This question was inspired by my brother's friend group, actually. Only one of em doesn't get sports. He's called "sissy"
Why do some boys dislike sports?

This question was inspired by my brother's friend group, actually. Only one of em doesn't get sports. He's called "sissy"
- Some people particularly men are not good at sports and in fact AR awkward and have difficulties with coordination. Because of this in sports they're usually teased and verbally abused. This ultimately leads to a dislike of sports.1|50|0Is this still revelant?
There is actually research that indicates that boys who are not good at sports are far more likely to be bullied than those who are. :( :(
- Is either one thing or the next. Weirdly is both.
I personally hate sports, or working out, but I am obsessive when it comes to philosophy, art and science.2|30|0Is this still revelant?Also, other than generating money at the college and professional levels, sports have NO intrinsic value whatsoever. STEAM and humanities courses do, as they tend to advance civilization, including art, science, and literature, and in doing so, advance human knowledge.
@msc545 Sports feeds our most primal instincts of belonging and rivalry. For most it's important to feel part of a team, to be, or to follow "the best". It incentivates social cohesion, It has the power to change a society.
It has no intelectual value, but it does have an important social weight.- Show All Show Less
@diego0 Assuming that this even happens, feeding our "primal instincts of belonging and rivalry" may not be a good idea as I think it leads to war
Scroll Down to Read Other Opinions
What's Your Opinion? Sign Up Now!What Girls & Guys Said
1184- The image of a little league player defeated by the very sport that was supposed to have given him focus and purpose in life, teach good sportsmanship, and quality of character, instead of the youth sucking youth program vampire that it turned out too be, was me in 1978, eroding the self esteem and discipline of today's youth who's ideal, I could have embraced and become.
That is, if little league baseball in the jerkwater town of Hastings Michigan in 1978, had been an introduction too baseball for young boys and girls, stressing the principles of effort, sportsmansmanship, being a team player, putting yourself out there too take one for the team, discipline, self determination and self respect, instead of the selfish, narrow-minded Lard ass I encountered as the self proclammed COACH.
He wasn't interested in teaching the fundamentals of baseball! He only had time for 8 year old professional players who wouldn't waist his time with all those irrelevant little questions like "what are those four things out on that diamond shapes thing" they called bases, or "What is this big wooden toothpick looking thing that says Louisville on it called and what's it used for" is "something how do I hit that bothers flying at me real quick but?" "How do I feel better about the situation when people are yelling at each other they're supposed to be on the same team how do I justify you waste in communal are by defrauding a public here wasting their hard-earned donation dollars to line your own Pockets with the ill-gotten gains if you miss representation of what you're about as the supposed Louis coach UPS vile piece of evil s*** motherfuking filthy piece of red ass f****** still----!!!"
Yeah I guess after 42 years that level of betrayal still cuts pretty deep, I guess. All too get his picture in Sports Illustrated as the children's national league flesh peddler of 1978 too throw those poor kids too the wolves of national sports book gambling. What's next get them at the fetal stage blastoderm skip the middleman altogether go straight to the sperm and ovum and make that kid 1 corrupt mother f****** b**** before he's even conceived?
