Pick-up Games - do they still exist?

[DGS49]

When I grew up in the 50's 90% of my play time was totally unsupervised. The other ten percent was playing on organized teams and practicing with them.

We played pick-up games of baseball, basketball, and touch football, depending on the season. (For tackle football, we tried to even out the sides in order to make it interesting).

In a pickup game, the biggest two kids do something to decide which one picks first, unless one of them is acknowledged to be better, in which case the #2 picks first. In baseball, the two "captains" would toss a bat and, in turn grab the bat above the hand of the other guy until it was no longer possible to grab it above the other guy's hand. In basketball, the two "captains" would take shots from the top of the key to decide who got first pick. If the #3 guy was really good, then the second picker might be given two picks.

The last one picked was the least desirable player. Everybody knew it. Most of us spent some time when we first started out as the last one picked. Some "captains" would say cruel things like, "I'd rather have nobody else than have to have that kid on my team." That's the way it worked.

We survived.

PLayground basketball worked a little bit differently where I come from. You would go to the courts and gather up a team of five friends. Two teams would play each other while everyone else (maybe three or four other teams) would either just hang out, or shoot baskets on another court. Games were to eleven, one point per basket. Fouls were self-called by the person who was called. Other infractions were decided by general agreement.

The winning team stayed on the court and played the team that was next in line. If you lost, you might have to wait an hour for your team to come around again in the rotation. If a team won four or five in a row they would be broken up, so that two new teams could take the court. If you were not good enough to be selected for someone's team, tough shit. Get better and come back again next year.

Players were mostly high school kids, some of whom were on their high school teams. But there were also so young adults or college kids and the occasional younger kid - but this was rare. Sometimes a college player or two would show up. They weren't given any special treatment, but usually they were quite a bit better than anyone else on the court. Connie Hawkins would show up a couple times every summer - he was in and out of pro ball at that time...he hadn't got into the NBA yet. He was a brute force on the court. He could physically harm the defender who was covering him, and often did.

During the daytime when there weren't enough players to get teams of five, we played mostly 3 on 3, half court. Unlike in conventional basketball, the team that scored RETAINED possession, which we called, "New York Rules." I'm not sure why it was called that. An older fellow named, "Ivan" decreed that you cannot play basketball with an even number of players on a side, so we never did. Curious thing, that. Not sure what his credentials were, but he made that rule and it stuck.

Do kids today play unsupervised pick-up games in anything?

 

[rightwinger]

I live across from a school soccer and baseball field.

I never see pickup games

 

[$ecular#eckler]

You will see it in New York City. The problem is that it is difficult to gather the number of players for football and baseball. Basketball and soccer is played, and sometimes inline skate hockey. Handball is the game seen most often - two - four players several teams can play on several walls, and then they can play-off winners and losers. And then, there are a lot of skateboarders and trick bikes, and they have ramps and pools for them.

 

[tyroneweaver]

When I grew up in the 50's 90% of my play time was totally unsupervised. The other ten percent was playing on organized teams and practicing with them.

We played pick-up games of baseball, basketball, and touch football, depending on the season. (For tackle football, we tried to even out the sides in order to make it interesting).

In a pickup game, the biggest two kids do something to decide which one picks first, unless one of them is acknowledged to be better, in which case the #2 picks first. In baseball, the two "captains" would toss a bat and, in turn grab the bat above the hand of the other guy until it was no longer possible to grab it above the other guy's hand. In basketball, the two "captains" would take shots from the top of the key to decide who got first pick. If the #3 guy was really good, then the second picker might be given two picks.

The last one picked was the least desirable player. Everybody knew it. Most of us spent some time when we first started out as the last one picked. Some "captains" would say cruel things like, "I'd rather have nobody else than have to have that kid on my team." That's the way it worked.

We survived.

PLayground basketball worked a little bit differently where I come from. You would go to the courts and gather up a team of five friends. Two teams would play each other while everyone else (maybe three or four other teams) would either just hang out, or shoot baskets on another court. Games were to eleven, one point per basket. Fouls were self-called by the person who was called. Other infractions were decided by general agreement.

The winning team stayed on the court and played the team that was next in line. If you lost, you might have to wait an hour for your team to come around again in the rotation. If a team won four or five in a row they would be broken up, so that two new teams could take the court. If you were not good enough to be selected for someone's team, tough shit. Get better and come back again next year.

Players were mostly high school kids, some of whom were on their high school teams. But there were also so young adults or college kids and the occasional younger kid - but this was rare. Sometimes a college player or two would show up. They weren't given any special treatment, but usually they were quite a bit better than anyone else on the court. Connie Hawkins would show up a couple times every summer - he was in and out of pro ball at that time...he hadn't got into the NBA yet. He was a brute force on the court. He could physically harm the defender who was covering him, and often did.

During the daytime when there weren't enough players to get teams of five, we played mostly 3 on 3, half court. Unlike in conventional basketball, the team that scored RETAINED possession, which we called, "New York Rules." I'm not sure why it was called that. An older fellow named, "Ivan" decreed that you cannot play basketball with an even number of players on a side, so we never did. Curious thing, that. Not sure what his credentials were, but he made that rule and it stuck.

Do kids today play unsupervised pick-up games in anything?

