If we were to ask the majority of pupils what school sports team they would like to be in, most would undoubtedly shout out without hesitation “the First team”; the dream of every young aspiring sportsperson is to make the First team, the ultimate, the highest. The main reason that they probably will say that is that there they will gain great attention, glory, kudos and (whisper it softly) even privileges. They want to play on the biggest stage, at the highest level, against the strongest teams, with the best players, for the greatest glory. For many, it is all about making First team!
However, in every large school, there are others, indeed perhaps even many, who actually prefer to be in a different team, for different reasons. Some have even asked to be in a lesser team; not for them the need for attention, glory or kudos but rather a different form of kudos. Many want to represent the school at Fourth team level! Some have given up playing for a higher team because they want to enjoy the sport with good friends. Indeed, one school Fourth team played the Duran Duran song The Wild Boys before each match with the refrain blasting out loudly: Wild boys never lose it. Wild boys never chose this way. Wild boys never close your eyes. Wild boys always shine. They are seen as “Wild boys fallen far from glory, Reckless and so hungered”. Their thinking simply was that if they are going to have to play sport, let them enjoy it with friends.
At school overseas, in cricket at a senior level, there were the Firsts, Seconds, Third teams but then there were two other teams – Maniacs A and Maniacs B. Senior players played with a staff member in each team against local village green adult cricket sides; the Maniacs A side played all their matches at the school while the Maniacs B team played all their matches away, at local village greens beside the village pub. It will not require a great deal of thought to consider which team of the five mentioned here was the ultimate goal for any pupil!
Pupils are not ashamed or embarrassed of being in the fourth team; in fact, there is an inverted pride; they delight in being in that group.
They realise that it is not all about coming first, not least as not everyone can be first; someone has to play in the fourths, and rather than being low for doing so, many are chuffed completely. No-one likes to lose but they do not see themselves as losers. They are very happy to be in a team, especially the fourth team.
Yet “Fourth” is not usually seen to be a number to aim at. In tournaments and races, first, second and third are rewarded with gold, silver and bronze but fourth gets nothing. And at school, being in the fourth set is seen to be a big disgrace; pupils do not want to be in such a class as society has certain attitudes towards such. They are seen to be failures; they are written off as having no real hope. People will happily say they are in the first and even the second set but they will keep quiet about the third or fourth. So, why do pupils want to be in the fourth team but not in the fourth set?
After all, once they leave school (we do not say “once they enter the real world” as school is real), many will be in the fourth level of companies, associations, societies and may well still greatly enjoy the time. In a similar vein we would argue that fourth gear on a bicycle is better than first.
What every child should be expected to do (but these youngsters have a bigger advantage), when they leave school, is to fulfil the biblical mandate to “go forth and multiply”, not necessarily in terms of procreation but in terms of developing talents, along the lines of the Parable of the Talents in the Bible. We want pupils to go fourth and therefore go forth and multiply.
- Go fourth and multiply
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The reality is that the ‘Fourth’ very often do go and multiply far more than those who are in First school teams. Many youngsters who have played in lower teams and studied in lower classes do much better in the world of work than their counterparts in so-called better teams and classes.
Every year in May, Star Wars fans celebrate the franchise on the fourth of the month, referring to the film’s slogan May the Force be with you by saying May the Fourth be with you.
We do not want the force to be with them, as forcing something that does not fit is not going to be helpful; the fourth must be with them. The real ‘star war’ in a school may centre around the team in which pupils gain greater enjoyment and attainment. Go fourth; go forward. It is indeed wild!
