Hi, I’m Nick Sofield. I’m a junior at CHS and I’m going to power rank the gym sports from worst to best. There are a total of 14 gym sports in the curriculum as of 2025.
What is a good gym sport?
A good gym sport has a competitive aspect to it, and it is good for everyone to play. A good gym sport isn’t supposed to be so hard that only a few people in the gym class could be skillful in it. Finally, a good gym sport is supposed to be fun. A typical unit of a gym sport lasts 3 weeks with 3 sports each marking period. The sport needs to be fun enough where people won’t be getting bored of it during the unit.
#14 – Backyard games
Backyard games consist of your normal backyard games you would play at a barbeque, like cornhole, ping pong, spikeball, and that weird ladder golf game. I never took backyard games, but I assume that your gym teacher chooses what you’re going to play at the beginning of the class. Considering this is an inside and outside game, it varies on whether you go outside or not, but considering the games in backyard games are pretty boring and get boring within 30 minutes, this isn’t a great sport in the gym curriculum. Which is why it’s in the #14 spot.
#13 – Archery
Archery is one of the most challenging and boring sports in the gym curriculum. If you have a big class, this is the worst sport in the gym curriculum. You go up to the target and have 6 shots at the target, and then when you’re done you get to go sit back down. This sport is also very challenging because no one usually does archery in their free time, so you have arrows flying all over the floor and walls and rarely hit the target. Unless you’re Hawkeye who can shoot bullseyes without looking, this is not going to be a fun experience for you. This sport is in jeopardy for being the worst gym sport, but the feeling of hitting a bullseye is great, if you’re somewhat good at the sport. The cons outweigh the pros, which puts it in the #13 spot.
#12 – Speedball
Speedball is one of the more confusing games in the gym curriculum. It is a basketball + soccer + football combination and in my opinion the worst game out of all of the gym sports. Most people don’t take it seriously and it isn’t very competitive. A good gym sport needs a competitive aspect to it for it to be fun, as previously stated. It takes place inside only, because you can’t get basketball hoops outside. So this sport gets boring within the first 2 weeks. The confusing aspect of speedball is the rules to it, where a basketball score is different than a soccer goal, which is also different than a football touchdown in speedball. The football touchdown is 1 point, the soccer goal is 2 points, and the basketball shot is 3 points. When the ball is on the ground, it is played in soccer. You have to kick up the ball to get it back to the basketball and football aspect of the game. I didn’t even mention we play with the same ball that a trampoline park uses for dodgeball so the carry on the ball is poor. Finally, having to referee this game is very confusing and challenging, and that is why it is one of the worst sports in the gym curriculum.
#11 – Floor Hockey
Now this is a sport that is fun, don’t get me wrong. But depending on the class, if you have actual pros who play the game professionally for the school or a travel team, you’re not going to have a great time. This happened to me freshman year in a class with hockey and field hockey players. It’s hard to keep up with them which can make this game boring, whether you get the ball put past you or just never touch the ball as it is. But without actual pros in your class, this game could still be somewhat fun. This game takes place inside only, so the opportunity to go outside isn’t there, which could make this game boring. This game has opportunities to go higher in the power rankings, but today it’s #11.
#10 – Soccer
Soccer is the most well known sport in the world, and it’s relatively easy to win against casuals in gym. When you’re going against pros it isn’t the hardest thing either. Soccer can be played both inside and outside. Soccer is the sport that you judge every other sport off of, and that is why it’s a middle sport. Playing soccer can get you good exercise and better hand-eye coordination. This sport is a middle of the row sport nevertheless, which puts it at #10.
#9 – Pickleball
The newest sport in the gym curriculum is pickleball. It’s similar to tennis, except played with a wooden paddle and a ball similar to a wiffle ball. There’s a net in the middle about up to knee height, depending on your height. That being said, pickleball is another middle of the row sport. The rules of it are a little complicated, and there isn’t a referee at all times since 1-2 gym teachers can’t watch 6 games of pickleball at the same time. This sport is good for exercise, and can help in other ways as well. This game is played inside only, which could make this game get a little boring. But it can’t compete with any other sport on this list, which puts pickleball at #9.
#8 – Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate frisbee is actually a really good and fun sport when played with the right people. In a competitive aspect, ultimate frisbee could easily be a top 3 sport. But since many people don’t try in gym, it puts this at a disadvantage. Ultimate frisbee is like football, except you have a frisbee and you cannot move once you are in possession of the frisbee. You score by being in the other team’s endzone. The rules of this sport are very simple, and this sport would be ranked higher if it didn’t have a skill factor to it. Throwing a frisbee straight and accurately is a challenge for many people, which could make this game boring if teammates can’t hit you in the chest. This game is played outside and inside, which is a positive. All of these words taken into consideration, ultimate frisbee is put at #8.