Feeling sorry for that kid in the question, is feeling sorry for myself, and even though I was too little to shove my foot up that lard ass's ass, way back then, I'm not now, so if anyone's got the home address of the piece of s*** that killed that kid's dreams shown in the question, that made that kid in that picture looks that like that, please send me his home address, because me and mr. Louisville Slugger have a little something to say to him!0|00|0 - Sports have been the point of my whole life, lmao. Honestly don’t know what I’ll do when I’m too old to participate. Played football til my 30s, and I just miss that camaraderie of being on a team. I just took up hockey and hope to join a men’s league at some point, but I’m still learning and I don’t want to start til I don’t suck anymore, haha, I hate letting teammates down with poor play. Getting better each week that I play in pick-up games at least, but most of these guys have been skating only a few more years than they’ve been walking. So I’m anxious to improve to a point where I can truly hang with those guys. I still suck but they’re all pretty encouraging and it seems I'm pretty good relative to someone who has played maybe 15 times, total, haha, they mostly think I’ve been playing a couple of years. So maybe I’ll turn out halfway decent at this. But yeah, that’s what my focus is in life right now, learning to play a sport for no money😂, so case in point, it can really drive some guys like myself. So I’m always kind of like “wait, what?” when a hear a guy doesn’t like sports. But at the end of the day, it’s not for everyone. Not everyone can play sports just like I can’t paint or draw past a 6-year-old level lmao. So if you aren’t athletically inclined, it’s easy to understand where it might not grab someone. I’m loving hockey, even while I’m still bad as a beginner, but if you sat me down and gave me an art project, I’d be like “fuck this noise, this is boring and I suck at it.” And as a kid, a lot of your social status can be caught up in your athletic abilities. I know some less athletic friends of mine had some tough outings in the recess yard playing touch football. If they couldn’t throw or catch a football cleanly, they got clowned, and obviously that sucks. They just had something else they excelled at, you know? Maybe that’s what releases dopamine for them. I can buy teammates having a release when someone else on their team scores, but that doesn’t apply as much in the schoolyard when it’s just Athletic Cool Kid #1 throwing only to Athletic Cool Kids #s 2, 3, and 4, and the unathletic kid gets ignored at best and laughed at at worst.0|30|1
"Touch football" is a pussy-ass sport. I fucking hate it.
It's not even a real sport. It's a bastardization of the game of football.- Show All Show Less
@Jamie05rhs lmfao, I was always pissing people off for playing too rough, I felt the same as you. Let’s either play football or not. I remember I played on an intramural flag football team one year in college (when you get invited to be on a team called Sexual Chocolate, you don’t say no, lmao), and in one game we were in like a goal-line situation on defense, a yard or less. I’m stacked as some semblance of a linebacker, their QB was a bigger guy, and he went for the ol’ Cam Newton sneak. This is where flag football is dumb to me. This kid could just literally just stick the ball out and score if we can’t hit him, why even run the play? So anyway, I just said fuck it and lunged at, and put him on his ass lmfao. The refs were pissed but to the kid’s credit, he wasn’t a bitch about it, hahaha.
- I never liked sports, they bored me. I imagine its the same reason why many physical and athletic types hate the intellectual aspects of life, its not the thing that drives them.
It wasn't that I was bad at sports, I wasn't the greatest but give me a certain position or role and I would dominate at it (couldn't shoot in basketball, but I would get EVERY SINGLE rebound, even if I had to slam my head into the elbows and arms of those taller then me to get it. In football, never played in highschool but for fun and when I was younger and we did flag football, I was quite good at tackling the quarterback because I was small but a hell of a lot stronger then I looked (and again, I wouldn't hesitate to injure myself to reach the objective (high threshold for pain and no self preservation instinct)) so I could rip through most lines (even with two people I could usually break through)), but it never appealed to me.
Sports are samey and purely phsyical so they wear on me. I prefer intellectual pursuits because their is a lot more variety in that, I like exploring ideas and discovering new information and that was what appealed to me.
I think most people tend to be good at the things they like i. e. they don't start off good at something but rather what attracts them they get good at simply through doing it often enough. For me that was intellectual pursuits, reading, studying, games etc.
This is also why I think most sports types are not often associated with intelligence, not because they are stupid but because they focused their attention on that physical competition and thus got good at that but didn't develop the intellectual side as much (in most cases that I see, most athletic types are of average intelligence but have minimal curiosity beyond their small circle of interests, I on the other hand have extreme curiosity and so I went were my curiosity led me and they went were their curiosity led them.).0|00|0 - Most guys who played sports have this over-confidence in themselves that made someone like myself, not athletic in anyway, prone to bullying and shaming. Most of my family and peers, even teachers looked down on me because of the fact I'm a young man who did not like sports and did not participate in it. It became a social construct that dictated my manliness, my maturity, my attractibility, and my validation among others. Not to mention, people judged me without even knowing about my deadbeat father who was never there to introduce sports to me at a young age, and my numerous attempts at self-educating myself with little to no success.
Whenever I do try to become involved, I just become a laughing stock because of my lack of strength and coordination. It's another reason for them to remind me of how little worth I have in their eyes. I had little people to turn to without the high chance of being accused of sensitivity and lack of strength. Even when I display my natural talents and abilities, it all seems unheard and unseen because of the lack of respect and validation towards me.
