshine, and form grudges
between opposing teams that will
last for decades.

4- Dodgeball

Many of the merits cited in
the paragraph directly above this
one do not apply to dodgeball.
The sole purpose of dodgeball
is to vent your rage and anger by
hurling things at other people
and hoping you don’t miss. Invite
your ex, their new significant
other, that guy who owes you
money, and that one person
from your English class who
keeps stealing your pens without
returning them. Deal with all
your petty annoyances in a fun
and healthy way, but remember—
it only counts if you hit them
below the face and above the belt.

5. Red Rover

There’s a chance they may
have banned this game from
elementary schools since my
childhood, but regardless, this
game is actually a perfect chance
to network with your coworkers,
classmates, and peers. Forget
awkward, joyless name games
during company workshop
sessions—what better way to sear
someone's name into your mind
forever than to watch the person
attached to it come barreling
towards you with the sole intent
of trying to break either your han
d or your arm to crash through
the barrier you’ve created with
your fellow teammate?

If nothing else, the pain and
fear will bring people together, as
well as the civil suit presented to
your boss for suggesting red rover
as a team-building exercise in the
first place.

  
  
  

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Still from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

    

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