#7 – Badminton
Badminton is a very fun sport to be a part of, especially if you have a good friend in your gym class. Badminton is played with 2 people, and it’s like a volleyball variant, played with a racket and a little object called a birdie. The rules are exactly the same as volleyball, except after the serving team gets a point, the server and their teammate have to switch positions on their side of the court. These rules are pretty simple, which makes this game easy to understand. This game is good for exercise because it makes you run up and down your area and hit the birdie with a racket with enough force to get it over the net. This game usually won’t have a referee like pickleball since there are more than 3 games going on at the same time. This game doesn’t take much skill, so it won’t be challenging to play. My final point is that this game may be annoying to play against a skilled player, who has a weird serve and/or spikes the birdie a ton. This game is played inside only, which could get this game to be boring at times. All this being said, badminton is at the #7 spot.
#6 – Kickball
Kickball is one of the more fun sports in the gym curriculum. It’s a baseball and soccer combination, except it takes the skill part out of baseball and replaces it with just kicking a ball with all your might. The rules are exactly like baseball, except the pitcher has to roll the ball on the ground and the hitter has to kick it. There isn’t any stealing either. In gym class, this is usually played with a soccer ball, sometimes with a dodgeball from back when dodgeball was still allowed to be a gym sport. Kickball can be good for exercise, running around the bases and chasing after the ball if it gets past you in the field. This sport is going to be refereed well because there’s only going to be 1 game going on. This game can be played inside or outside, which makes this game better because it won’t be boring just staying inside. With all of this being said, kickball is at #6.
#5 – Softball/Wiffle Ball
This may be a biased opinion because I’m a baseball player, but I believe that these are 2 of the most fun sports in the curriculum. I put them in the same category because they are both the same sport with the same rules, one just has a metal bat and the other has a plastic bat. The rules of softball are just like kickball. 9 players on the field, the pitcher underhands the ball and the batter has to hit the ball in fair territory for it to be a fair ball. If it is a foul ball, it counts as a strike. 3 strikes and you’re out. This game is easy to umpire because there is only 1 game happening at once. This game is played inside and outside, which keeps the game fresh and not boring. This game is not higher on the list because it takes incredible skill and hand-eye coordination to be able to hit and catch the ball. But since the games are usually competitive, it gives this sport the honor of the top 5.
#4 – Basketball
Now I’m not a good basketball player by any means, I’m actually atrocious at it. But ranking this sport any higher than #6 serves as a disrespect to any basketball lovers and I’m not ranking these sports based on my own skill of the game. Basketball is confusing in the rule column of the game. I don’t know many of the rules and how many of the fouls are projected on any player, but there aren’t many fouls called in gym basketball anyways. Enough about me, but basketball is a fun, competitive sport that is played only inside, which could get this sport to be a little dry. This game is actually great for exercise from running up and down the court. This sport won’t be refereed well because there are usually 4 games happening at once. Playing against highly skilled players will be annoying, with their dribbling skills and being able to shoot well compared to the average player. With all of this being said, basketball is just outside the top 3 at #4.
#3 – Handball
Handball is one of the most underrated gym sports in the curriculum. It’s a combination of many sports greatest things, like ultimate frisbee’s stopping while in possession rule, with a goal that you need to bounce the ball in to score while a goalie is in the way. It is honestly a disgrace that handball isn’t talked about as much as it should be, and I believe it should be turned into a competitive league with how fun and how competitive it could be. This sport is only played inside, but it can’t get boring because it’s so fun, and I don’t think anyone disagrees. This sport doesn’t take any skill whatsoever, and the goalie just needs to be willing to put their body on the line a little bit. And you need to be able to put a little power behind the ball as well. This sport will also be refereed well since there’s 1 game at a time. With all this being said, I hope this gives handball a little more attention. It is the first sport given the honor of top 3.
#2 – Football
Football is borderline the best sport in the gym curriculum if it weren’t for the sport in the #1 spot. Football is so much fun and its pros significantly outweigh the cons. It isn’t tackle football in gym football, it’s flag football instead, which is better in my opinion. In flag football, there’s no offensive line and instead of tackling you just need to pull their flag. This sport doesn’t take much skill, and you’re taught to throw a football before you play any game. The games are pretty competitive which makes this game super fun. This game is played inside and outside, so it doesn’t get boring, but I don’t see how anyone could get bored of football anyways. This game is easy to referee because there aren’t more than 3 games happening at once. With all of this being said, football is just outside the best gym sport, and it’s at the #2 spot.
#1 – Volleyball
Volleyball is the best sport in the gym curriculum because it checks off all the boxes. It doesn’t take much skill, it’s super fun, and it’s easy to referee. Volleyball’s rules are simple as well, but the rules are more fun when they aren’t enforced and it’s more of a 9v9 rather than the rules saying 6v6. This game is only played inside, but it doesn’t even matter. Playing against high skill players doesn’t matter either. The only aspects that matter in volleyball are power, accuracy, and height. With all of this being said, volleyball is the best sport in the gym curriculum.