So, that's why I and many other guys with similar experiences, do not like sports.0|00|0 - I grew up without a father. I went out for little league when I was old enough. I wasn't good at first-never had a Dad to throw a ball or teach me to bat. The coaches didn't try to work with me and the other kids mocked me for not being good. I nevertheless stuck it out for the entire season and never missed a single practice or a game. Despite a rule that said every kid got to play at least one inning of every game I was only allowed in 3 innings all season-all in final innings of games we were either ahead or behind by an uncatchable amount. I finished the season and never again went out for organized sports. Ironically, I turned out to be a pretty good athlete-I can wrestle, snow ski, swim and play tennis well. If someone had taken the time to work with me back then I probably would have been good. But the rejection and hostility I faced soured me permanently on team sports. I do not care to watch them either unless I have money bet. I laugh everytime I hear the bullshit about how sports build character.0|00|1
- In most cases it comes down to how good they were when they tried at a young age. That's specifically guys who outright dislike sports rather than just not caring.
We tend to like the sports we have success in. May not be a super fan, but you can enjoy it and have positive memories with it. You're not gonna see a guy who was good and hated the sport unless it was a dominating your life situation.
Like a lot of gymnasts and dancers end up hating it because they give up their childhood to dedicate time to their sport usually because of their parents rather than self motivated to continue0|00|0 - Because most sports are boring and pointless, especially if they involve a ball.
My interests are Shotokan karate, shooting, swordsmanship (especially kendo) and SCUBA diving.
When I was a child, my psychotic father decided that I would be the great sporting champion that he had not been.
I was forced to be a competitive swimmer and play soccer and tennis.
My interest (or not) was considered to be irrelevant.
I would have rather watched paint dry.
If my father thought that I did not train hard enough, or perform/place well enough, I would be beaten at intervals until my performance reached the required standard.
My meathead father’s fixation on sport was one of the things that made my childhood a living Hell.0|00|0 - I think it’s more of a primal thing. In most species the males compete against one another for the females attention. Goats ram their heads against one another. Moose and deer lock antlers. Some birds have dance battles. And I suppose us humans have sports. I suppose most men like sports cause it’s in their nature to compete. Typically the guys who don’t like sports are the ones who lack the skills to compete. But there are certain levels of variation amongst all species, and it’s possible that some people just lack an interest despite being perfectly capable of succeeding. At the end of the day humans are still just animals.1|00|0
? So how does that work when it comes to girls and sports?
That opinion is weak when examined on a whole and not gender specific.@allaboutyou2 I agree and it’s sports. Most men don’t play sports for girls and their brain knows it’s a game.
@allaboutyou2 sure there are girls who enjoy sports, but if you look at it large scale there are disparities between men and women in sports. Statistically men are more likely to play sports and to watch it. When you look at it large scale men care about sports way more than women. Women’s sports teams get way less viewers. And even though you understand that it’s just a game and you’re not playing for the women, in nature play is just preparation for the real thing. And even if you aren’t playing for women, jocks and athletic guys usually attract women.
- Show All Show Less
I coach soccer in a local rec league and my co-ed team is always weighted more girls than boys, its been that way for years in my experience.
In my opinion the US womens national soccer team are far superior to the men's national team.
So living in Missouri I disagree with your premise.@allaboutyou2 I’m speaking statistically, which means large scale. One soccer team is not large scale.
They divide the teams fairly evenly throughout the league so it's not one team.
Maybe where you live you find it that way but here in Missouri we have many sports and many leagues and schools for that matter that have large numbers of females participate in sports programs.
I actually can't think of a high school that doesn't both have male and female sports programs, basketball, volleyball, baseball/softball etc.I was neither good nor bad at sports, still hated them. I'm intellectualy driven, I get my competition through intellectual persuits not physical ones. Its not a matter of being good or bad at it, its a matter of what drives you, for the intellectually inclined that isn't sports. I prefer science and ideas and exploring that, others get joy in physical competition, its still competitive, its still rigerous, its still based in biological and "primal" drives, its simply a different approach.
It's not always either or, I enjoy the challenge whether sports or intellectually.
