Lyndon Watson dragged himself wearilly and dejectedly from the playing field and into the locker room. Only minutes ago he had been told by the school's head coach that he was too small to play football in any grade. It was the last straw. Already in the past few months he had been dropped from the basketball team because of his lack of height and from the tennis team because there was no power in his serve. And yet as all the coaches had said, it was a pity because he had a natural turn of speed and good ball co-ordina- tion. He was, quite simply, too small to play with the big boys. Where the basketballers averaged 5'10", he was a little under 5'5". Where the football team averaged around 150 lbs. he tipped the scales at 112. He was slim, lithe, athletic and keen as mustard but he could not get a game on any team. And it was his first year in high school. At 14 he felt washed out and forgotten.

He showered, dried himself off, put back on his sweatshirt, shorts and joggers and set off for home, dismal and depressed. Outside the locker room he watched his friends passing and kicking for a while but that only made him feel worse. He crossed the gravel path which led to the rear en- trance to the school grounds, his short cut to home which was only a few minutes walk away. On route he had to pass by the girls basketball courts and again he stopped for a while to watch them work out. One group which included his friend and next door neighber, Dianne, has split into teams and were playing a friendly game together. Only it wasn't all that friendly. They were fiercely competitive these girls, each vying for a spot on the girls tree school teams. One team, Dianne's was a girl short he

A

SPORTING CHANCE

by Joanne Wilson - Australia

noticed and this was placing them at a disadvantage. He was aware of the subtle rule differences between girl's and men's basketball and was impres- sed by the athleticism of these trim 14 and 15 year old girls. The umpire blew up a quarter and the girl's left the court for a break. As they did Dianne looked his way and noticed him and came jogging over.

'Hey, what's up?'

He told her the story of his rejection from the football squad. Dianne already knew that he had been kicked off so many other teams and that he was very down as a result. She sympathised with him for a mo- ment and then suddenly had a brilliant idea.

'Hey', she said brightly, 'You on your way home?'

'Sure. What else?'

How about

'Listen we're a girl short in our training game. filling in for us?'

'Oh Holy Smoke, Dianne, in a girl's game?'

'Oh don't be ridiculous,' she said huffilly. We play just as hard as the boys. Wait, I'll have to see if its OK with the others.' 5.

She ran off before Lyndon had a chance to protest further and a minute later after a quick huddle with the other girls she was waving frantically to him to join them. Resignedly, he hopped the fence and trotted across just as the umpire whistled the girls back onto the court.

'Quickly,' Dianne said hustling him onto the court alongside her, 'you're playing goal attack. Everyone agreed.'

In just a few seconds Lyndon was involved in the game taking a deft pass from his wing attack and making his move towards the basket. Some twenty min- utes and six goals later the um- pire called up full time and Lyndon, dripping with sweat left the court with the other girls. He had enjoyed the physical exertion enormously and found that even his natural ball skills were matched by most of the girls and he had really had to work hard to produce his best.

'Wow,' Dianne enthused, 'you were great. God, it's a pity your not taller. You'd make the boys team, easy'.

'Oh yes,' the girl called Marsha agreed' I just wish we could have you on our team.’

Carol Perkins, the captain of the