Accidental Athlete/Playing With

Basic Trope: A character who has no prior athletic experience turns out to be a fantastic athlete.

• Straight: Bob is running from a bunch of bullies when he happens to run in front of the Tropeville High Track-and-Field coach, who puts him to work.
• Exaggerated: Then he stiffarms a guy in front of the football coach, checks a guy in front of the hockey coach...
• Downplayed: Bob wasn't an athlete, but was generally well built, and only a low-level athlete at the start.
• Justified: Bob had no idea he could run that fast until he had to run for his life.
• Inverted: Bob, a star track runner, can't run at all outside of the track.
• Subverted: Bob sprints at an incredible pace in front of the track-and-field coach, who doesn't seem to react.
• Double Subverted: ...Because he's so stunned that Bob can run that fast.
• Parodied: Every player in every sport at Tropeville High got on the team by accidentally auditioning for the spot. The teachers got their jobs by accidentally lecturing in front of the principal. Even the principal got his job on accident.
• Zig Zagged: Bob has played some sports and is great at them, the sports he hasn't played he discovers he's also great at.
• Averted: Bob decides that running isn't his true calling.
• Enforced: The writer wants to make a sports story with main character that people can relate to, and finds this to be the perfect scenario.
• Lampshaded: "Did anybody know Bob could run so fast?"
• Invoked: The coach, a Drill Sergeant Nasty type, sends bullies out into the student body to flush out those who might be hiding their athletic talents.
• Exploited: The coach uses Bob's example to shame the people on his team into working harder.
• Defied: Bob runs by the coach. He offers him a spot on the team. Bob flatly refuses.
• Discussed: "I never knew you could run so fast! Welcome to the team!"
• Conversed: ???
• Deconstructed: Just because Bob has the talent to be on the team doesn't mean he has the discipline. He fails miserably because he has no practice.
• Reconstructed: But because he's that good, it takes him no time at all to acquire the basics.
• Played For Drama: Bob's addition to the team creates a great deal of friction between him and the original team members, who feel they're being shoved out for a newcomer.
• Played For Laughs: The show shows Bob that the only really good thing he's good at is running. He fails at just about everything else.

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Run on back to Accidental Athlete and...whoa, did anyone tell you that you run really fast?