@allaboutyou2 I'm not saying its either or, I'm saying in general its one extreme or another. Its a spectrum. I can guarentee you you don't enjoy the intellectual pursuits as much as I do just as I can guarentee you that I don't enjoy the athletic pursuits that you do. Its not an insult its just what it is. We tend to focus on a few things and ignore the rest, doesn't mean your stupid or I'm weak, it just means our focus tends towards one area and not another. And again, its a spectrum.
- Society, especially western society, puts pressure on men and women to like certain things. Oddly, though, women enjoying sports isn't frowned on as much as men who don't like sports. I don't know if it's as bad now as it would have been in the 90s and sooner for a man to admit he doesn't care for sports, but there is always going to be some stigma about it somewhere. I think over all it's more accepted these days, at least in most areas of the US. I actually didn't care for sports either growing up, but no one cared - ever. Late in high school I decided to get into Baseball and American Football, and I have loved it ever since. I don't' get into it and watch news casts or ESPN, and I hate watching sports interviews (the jocks never say anything beyond mind-numbing rhetoric), but I love watching the actual sport.
My main point is, what boys and girls are "supposed" to enjoy is just societal nonsense. there's nothing wrong with guys or girls liking one thing or another.0|00|0 - I can't speak for other men but I SUCKED at sports. The only thing I enjoyed was tae kwon do and boxing but I wasn't allowed to do them because they got "expensive".
My mother forced me to do everything from tennis to basketball to football then would ridicule me for hours when I was tired and depressed. It didn't matter I was a straight "A" student or the only one who my extended family actually liked despite their hatred for her, She made me associate sports with being worthless.
I think some kids just don't need sports in their lives to be great, or at least they need a sport they enjoy enough that you aren't constantly attacking them for it0|00|0 - I liked sports until I got to be around ten years old. Then at that point it was just a bunch of griping kids trying to be competitive and it wasn't fun anymore. I liked sports where you participate on your own, like running or just exercising in general.1|40|0
LOL Probably the same reason why I didn't join the Boy Scouts when I was 12. Although I liked the outdoors and all that stuff, I didn't want to go camping with a bunch of other kids... LOL
- I've never been into sports, there's always been other more interesting things to capture my attention. I keep fit as well as I can but have never taken part in anything 'sporty'. I used to get so much grief from sports teachers from my non-committal that in the end I was always excused lessons. Guys at work always seem taken aback if they asked me 'what team did I support or did you watch the game last night'? When I tell them I'm not into it they always seem surprised and I get the impression it's possibly viewed as less manly to not be into sports.1|10|0
- Some guys hate sports because sports embody a group of people who once bullied them. Often times jocks beat up on nerds and those nerds grow to hate and reject sports in general. Marylin Manson hates sports for that reason. He believes that sports and competition are bad and promote bullying, or something to that effect.
I don't like to watch sports. I do like to play sports though. Basketball, football, soccer. I like to lift weights and I plan to do a powerlifting meet hopefully in 2022.0|10|0 - Why do some girls dislike sports? Probably for a similar reason. But, particularly with boys, there is a macho bravado that is often in sports that some people dislike. I was a soccer player (or footballer) when I was younger. I was decent, but never super good and I stopped playing part way through high school. I kept active through exercise, but I stopped playing the sport. I still like sports, I now play tennis very regularly, but I understand those who don't, as I have plenty of friends that don't. The turn offs to me is the bravado and the fact that some people take a GAME way too seriously.0|10|0
- Because if you really suck at sports you won´t like it. I myself have a negative relationship to sports. I learned in school sports that me participating in a team only makes things for that team. I don´t like working out or participating in any kind of sports in front of other people ever since. Yes sports can release dopamine but if you never achieve a good result in sport and you know you won´t that´s never gonna happen.0|00|0
- I hate watching sports and its extremely boring for me. I never usually do. I get no enjoyment of watching others play. I don't mind playing a sport, but i'm not really looking to win. I'm just looking to have fun. Most guys are competitive with sports, so the reason why some guys might not like sports is that that competitive aspect might ruin the enjoyment of the game if they aren't looking to win, it adds pressure rather than just simply enjoying it.0|00|0
- For me in school it was the people on the teams I could not stand. They acted like they were superior to everyone else. I pissed our football team off so badly that all of them made the mistake of trying to jump me. I hurt them so badly that the football season was cancelled because they did not have enough players. Needless to say, I went to play hockey instead.0|00|0
- I don't understand sports.
