Melia Rokosh
English 10
Sam’s Character Sketch:
Sam is a 7th grade boy who enjoys playing sports and trying new things, in the short story “Sam the Athlete” by Stuart McLean, Sam discovers his passion for field hockey and is willing to do anything it takes to stay on the team, such as dressing up like a girl. When Sam makes the team, he is given a skirt. A skirt that “was making him so happy or, more to the point, he was happy when he was wearing his skirt because, who would have guessed, after all those years, it turns out field hockey was Sam’s game.”
He is known as a timid, self conscious child who later blossoms into an outgoing, ambitious and courageous young man, and field hockey gave him the confidence to do so. While trying out for the field hockey team, Sam assumes that it is only for girls. On page 67 the author mentions: “He could, of course, have just disappeared silently. He could’ve slipped away and never come back to the field hockey team… but as Sam was leaving, the coach called out to him. “Nice work, Samantha”… Sam have been aching to hear those words ever since his first soccer game.” Sam’s coach thought he was really good at field hockey, and she believed in him, so this made Sam believe in himself. As a result, Sam decides to dress up and act like a girl for the next three weeks just to play with the field hockey team. One night Sam’s dad walked in on what he thought was Sam dancing in front of the mirror in his room wearing a skirt and holding a women’s razor. An indirect characterization could be the he thought his son was homosexual, but in reality Sam was simply craving nothing more than to be on the field hockey team, and was willing to do anything for that.
I imaged Sam as a typical grade 7 guy with long hair, because he was mistaken for a girl. I also imagine him with not very many muscles, and with a high pitched squeaky voice considering he is only 12. Sam still has a lot of change ahead of him, but one thing that’s for sure is that he will always hold field hockey close to his heart.