Wear your sports kit to school day

[Contraryish]

Today, my children's school is having a 'Wear your sports kit to school day'. Not PE kit, kit from external sporting activities. Cricket club, ballet club, whatever.

This doesn't sit right with me somehow. Perhaps because I have bookish children who aren't involved in any sports clubs (although they do do cubs). It smacks to me of showing off sporting prowess and embarrasing those whose achievements lie in other areas. Am I overthinking it?

My children have gone to school in their normal uniform. Hopefully they will not be the only ones.

I think you are overthinking :) It's just another costume day. Presumably there is nothing to stop your DC dressing up as a ballerina, footballer, gymnast etc whether they do those sports or not?

(when our school has those days most people turn up in football shirts).

We get this all the time. We live in Australia. Everyone does a sport. The first time I encountered the phenomenon, dd wore a Newcastle United top.

When I first got here a woman said to me 'so, what sports do you play?' I didn't know what she meant.

My dd is as nerdy as they come. She does netball, gymnastics, athletics and cross county. And swimming which 'doesn't count'.

I would send mine in in shorts and t shirt, swimming costumes not being appropriate .

My DS never really liked sport and I just used to send him in a football shirt ,it's really not a big deal.

Do they ride bikes? Shorts and t shirts would've been fine.

Mine doesn't do any sports clubs, but I'd have sent him in in cycling kit, or any other active clothing.

Ds isn't successful at any school sports, and this sort of thing may give children without an obvious sporting talent a chance to talk about something they enjoy

Doi they not have any jogging bottoms? I think you are massively over thinking this and have probably made the contrast worse for them by sending them in uniform.

No, they don't have football shirts or jogging bottoms. They have normal clothes. They have t-shirts and shorts but that isn't sports kit, in my book.

Clearly I am overthinking ... The school has a habit of springing these things on us at the last minute, I think deliberately so that people don't go out to buy new stuff.

We'll its Monday so you had the weekend presumably to buy a football shirt ,which is what I would have done ,I really can't imagine anyone else going in uniform.

Send them in the t-shirts and shorts and present them as wearing sailing gear.

I sympathise. Our last one was 'dress as something starting with the first letter of your name' I had to fashion this skunk costume out of a toddlers old halloween costume. Glue guns are your friend.

I think you were b u to send them to school in uniform. How embarrassing for them. You could have put shorts and tshirt on them and it would have been fine. The school did a dress up day which was very easy to find kit for and it seems you deliberately ignored it, despite owning shorts and tshirts. FYI plenty of children do sports wearing shorts and tshirts - my dc do, there is often no need to buy specific stuff. Surely your dc own trainers as well. You have used your dc to make a (non existent) point which nobody at the school will get, they'll just think you forgot.

I have the reverse problem, when it's book day characters. My two don't have a favourite book, in fact they aren't overly keen on reading at all.

Sports we can do.

I'd have sent then in shorts, t shirts and trainers. I think you were being mean to send them in uniform to be honest. I don't understand your thinking.

Our school did this: it was sports kit or bright colours. DD1 lives in her football kit at the moment so for once it was a dress-up day that we could do. DD1 hates dressing up as a general rule and last year we really struggled (we own not one outfit in her size! and hey, I can't be bothered making) but wear her football kit? Hurrah!

How old are your DC? DD1, despite not liking dressing up, would have been upset to have been left out.

And fwiw I think it's a bit odd about having to show "sporting prowess". DD1 is also "bookish" and will never be playing football professionally but she likes her kit.

She's good at swimming: maybe I should have sent her in a cossie as that's what she's good at?

We had a "dress as an underwater sea creature day" last year: clearly DD1 couldn't be totally realistic with that one...

Apologies for the cycnism: there are lots of parents who come out with that sort of thing on the playground at our school and I always find myself thinking it's being totally overthought!

Last two years nearly all the girls came in shorts and t-shirt as Jessica Ennis and the boys in same as Usain Bolt. This year it was either football shirts or clothes in vaguely the same colours as a country they liked. But you'd have to work hard to guess in most cases. Really it was own clothes day. Those who wore judo or karate kit had jeans and t shirts on underneath. None of them came out wearing them. There are a few keen swimmers who came wearing goggles but again, jeans and tshirts.

Country they liked in the World Cup. England were already out. Am guessing most supported Brazil as lots of green and blue.

Do they really not do any sport? Not even kicking a football / knocking about a tennis ball in garden / park?

I understand where you're coming from OP.

Ds school recently had this too. Ds does however play a few sports, he isn't involved in any clubs though, except the school Judo and his gee (?) hadn't arrived in time. Mind you, the size of it would have made it a bit awkward to work in.

Going back to your point. When we first received notification that it was 'dressing up in a sport you're involved with' at our school, I did wonder what those kids who don't do any sports dress up as, I do think the school should have give an option of the dc being able to wear their own PE kit, after all this is a sport they're involved with, would have made it easier for kids who don't do any sports outside of school. There were a few dc who turned up at our school in their uniform, I didn't think poor dc, if they're anything like ds they have their own mind and wouldn't have thought anything about it.

i have a non sporty ds, the only things sport related he's remotely interested in is go-karting, scooters that kind of stuff so for sport relief he went in shorts and a t-shirt with a skate boarder on it. yes, not sports kit but its the closest we had.

I think you are over-reacting. Plenty of kids are not involved in sports but that doesn't stop them wearing sports clothing. As others have said, shorts and a t-shirt would have been so much better than school uniform.

I agree you're over-thinking this - it's a non-uniform day - and they tend to have themes so kids don't just show up in jeans and a t-shirt (which is a bit boring). Given it's nearly July & relatively warm - sports uniform (football kit/ ballet outfit/ etc...) kind of make since as an option.

I get that you're not big on sports or maybe your children aren't but you might be supportive of physical fitness, or racing to raise funds for a charity, or a sports figure might be inspirational.

Personally it's easier to achieve (most people have shorts & a t-shirt or can wear their PE Kit) than the usual dress as a greek goddess, a princess, a Tudor, an Egyptian, etc....