Sports Leader by Jane Roger

Standing out or being widely admired is a phenomenon, which is often sought-after in high school and among young circles of acquaintances. It can almost appear like a popularity contest is taking place. To some people popularity represent social acceptance and the feeling of being approved. It draws the line between being accepted and being rejected, meanwhile it can also be a one-way ticket to discrimination and bullying.
This short story, Sports Leader, focuses on the “importance” of not standing out, attitude towards intellectuality and future success.
Short stories are characterized by few characters, the plot unfolding during a brief period of time, furthermore they are often begun in media res, and they mainly have one main chain of events. All these criteria are fulfilled in “Sports Leader”.
The short story is about a nameless boy living with his foster parent, Eileen. Throughout the story we hear about the boy’s life and his dreams. The boy’s biggest dream is to do Sports Leadership, but he cannot go to college because of the fact that he has not passed his exams. Therefore his foster mum, Eileen, helps him to find a job. She finds him a job working for a man named Phil, and the boy gets employed as a window cleaner. The boy is given a privilege to collect money for his boss. One day the boy has to collect money from a house where one of the boys from his school, called Martin, lives. When Martin finds