Out on the schoolyard, there is nothing more suspicious than a growing huddle a kids. Suddenly, you look up, and there are ten kids staring at something you can’t see. Then, kids start flocking there, from clear across the yard, even. The huddle grows, swarms. The kids on the outer edges jump to get a peek. What are they all staring at? Is it an injury requiring more than just a bandaid? A fight? A bug? Is it a dance off?? (I’m always crossing my fingers it’s a dance off...it has yet to be one, though.) Then, there’s cheering. Then there’s jumping around while cheering. And the suspicion grows.
Such a huddle formed this morning. I like to wait for a sign of what it might be before reacting, because if it’s bad, students always come get me, and I don’t want to break up a fun huddle. Fun huddles are awesome. Most of my favorite memories from the years of sports I played are huddles. There is a deep camaraderie that comes from them.
So when it happened this morning, I sent a scout. Hey, go see what they’re all looking at, I said to a stray student near me. They scuttled over, gathered the intel, and came back. They’re armwrestling, my scout told me.
A short history of armwrestling:
- It can be traced back to ancient Egypt. A painting of the sport was in a tomb dating back to about 2000 BC.
- Armwrestling as we know it is based on a Native American game dating back to the frontiersmen of the 1800s and became a staple of the taverns.
- The first recorded organized competition took place in 1952, right in Petaluma, CA.
- The sport was given a boost in popularity by Peanuts creator, Charles Schultz, when he created a series of comics showing Snoopy heading to Petaluma for the competition.
- There is an American Armsports Association, and a World Armsports Federation.
Who knew.
My scout ran off to rejoin the spectators. The huddle continued its swarming, cheering, and jumping. Of all the things to draw such a crowd of kids on the schoolyard, armwrestling is not much of a concern. Until they start placing bets, that is. Now, how to encourage the dance off……
-Signing off, Schoolyard Eagle Eye