I mean, I understand wanting to achieve physical feats and what not.
But that's why *I'm* spending 6 days working out, instead of watching people working out on the tv.
Watching sports is dumb and uneventful waste of time, from my point of view.1|10|0 - Let's see here.
I don't like watching sports because I really never cared about it.
If I want dopamine by watching something in the TV then I'd rather play video games. At least then every dose of dopamine is earned on my own merit.
Not by watching others do stuff, that's boring.
I like playing sports though, just not with people who act all serious and shit.
Because when I play sports, it's for fun and for staying active.1|10|0 - Lack of sense of competitiveness. A healthy sense of it like a natural instinct kind of thing. Just lkkw a healthy fear of strangers is good to have for obvious reasons. They are just programmed for for otger things i guess like being good at offics type jobs. Just be happy with who you arw and dont try to fight it and go against what you are good at. Follow the path that you are good at and probably meant to go down.1|00|0
- A lot of these traditions such as liking sorts are passed down through generations. They like sports because they grew up with a mom or dad watching sports with them and teaching them what is fun about it.
This gets ingrained from a young age and it becomes an important part of their life and an easy way to connect with others that also like sports. It's all rooted in psychological bonding through shared experiences.
Men who like sports simply weren't taught to like them young. Whether it's because people in their family and friend group didn't like them, or because the people that did like them did a bad job of sharing that with the kid.
The best parallel is weed. A lot of people when firsting smoking weed need a weed guru to show them the good and keep them away from the bad. This makes it interesting to them and ensures they have a positive experience. People who don't like sports just had shitty weed gurus.1|00|0 - I'm not a fan of watching sports. Never got the rush from it. I'm not really into playing either these days but I'm looking into taking up air rifle hunting in the new year. That should give me a dopamine rush as well as literally putting food on the table!1|00|0
- Just like any other thing that gives us joy, what appeals to one person won't necessarily appeal to another. Plenty of women enjoy sports, and plenty of men don't. The end result is the same, we get involved in whatever brings us that sweet dopamine fix.1|00|0
- i think videogames have destroyed sports they just can't compare. sports are the same thing constantly and so few rules and moving parts. i just ramped a ferrari off of a roof down a ramp of a skyscraper deployed a parachute and tried to land the ferrari parachute onto a smaller skyscraper with a giant dartboard on top of it while other landing cars tried to knock me off of the center... do you hear what i just said? i played BOCHI BALL WITH FERRARI AND PARACHUTES
sports can't compare to that0|10|0 - Personally. I disliked sports that guys are expected to like (football, rugby etc.) being very thin and not that strong when i did PE at school was always picked last and literally pushed around in rugby being so light
However as i went to uni i did sports i liked. (Martial Arts, Horse Riding, Rock Climbing and Dancing)
So its more that guys dont like the commonly practised sports0|00|0 - I played most sports when I was younger but as an adult I don't watch them. I have more important things to do and quite frankly I don't like these asshole athletes. I usually watch the superbowl. I will watch the olympics because those are interesting. I also enjoy the College basketball during march madness0|00|0
- I am one of the guys who hate sports, it's just one incident which makes a field unreal for us.
Enter a locker room guys are disgusting there is bulling which just cut us off.
We find the adrenaline in different things, like e-sports (which is less harmless depending on perspectives), movies, anime, dancing, art, extreme sports.0|00|0 - I wasn’t much of a fan of them. I think it’s because it’s too hyped up, and it puts pressure on a boy. But the discipline of making sure to have grades up or you’ll be kicked off is a good thing in my eyes. Teaches them to constantly do better in school before everything else.0|00|0
- Hm, i don't dislike sports, but i dislike some sports. I think basketball and football are boring as shit, soccer is super fun, i wish i knew more about baseball!! My two favorite sports are any combat sport and swimming. I feel like most mainstream sports are overrated0|00|0
- I assume there's something better that replaces it.
