That's a great experience to have. Even a chance at greatness is still great.

Competitive sports were a savior for me in HS (a long time ago — around the time of the first steam engines), despite a bad experience.

I was the fastest kid in my freshman class but I didn't like long distance running, even though I had one hell of a good kick according to the track coach, who saw me smoke a mile at a pretty good clip.

But. I didn't like that kind of pain ("distance running is hard.")

So I joined the football team (I enjoyed that kind of pain, lol) and made varsity as a freshman wide out. I was fast, but I made the varsity team because the varsity coach happened to see me make one impossible, lunging grab.

Then, I tore my achilles jamming my foot into some kind of hole while running sprints before the first game of the year. But I stayed on the football team because it gave me so many other benefits (I was weird, too, because I liked the hitting drills). During sprints I was the slowest guy on the team for most of that first year, but my teammates and friends consistently urged me on to make a "comeback", such as it was.

Eventually I found a place in the defensive backfield. Still slower than before, but I gained a lot more than speed alone could have given me.

I was also the target of some bullying in the summer school sessions before freshman year. That completely disappeared when I joined the football team. I can't say that will work for every kid, but it sure did for me.