Poetry: Life Ain't a Spectator Sport

Poetry: Life Ain't a Spectator Sport

Dr. Jim Riley

Are we doing enough to encourage our children to get out of the bleachers and onto the gym floor? Should our schools even have bleachers?

On the next page, PE poet, Jim Riley, voices his concerns that we are becoming a society of watchers instead of doers.

Life Ain't A Spectator Sport

Life ain't a spectator sport, I say,
To adolescents gathered for class;
Give what you can give each day,

Printable Poem
Printable Poem
And success will soon come to pass:
I see in the stands, while coaching,
A fantasizing, unfit hoard;
Sitting and watching others play,
Not seeming even one bit bored:
T.V's are on in every house,
Five to eight hours each day;
Lulling brains and bodies to sleep,
So passively their lives decay:
It's years of sitting and looking,
With sodas and junk food all night;
Training bodies to lounge and peer,
Somehow, it just doesn't seem right:
Do spectators enjoy themselves,
Or are they secretly afraid?
To actively live for fear they may fail,
Living life as a phoney charade:
Life ain't a spectator sport, I say,
Participation is the game that's in;
Strive daily to do the best you can,
In life's game you will always win.

Dr. Jim Riley

See below to download a printable version of the poem (both colour and black-and-white versions).



Contributor: Dr. Jim Riley taught at Vandenberg Middle School, in Vandenberg, California.


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