When We Were 4-Square Kings

In elementary school we played 4-square. We played every recess and lunch hour, every day, and even after school some days. And we were very competitive. "We" being myself and 2 or 3 of my equally competitive friends. We were the elementary school jocks - even though I was a somewhat nerdy teachers pet, and the son of the Phys Ed teacher...

Our school parking lot had a giant grid of 4-square courts, so that each class in each grade could have their own court. Kids lined up to play, all trying to make it to the King Square - mostly without much success because we were so dominant. We had a system. We preyed on the weak. We developed our own underhand spike techniques (the trick was to use the base of your wrist). We knew how to drive the ball into your chest so that in would land out-of-bounds, and you would have to go to the end of the line. We were the 1970s Habs of 4-square. Others complained that it wasn't fun to play with us, but we were remorseless...

Then, in grade 5, the complaints came to a head. We were scolded and chastised, and rules were invented by the teachers so that we couldn't monopolize the King Square for more than a certain number of consecutive points. It was like taking away tag-up offsides and 4-on-3 power plays to oppress the Oilers' offensive juggernaut of the 1980s. We still played, and we still destroyed, but we were essentially castrated...

Politics. Pfft.