Organized athletics certainly are an important part of any high school. At least here in Pickerington, games, meets and matches bring together, not only our high schools, but our entire community. They provide opportunites, not only for our student athletes, but also for cheerleaders, managers and musicians. They help tie parents into school programs, which is key to the success of any school. And, at their best, they promote good health, physical fitness, teamwork, good sportsmanship and commitment.
However, they are not always at their best. Good sportsmanship means being a good loser as well as a good winner. Learning how to lose gracefully, how to appreciate opposing athletes and teams, and how to learn, and to come back from, defeat, can be difficult. It is equally troublesome when student athletes and their parents plague coaches for playing time, or when coaches play favorites, as they sometimes do.
Most troublesome of all, however, is when training rules are observed only in their breach. What I have in mind here, most of all, is substance abuse. There are parents in this community who actually hold keg parties for their student athlete children and their teammates. There are entire teams that have become notorious among their classmates for heavy drinking. We have sent student athletes off to college athletic programs with serious drinking problems. We have all read about this in the papers.
These problems probably are as old as high school athletics. I remember, when I was in high school over 40 years ago, when our entire basketball team was turned in for drinking days before the first round of the district tournament. They were all guilty, as the gleefully confessed at our recent 40th reunion.
The school administration knew this. They had all been turned in by our foreign exchange student, whose character and honesty were unimpeachable. But the administration did not have the guts to suspend them. I wonder how often that story has been repeated over the years. I wonder how often it has been repeated here.
As student leaders, student athletes should provide an example to their classmates. They should be on the forefront of efforts to control drug and alcohol abuse. They should provide examples of physical fitness and healthy living, and should help bring their less talented classmates along. They should show their classmates, and their community, how people of different races, religions, and social backgrounds can work together, as friends, to accomplish something significant. They should give something back for all that has been given to them.
Can anyone tell me why they don't?
However, they are not always at their best. Good sportsmanship means being a good loser as well as a good winner. Learning how to lose gracefully, how to appreciate opposing athletes and teams, and how to learn, and to come back from, defeat, can be difficult. It is equally troublesome when student athletes and their parents plague coaches for playing time, or when coaches play favorites, as they sometimes do.
Most troublesome of all, however, is when training rules are observed only in their breach. What I have in mind here, most of all, is substance abuse. There are parents in this community who actually hold keg parties for their student athlete children and their teammates. There are entire teams that have become notorious among their classmates for heavy drinking. We have sent student athletes off to college athletic programs with serious drinking problems. We have all read about this in the papers.
These problems probably are as old as high school athletics. I remember, when I was in high school over 40 years ago, when our entire basketball team was turned in for drinking days before the first round of the district tournament. They were all guilty, as the gleefully confessed at our recent 40th reunion.
The school administration knew this. They had all been turned in by our foreign exchange student, whose character and honesty were unimpeachable. But the administration did not have the guts to suspend them. I wonder how often that story has been repeated over the years. I wonder how often it has been repeated here.
As student leaders, student athletes should provide an example to their classmates. They should be on the forefront of efforts to control drug and alcohol abuse. They should provide examples of physical fitness and healthy living, and should help bring their less talented classmates along. They should show their classmates, and their community, how people of different races, religions, and social backgrounds can work together, as friends, to accomplish something significant. They should give something back for all that has been given to them.
Can anyone tell me why they don't?
