Eliminate High School Sports?
A while back I questioned the continuance of high school sports. At the time of that post, I was In the middle of coaching JV Baseball. I don't know that I ever really believed we should eliminate high school sports. And now a former JV player of mine has given me more reasons than ever to keep high school sports around.
Brian McPartland, as Coach Stencil tells, has worked harder and deserves his success more than anyone else. It's true. And McPartland is also one of the nicest kids you could ever meet. On one very cold and snowy tryout day, I could barely grip the ball to throw batting practice. Nothing I threw would come close to crossing the plate as a strike. I was embarrassed. Brian, who happened to be the last player I tried to throw to, helped me pick up the balls and said, "It's okay coach. Don't worry about it."
Good luck to Brian and his teammates as they compete in the second half of a great season.
posted by Mr. McNamar @ 4:51 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Eliminating sports isn't the issue--moving to a less costly model of competition would be great though. When we do our high school musical, the "coaches" get paid and we use lots of volunteers, but we have to support ourselves through ticket sales. Whether the football teams wins or loses, that expensive field has be maintained. I live on the western slope of Colorado, and our teams travel as far as 3 hours one way to play other teams in the same division. It's truly insane. I like the idea of intramurals, and if a sport doesn't lend itself to intramurals, then I'd make it pay its own way at least 90%.
tricky question. I believe h.s. sports are important in helping create well-rounded young people. I honor those who spend countless hours working for the benefit of their players.
I think, that if these tough economic times continue, some decisions must be made; such as, do we travel by bus for five hours roundtrip, to play a game? Should we get corporate sponsors to help with the cost of maintaining h.s. athletic programs? IMO, if a corporation can spend millions to support professional sports teams, they can probably afford several thousand dollars to help the local kids.
When I coached b.b., I usually threw change-ups to my players in b.p.....trying to get them to hit non-fastballs. My field was all dirt and often windy....I was usually out at practice and games with my cap on backwards and a pair of ski goggles covering my eyes to keep the dirt and sand out.....Have a good second half of your season.
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