Allow me to take a break from my usual coverage of collegiate and professional sports for some, what I feel to be, important thoughts on high school sports, more specifically high school basketball (and probably football and soccer) as well.
Living in Columbia, I've had the pleasure to attend the Missouri High School State Championship Tournaments the last two weekends, and have had the privilege to see many great players compete. The talent in the Southeast Missouri area is tremendous and was well represented the last two weekends in Columbia. Congratulations to all the teams that competed for a state title, and extra congrats to Charleston, Bell City, and Notre Dame for competing in the State Championship.
Besides the plethora of tremendous talent in the area, there were two other glaring subjects I've noticed over the last month. The first being the numerous accusations against certain high schools. If you're a regular on this website, then you're surely aware of the speculation concerning these area programs in regards to recruiting, cheating, and so on. And it wouldn't be far fetched to assume that you have your own opinion on the topic. No matter which way you look at this situation, cheating is wrong. It always has been. But this particular "cheating" situation delves deeper than the surface idea of it being "wrong."
What we are talking about is high school sports, and the idea behind high school sports is to give student athletes a chance to excel in areas beyond education. The purpose is to teach these athletes successful measures in life through the benefits of sports. Many of the local athletes who are being scrutinized for changing school districts or "showing up" in particular school districts from God-knows-where have reaped major benefits because of their transfer, whether it be educational or athletic involvement. Let's take the case of Bell City's Will Bogan, a force we are all familiar with. I choose him because he is the player I'm most familiar with, not because of my Bell City bias. I'm sure we could use examples from many area schools, but I don't feel comfortable using someone who's story I don't know to prove a point. I'd hate to be wrong.
Where did Will Bogan come from? This question was asked numerous times last weekend and the answer most often given was "the streets." I'm not sure where Will Bogan came from, but, all things considered, chances are he wouldn't have been given the opportunity to play college ball and receive a college education at division I Southeast Missouri State had he not ended up in the Bell City school district. In the end, isn't this the point behind high school sports? To give athletes a chance to succeed and further their education through athletic scholarships, to give them guidance in everyday life, and to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. An excerpt of the MSHSAA mission statement reads "to promote personal excellence to develop citizens who make positive contributions to their community." Is this not what Bogan did this year? He was one of the reasons the Bell City community was ecstatic about high school basketball. A small community coming together on a Friday night to watch a spectacular basketball player and a spectacular basketball team is a beautiful thing. Perhaps it, along with Bogan's future college education, never would have happened had Bogan not "shown up" on the front door step of the school one morning.
To use a case presented by blog reader bluejayz when talking about Charleston basketball and the importance of Danny Farmer: "Its not all about basketball. He wanted us to make it in life more than anything or any championship. Its something when you can bring a group of players from the streets together and make them believe in their self. Trust me, Charleston is nothing but streets. Many players never got a chance to play because the streets suck them in. Ask Will Bogan? The streets got the best of him until Bell City swept him up and showed him love. So please stop hating on Coach Farmer. Cause I'm a Champion in the life style that I live because of Danny Farmer."
I'm not condoning cheating, but I am here to say that there are underlying issues in these "recruiting" cases. Without the bending of these rules, many of these players could end up on the streets, in gangs, and without a college education. We shouldn't spend every waking second bashing these teams and schools. Instead, we should consider that they have given a chance to players who previously had nothing.
This brings me to my second point. I always love the input by our readers and I appreciate the in-depth rivaling conversations that take place on our blogs. It's an open forum and I hope you guys continue to talk about coaches' job security and recruiting issues. It's good conversation. However, the recent speculation about Darrin Scott losing his job at Jackson because he's failed to win the big games bothers me significantly. It's not just Darrin's case, but many cases around the area. I played for both Darrin Scott and Brian Brandtner, who was also speculated to be canned after back-to-back loses to Scott Country Central and Advance early in the season. Both of these coaches are great people. I can speak on behalf of them because I know them, and I'm willing to believe bluejayz and jose canseco when they talk about their great experiences playing for Paul Hale and Danny Farmer.