Downtown SLC had a massive gym owned by the Mormon Church. I practically grew up there in pickup games.
Played til I was 50
Gym has since been torn down. Some youth leagues in the fall around here.
But as You say I don't see any pickup games. anymore
Criminie we'd play pickup games in 32 degree weather til 10 at night.

 

[Winston]

When I grew up in the 50's 90% of my play time was totally unsupervised. The other ten percent was playing on organized teams and practicing with them.

We played pick-up games of baseball, basketball, and touch football, depending on the season. (For tackle football, we tried to even out the sides in order to make it interesting).

In a pickup game, the biggest two kids do something to decide which one picks first, unless one of them is acknowledged to be better, in which case the #2 picks first. In baseball, the two "captains" would toss a bat and, in turn grab the bat above the hand of the other guy until it was no longer possible to grab it above the other guy's hand. In basketball, the two "captains" would take shots from the top of the key to decide who got first pick. If the #3 guy was really good, then the second picker might be given two picks.

The last one picked was the least desirable player. Everybody knew it. Most of us spent some time when we first started out as the last one picked. Some "captains" would say cruel things like, "I'd rather have nobody else than have to have that kid on my team." That's the way it worked.

We survived.

PLayground basketball worked a little bit differently where I come from. You would go to the courts and gather up a team of five friends. Two teams would play each other while everyone else (maybe three or four other teams) would either just hang out, or shoot baskets on another court. Games were to eleven, one point per basket. Fouls were self-called by the person who was called. Other infractions were decided by general agreement.

The winning team stayed on the court and played the team that was next in line. If you lost, you might have to wait an hour for your team to come around again in the rotation. If a team won four or five in a row they would be broken up, so that two new teams could take the court. If you were not good enough to be selected for someone's team, tough shit. Get better and come back again next year.

Players were mostly high school kids, some of whom were on their high school teams. But there were also so young adults or college kids and the occasional younger kid - but this was rare. Sometimes a college player or two would show up. They weren't given any special treatment, but usually they were quite a bit better than anyone else on the court. Connie Hawkins would show up a couple times every summer - he was in and out of pro ball at that time...he hadn't got into the NBA yet. He was a brute force on the court. He could physically harm the defender who was covering him, and often did.

During the daytime when there weren't enough players to get teams of five, we played mostly 3 on 3, half court. Unlike in conventional basketball, the team that scored RETAINED possession, which we called, "New York Rules." I'm not sure why it was called that. An older fellow named, "Ivan" decreed that you cannot play basketball with an even number of players on a side, so we never did. Curious thing, that. Not sure what his credentials were, but he made that rule and it stuck.

Do kids today play unsupervised pick-up games in anything?

When I was really young we played baseball on a grass airport landing strip. It was the duty of the centerfielder to call, "Plane", and we all scrambled off the field to watch the plane land.

Later, in High School, I played at the local elementary school. The quality of the game was so good that coaches sent their players there for practice. The goals were nine and a half feet, goal tending was allowed. Some of the players on that court made it to the NBA.

In college I played pickup games on the dorm's outside court. Michael Jordan showed up from time to time, so did James Worthy, whose current wife lived in the dorm. BJ Surhoff was a regular, but he was a baseball player. Those games were intense, controlled chaos would be the best description.

Today there is a local park that has a lot of traffic. The games are much liked you described. Five on five full court with teams waiting. And yes, three on three is "Make em, take em". Great place to get a workout.

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

I live across from a school soccer and baseball field.

I never see pickup games

Probably because the parents of those children saw your ankle monitor.....

 

[Rambunctious]

Saturday and Sunday at the Jr college gym...pick up games all day long with refs...I played one game and was sore all weak...and I'm in decent shape...I got stuck guarding some High School basketball star...

 

[KissMy]

When schools closed due to covid more kids gathered at the parks basketball courts. So the county locked the basketball courts down until about 6 weeks ago. They have been playing there everyday over the last month.

 

[StormAl]

I have not seen a pick up game since probably the eighties.

 

[lantern2814]

A lot of places took down the rims from the basketball backboards too. I’m sure some kids in larger cities still find places to play (NYC being the most heavily recruited basketball area in the country historically) but around me most of the parks removed the rims.

 

[MarathonMike]

I learned basketball playing with a team of my neighborhood buddies at the local park. We would often hold the court all afternoon beating teams bigger and faster than us because we played so well together. That was so much fun! It's sad kids today can't experience that, you meet so many people that you otherwise never would.

 

[DGS49]

My personal view is that one reason the U.S. sucks at soccer is that American kids never "play" soccer. If there is no organized practice or a game, then...nothing. If they grew up playing soccer pickup games, they would develop skills like they do in the ROW.

 

[Unkotare]

Of course there are still pick up games.

 

[Rocko]

Growing up in NYC I used to live on the playground. I used to literally play basketball from morning to night. During football season we used to go to Fort Tryon Park on Saturday and play tackle football with no pads. Nowadays no one plays in parks, with exception of Dyckman, The Rucker, West 4th street cage. And the players playing in those parks are adults. The kids are too busy playing video demo games.

 

[DGS49]

Unk, the appropriate response is to describe either your experiences or what you observe. Your comment is meaningless. Where are there pickup games, in prison?

 

[Moonglow]

The only pick up games I was interested in involved me and a chick..