I don't like sports because I looks at people throwing a ball around and I'm why would I care about this? I can appreciate MMA, I like competitive gaming and I like to solve math and science problems. I think that stuff is in the same vein.1|10|0 - Because not everyone enjoys the same pasttime. Such as today many guys prefer video games or cars. Both are also inhibitors of gratification releasing dopamine.0|00|0
- I've never had any interest in sports, watching or playing. Just doesn't do anything for me lol. I don't get why people like them so much actually. Seem silly to me.0|00|0
- My fiancé doesn’t enjoy sports, never participated in them growing up. There have been a few rare occasions that he went with his best friend to see a game. But it’s just not his thing. Just like how all
Girls don’t like makeup. Just because you’re a male doesn’t mean you have to like sports yk.0|20|0 - You can get dopamine release from literally anything, you get the same release from likes on social media, but when it comes to sports some people just don't enjoy them and that's fine. It's completely normal if I'm being honest1|00|0
- I wasn't particularly good at sports, but I still enjoyed (some of) them. Anyway you're better off with individual sports like skiing, golf, biking, etc. as it will be hard to come up with a team for football when you're 40.0|00|0
- It's not for everyone i played basketball as a kid and was on a team through 8th grade then i stopped playing and only played for fun and i also quit watching sports on tv but i know all about it just don't care for it0|00|0
- Some boys like to watch The Bachelor and some boys like to play baseball. It's what what makes the world go around. :)0|00|0
- It's not that i don't like it, its just that none of the teams interest me. No one that i personally knows plays a sport and because of that it just doesn't interest me anymore0|00|0
- Could be genetics, could be upbringing where they are not exposed to them and I know some gay people who just never liked sports.1|00|0
- Because some men don't have the mind or the body for it. Personally, I never cared much for sports. Well, at least not team sports. I like sports for individuals like skateboarding or cross country running.0|10|0
- This is not a great question if I’m being honest with you. I get what you are trying to say, but sports is a GAME. Their is no male gender instincts to participate in something that is only a game of points.0|00|0
- Some people aren't good at sports. Also some sports can get too rough and if you don't what you're doing you get injured and mocked by others. This can apply to anyone, boys and girls.1|00|0
- This question is as stupid as questions like why some women dislike shopping
Just sexist backwards questions0|00|0 - Probably cause as kids they we’re forced into it by a parents. Especially kids today rather play video games or iPads etc. my nephew one of them.0|00|0
- Their boring as fuck, and lack explosions, fire, or weapons. And that's how I remember it. It's a whole lot of hurry up and wait with no real pay off. Sportsball is boring.0|00|0
- I hated sports in high school. Honestly teenage boys were absolutely the worst for this. If you weren't the best right out the gate you were ridiculed and belittled and honestly it killed my confidence or motivation to even try to get better at sports. The gym teachers were less than helpful and at best ignored there was even a bullying problem regarding this and at worst joined in on the hen pecking. So yeah, sports is absolutely dead to me.0|10|0
- Got nothing to do with being a boy. Some boys and girls like sports, some boys and girls don't.0|00|0
- Excellent question. Not all men are into athletics. Some enjoy intellectual hobbies or outdoor ones.0|00|0
- Each person have their own interest. Some might dislike because they may not be physically able to play it or they had some pretty bad experience0|00|0
- When I was a young kid I wasn't interested into sports. But ever since my last 2 years of high school I did rugby and I found it fun. But to each is their own.0|00|0
- I was always terrible at sports. I was more an intellectual in school, and i was made fun of because i wasn't good at it so i just dislike it now1|00|0
- Just boring to me. It's always something with a ball lol. I only like Martial arts.0|00|0
- Not all guys like sports just like not all women like shoe shopping. It is just personality.0|00|0
- Because he is linked to something else other than sports. Some guys maybe good at sports but they suck at what some guys usually do like being creative.1|00|0
- They just don't find joy in sports. To them is boring.0|00|0
- I guess their probably their parents don’t. I’m an Eagles fan both me and my girlfriend it’s a family tradition.0|00|0
- Huh? You mean sports on TV or other streaming platforms? I'd rather play than watch1|00|0
- I enjoyed playing and watching sports when I was younger. I don't watch any sports anymore but still follow MLB and the NBA.1|00|0
- Show More (35)
Related myTakes
Learn more
Most Helpful Guys