How important was sports in your Company, Battalion or Brigade?

MAJ David Vermillion — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 16:15:31 -0500

Response by 1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2016 4:20 PM

1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 16:20:58 -0500

In some cases too important; e.g. soldiers excused from PT for post softball team practice, which doesn't condition you for anything mission related.

Response by SFC George Smith made Nov 24 at 2016 4:29 PM

SFC George Smith — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 16:29:50 -0500

did not have time with Deployment Schedule...

Response by SSgt Bill Trevor made Nov 24 at 2016 6:00 PM

SSgt Bill Trevor — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 18:00:04 -0500

I'll never forget watching my Syracuse Orangemen win the NCAA bball title while on deployment in Bahrain in 2003!

Response by SPC Edward Lavoie made Nov 24 at 2016 6:37 PM

SPC Edward Lavoie — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 18:37:43 -0500

Not very, we had a softball league, but that's it. We were mission oriented.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Nov 24 at 2016 9:40 PM

Capt Tom Brown — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 21:40:31 -0500

Not much emphasis placed on sports except in some cases on inter-mural teams in softball, basketball etc. The Marines always had a softball team signed up to play each time the ship went into port. We would compete against teams from our ship, other ships in port at the same time, as well as some naval base teams of permanent personnel stationed there, such as at Subic, Sasebo, etc. As per PO2 William Allen Crowder

Response by PO1 Tony Holland made Nov 25 at 2016 1:38 AM

PO1 Tony Holland — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 01:38:37 -0500

Nice graphic for your post

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Nov 25 at 2016 11:13 AM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:13:28 -0500

We have tons of people who never shut up about sports, but it's not in any way relevant to our day to day lives...

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Nov 25 at 2016 11:31 AM

SGT Dave Tracy — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:31:42 -0500

Not very. Oddly enough on both Active and Reserve side I have found commands have not been very enthusiastic about sports; especially sports PT. Sure there were some injuries but no more so than for those doing regular PT, but the perception was there that it was riskier. That said, I myself got 2 spiral fractures of two fingers thanks to flag football on battalion fun day. Good times...good times.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 25 at 2016 1:19 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 13:19:44 -0500

I don't know what its like now but we used to have football teams with full gear just like high school/college navy, marine corps and army and we played for service and respect not only service but division just like the boxing smokers, good old days

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Nov 28 at 2016 8:53 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 08:53:28 -0500

I wouldn't say it was important to the level that sports came before mission because the mission is always first. But we did have a bunch of competitive teams that we could play for whether it was soccer, basketball, football, golf. We have a baseball field, but I don't recall us having a baseball league. But sports was encouraged since it's great for PT and builds up camaraderie and unit cohesion.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 28 at 2016 9:37 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 09:37:02 -0500

There are only a few teams that were prominant ont he ships......Alabama and Florida State. You had your few in between like UT (Hook em!!), Notre Dame, UCLA, Duke, etc. but hearing "roll tide" was enough to give me a headache.