It seems that everybody who leaves these programs leaves a better person. So why would there ever be speculation that these coaches be fired? Remember that annoying saying you always heard growing up, "it's not about winning and losing, it's about having fun." Well, although it's the last thing you want to hear when you're losing, the damn quote is right. Professional sports is about winning and losing because of the big bucks. I'll even buy into college sports being about winning and losing, but only because it's to far out of control to stop. But high school sports? You can't convince me. We are talking about kids, not adults, but kids in the age range of 15-19. Kids who have so much pressure that a missed free throw down the stretch of a playoff game can haunt them for ten years. Kids who have so much pressure that a strikeout or dropped pass can depress them. 15 to 19 year old KIDS scolded by their own parents or their own coaches for "not being good enough." Are you kidding me? In many ways this sort of abuse is worse than physical abuse. And what would happen to a coach or a parent who hit one of these kids? They'd be in jail. The kid would heal in a week, maybe two. But verbal abuse and emotional abuse don't come with jail sentences, despite damaging a kid for much longer than a week.
WIN, WIN, WIN. What about the important lessons Coach Scott, Coach Brandtner, Coach Hale, Coach Farmer, and all other area coaches are teaching? Do they not matter? Sadly, it has become enough to fire a coach because he hasn't won a state championship or because he can't consistently win his district, despite the accounts given by their players concerning the valuable life lessons they've learned from simply being around their coach in practice, games, and throughout the school day. Why does this go unnoticed?
The future of high school sports hinges on the next ten years. We have two directions to take it. We can conveniently forget that the purpose of high school coaches is to teach, not win, and continue to fire coaches on their win/lose records; OR we can begin, once again, to appreciate our high school coaches for the lessons they bring to their players and for their commitment and dedication, despite sub-par pay, to giving their athletes a chance to succeed.
As I said, the old saying "it isn't about winning or losing, it's about having fun" holds significant importance. It's a crying shame that many coaches, parents, administrators, and fans have forgotten the purpose of high school sports and have put winning ahead of life lessons and moral values. They should be ashamed. Help save high school sports by supporting your local coach, reassuring them that the lessons they're teaching our high school athletes are held significantly higher than a state championship ring. Do your part.
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6 comments:
You say, "Help save high school sports by supporting your local coach, reassuring them that the lessons they're teaching our high school athletes are held significantly higher than a state championship ring." You should add that coaches who knowingly violate rules in search of wins, or who are not teaching sportsmanship and other valuable life lessons, should be fired.
I think what David was trying to say is that just because their is all this speculation about recruiting and coaches not winning state championships, doesn't mean we should turn our back on them. I agree that coaches who knowingly cheat should be fired and held responsible, but we don't who cheated, if anybody did. So therefor we should stop the rumors, until proven true and support out teams and coaches. Most, if not all, these coaches around here are quality men/women. So i agree with David and let's support these coaches, and more importantly the players/students who compete.
great blog dave... but yeah I was with you when I heard Coach Scott might get fired I could not believe it... like you basically said this is not the NBA this is high school basketball and it is about teaching not only about the game and school but life in general. As a former player of Coach Scott I know he does a great job of not just focusing on basketball and making sure the players learn more than just the x's and o's.
What about the players? Ive been around many high school coaches and each have said that at this age it is definately about learning lessons, no the W-L columns. So?, whats the problem here? Its the players, who are putting more emphasis into winning games and fearing loses. Seeing the NBA and especially college football coaches getting fired for not winning reflects that the W's are the only thing important. Kids see this and think that only winning is acceptable. Yes, coaches love to win, but its about the kids, and kids love to win. I don't know how much this makes sense to anyone, but I am just saying that the players seem to make winning more than it is, and coaches are doing their job by telling them it is alright to fail, reguardless the outcome in the kid's attitudes.
Im sorry if that was not clear, but I was just giving a different insight to the matter. Hope everyone understands.
Bogan had a hard time here in Charleston. He has made a great change while being at BellCity. The whole town of Charleston will tell you that.I just want to say thanks to the town of BellCity and who ever took him in. Because of you a life has been saved. He now has a future ahead of him,and not drugs. Trust me the future around here is pretty much drugs and gangs. Bogan was not healthy when he was in Charleston. When he got to BellCity he pick his weight up big time. They are feeding him right and he is not running the streets like he used to. When Bogan was here you would find him walking the streets early looking for a way to make some money, just so he could have shoes and clothing. Like I said a long time ago.There are many great players in Charleston that never got a chance to play becauce the streets suck them in.
If you don't believe me come to our town see. The black side of town that is. It's hard down here for the youth.
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