If Wishes Were Horses…
Julie was one of the smallest kids in her class, and she was always picked last for every team. Despite that, she loved playing volleyball.
The school started an intramural league for the students; the team members would be picked for each volleyball team. First, however, Coach Coffman would decide who would be the captains of the teams. The captains then selected their players.
Julie asked the coach if she could be a captain. Wringing her hands, she implored him, saying, “Please, please, can I be a captain?”
To which, Coach Coffman said, “Absolutely not. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Nancy Brady, 2019
This week’s prompt over at Carrot Ranch (www.carrotranch.com) was to write a 99-word (no more, no less) flash fiction, which incorporated the phrase, “beggars can’t be choosers.” Here is my take on the prompt. To join in or to read all of them, especially those which are less tongue-in-cheek, check out the site.
nbsmithblog...random digressions and musings 
Oh, no.
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I remember one year a school bully was selected to be crossing guard at the local school bus stop – the hope was that with responsibility the boy would ‘wise-up’. Coach lost an opportunity to place an intelligent child as captain to put the ‘snobs’ in their places. Too often with any child’s sport there is still the stigma to win instead of to learn to work as a team.
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Did it help? Putting him as a crossing guard? I sure hope so.
Learning to play as a team is one of the best lessons we should learn. While my story was silly, you are right. Sometimes the unusual captain could be just what is needed. ~nan
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I’m not sure if it helped while he was in school… but I heard down the road that he became a responsible father.
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BOO and HISS … what a terribly cruel coach … no sportsmanship there!
Well written Nan, gave me a strong reaction …
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Thanks Kate for your thoughtful comments. ~nan
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thanks for bringing out the worst in me 😎
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I think you saw more in the story than I did, Kate. Thanks for opening my eyes, like Jules did, to a deeper meaning to it. ~nan
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I really felt for Julie! Well done! Her story is like my childhood in sports, with not-so-fond memories of volleyball in school and at camp. But those memories pale in comparison to my dodge ball memories. Oy! Well, at least I can laugh about it now…especially when I watch the movie, DODGE BALL!
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I know what you mean, Barbara. I was part of a group of classmates, who called ourselves the Weaklings for our inability to hit the volleyball over the net without letting it bounce first. Now, I am like you. Dodge ball was another game I didn’t excel at, but I absolutely sucked at doing sit-ups and that’s why my physical education grades were so bad. I only found out later that one of the Weaklings had such great numbers because she and another friend always partnered up and counted by twos. Alas…
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