Don't Play With Boys

Using the poem, "Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid as inspiration, I looked deep into my past and attempted to pick out a unique characteristic that sets me apart from other people; my poem entails the rules of a little girl, who for 9 years, struggled to earn respect while playing on the boys' sports teams. Not all the boys or their parents were very supportive, so to say. In this poem, there are various rules, (some funny, some serious) that I had to follow. The moral of the story is, don't give a second of thought to what insults ignorant people throw at you; it's not worth it!

But I’m just one of the guys. Walk onto the field with confidence and prove you belong here. Okay Dad. What’s a girl doing here? Don’t listen to their parents. Don’t waste your time. Leave! You’re not good enough. You must still act somewhat feminine. You’ll never be able to keep up. We don’t want her playing with our sons. Qué es una chica haciendo aquí? I love when the Jersey City soccer team makes fun of me in Spanish and thinks I don’t understand. Don't stay in the hotel room with the boys; they might run around naked. You’re a girl; you can’t strike me out- I just struck you out! This is how far you have to hit. This is how fast you have to run to first base. This is how fast you have to pitch. This is how hard you have to kick the soccer ball- if you want to keep up with the boys. This is how much passion you have to play with to earn a smidge of respect. I just knocked a twelve-year-old boy on his ass. Does he respect me now? This is how you maintain your composure on the mound. This is how to shake hands after the game like a competitor with the jerks who scrutinized you. Don’t strike out or they will never respect you. Make the throw home or they will never respect you. Score this goal or they will never respect you. This is how you hit a foul ball at an opposing jackass coach where it hurts. Don’t quit. When do they shut up?  While they are thinking of ways to intimidate you, you work that move you been working on and score. She can’t play boy’s rec basketball. This is how you make a petition and fight what is wrong. And this is how you stay strong from failure due to ignorance. This is how you make baseball pants, button down jerseys, and high socks look good while all the other girls are running around in skirts; either way, black pants are always slimming. Don’t ever cry in front of the boys. Don’t ever let them get to your head. When you cry, don’t hide in your shirt. They win. After all these years of fighting and proving yourself and having fun and winning you are really going to be the kind of girl/athlete who the boys can talk away confidence and pride from? No!