sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

, shirts vs skins (or shirts and skins) is a common form of denoting

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

affiliations in a

pick-up game In sports and video games, a pick-up game (also known as a ''scratch game'' or ''PUG'') is a game that has been spontaneously started by a group of players. Players are generally invited to show up beforehand, but unlike exhibition games there is ...

or in school; typically, when played by boys on a public court or field, such as in a

city park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

schoolyard A schoolyard or school campus is the region within the boundaries of a school used for teaching, extracurricular activities, and playing sports and games. ''Schoolyard'' https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schoolyard However, some schools ...

, or during physical education class or intramural sports at school. The practice involves the members of one team wearing

shirts A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...

while the ones of the other team go shirtless. This is used in the absence of

uniforms A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

.{{citation , title=Something Like the Gods: A Cultural History of the Athlete from Achilles to LeBron , author=Stephen Amidon , publisher=Rodale , year=2012 , isbn=9781609611248 , pages=123–124

Use

This simple form of recognition is a regular sight in

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

street football The terms street football and street soccer (American and Canadian English) encompass a number of informal varieties of association football. These informal pick up games do not necessarily follow the requirements of a formal game of footbal ...

ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

backyard football :''This article describes the video game. For the underlying sport, see Street football (American)''. ''Backyard Football'' is a series of video games for various systems. The series was developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by In ...

(gridiron-style), and other pick-up games. The identification by manner of dress negates the need to remember the division of players among friends, or to learn the faces of strangers in a pick-up game. The system is most frequently applied to male participants, due to female toplessness taboos. In

coed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

shirts/skins games where these taboos are observed, female players more often align exclusively as 'shirts' (for example, 3 females and 9 males, at a pickup basketball court, would team as 6 male 'skins' versus 3 male and 3 female 'shirts'.)

Alternatives

Alternatively, or at greater female-to-male ratios or when a balance between male and female players is sought, players in pinnies can be recognised by teammates and opponents as 'skins', should such pinnies be available. At least one prominent charity football event uses blonde versus brunette hair color as an alternative to shirts and skins, with competitors allowed to dye their hair to match their respective team.

References

Children's street culture Sports terminology

Use

Alternatives

See also

References