Wheelersburg Athletes

[conehead]

I agree with pushing them to take college prep courses, but classes and sports are two completely different things. Encourage them to do it all but don't make them. Playing football along with baseball isn't going to make them a better person. Let them play what they want to play and don't make a big deal about what they don't play. I think teams will be much more successful with players who actually want to be there and work hard at it. You're just not going to get the best effort from a kid who doesn' t really want to play and is trying to focus all of their time on another sport that they excell at.

[eddie]

I think it will make them a better person by not giving youngsters and adolescents a lot of choices. Then as adults they will be able to make great choices because while growing up they have been taught to be team players and push through tough uncomfortable situation. I am not talking about being an obsessed parent either like being at every practice. I am talking about being a parent that is teaching life long lessons. If your child doesn’t have the abilities and could possibly get hurt then I understand. Then you will have to get a job picking strawberries at bihl’s farm to build character. lol

[yabbadabbadoo]

I think what some of you are trying to say is if a coach of a certain sport is telling a kid that if he just plays his sport, that he will have a better shot at making it into a college and to me that is just wrong. No coach should try to influence a kid to just concentrate on just one sport, when there is always a chance he might be just as good at another sport and if that is i fact happening, then that is just a coach being selfish and not fair to that kid and like was said, with Burg being a small school and numbers being hard to come by on the field or court( 35 or so on the football team, 10 on the varsity bball team) any kid that is a strong athlete should be encouraged to play as much as he can. His chances of getting recognized by a college will double and even triple by playing more sports.


There a few athletes at Burg right now, who when they were in Junior High were talked about how talented they were in a certain sport and then when they got to the HS level, they didn't play that sport. Sure, it was hopefully there choice to not play but coming from a small town and school, why would you take away another chance or two from going on to college to participate in that spirt and to get an education, maybe for free. There is always a chance that a college coach might see you and for the paticular sport you are playing, he needs you to fill a need he has and is willing to give you a scholly to come play for him.


IMO, you need to lay it all out there on the line and put your face out as much as possible to hopefully get noticed by just one college coach. Playing just one sport takes away alot of opportunities

[4thgoal]

There does seem to be a rash of kids not playing all the sports in which they have participated in their younger years. Football seems to be the most evident because at a small school, you need all the athletes who can help the team to play.

I have heard there are a couple athletes going out of baseball this year that have not played during their high school years. Maybe these upper classmen are starting a trend to show the younger kids you can play multiple sports. All of the kids I have heard that may be playing baseball are strong contributors in 1-2 other sports each.

[Burg_Grad_77]

You guys all seem to be forgetting the most important thing and that is first and foremost getting their education. Everyone is worried about how many sports they play, and trust me I'm as big a Burg sports fanatic as the rest of you and want them to succeed in every sport they participate in both boys and girls, but I only saw one mention in this entrie thread about education and that was to be sure their homework was done first before they did anything else.

I'd say the bulk of these kids that don't play all sports do so because it takes up so much of their time. If they play football then they are working on that year round with weights on their own and then they start practice halfway through the summer and go until December if the play all 15 games and at least into late November with playoffs. Then they immediately go into basketball in they choose to play and that lasts until at least March, and then for that it's straight into baseball or track which goes until the end of the school year. With practices every day for each sport, games every Friday for football, 2 or 3 games a week for basketball and baseball along with practice every day just when do these KIDS have the time to be just that, a kid, and to focus on the academics. I know there are some that can manage it all and do it fairly well, but some kids might struggle doing all of that and try to keep the grades up. It's not like it was in the 70's when even if little Johnny was struggling with classes, as long as he was a Helluva athlete he was given the grades so he could pass and then the same was done for him in college and you ended up with a jock that couldn't spell his own name.

I can see the point that at a school the size of Wheelersburg you need the kids to play all the sports, but lets be realistic just how many of these kids will ever see the floor or field on the collge level. Not very many. My son played baseball from T-Ball until his freshman year when he made JV's and though he was a decent ballplayer he knew he was never going to be the star so he decided not to try out his sophomore year and instead got a job and focused on his education. He finished 3rd in his class and missed being 2nd by just a couple hundreths of a point. He is now a sophomore at Ohio State in the honors program and taking microbiotic engineering and doing very well. I couldn't be prouder of him for the decisions he has made.

High school sports are great and we all love watching these kids play, but THE most important thing is that they get their educations, get into a college and further their education because a very, very few of them will ever play college sports and even a lot less will ever play pro sports.

[Jumpshot]

My take on this topic is that some kids find two sports and classes all they can handle. Let them pick their sports then and do their classes. Too often coaches (and other parents!) protest if a good athlete gets a "spot" in front of their child who went to all the year round things and he or she couldn't b/c of the playing three sports. The pressure is unspoken, but there and all the coaches do it. They have to: Miss summer camp? uh-oh. Can't play "fall ball"? Well, forget it, you must not be serious. Or, have to go to a football tryout, baseball clinic, or basketball showcase during season??? Do it, and you're out of the starting lineup or you have to sit out the next two games or get suspended (all sports).... Too much pressure to commit and it comes from all directions, those running these clinics/ events, coaches, parents, other players, and parents of other players, too. It isn't good or healthy or based on fact. The whole "get a college scholarship" thing is way over-emphasized b/c it is so truly rare, and by the time parents and players get it (that a little money at a pricey school or an honest to God full ride is very rare) , high school is over or the kid has burned out and/or rebelled against everyone pushing and pulling in so many different directions. It will be impossible for many kids to play three sports, especially the good athletes, until the OHSAA limits AAU and out of season activities. Until that happens, each coach in the district will have a hold of an arm and a leg and be pulling, either obviously or subtly. They have to.

[pembrook burrows III]

This is becoming more common in other schools in the area. With increased playing oportunies year-round, added flexibility for summer coaching under the OHSAA rules, etc., it is an issue for the smaller schools. Believe me, your friends in Ironton know the feeling.

[eddie]

Student first athletics second. I might have an old school attitude (60's-70's) but i just wanted to bring awareness on this issue with educated opinions from all of us. No finger pointing but just realistic views with whats best for the whole rather that whats best for ME. I think this "me" attitude is why America is in the shape that it is in today. Strong traditional, hard working together communities cant be lost. That has been the attitude at wheelersburg for as long as i can remeber but as of late it has fallen off a bit by a self-serving attitude. We need to be more self-less in the classroom and in athletics. If you are doing better than most in the classroom then teach us how you study. If you are excelling within a sport or weights teach us. This is how we get stronger as a whole.

[yabbadabbadoo]

I have to agree with education being first and foremost, but with some of these kids, if they don't get a scholly because of sports, then there is a good chance they won't even be attending school at the next level. Sad but very true and what is the percentage of the number of kids from just Scioto County alone that have gone on to play a sport on a full or partial ride in say the last 10 years. I would guess not many.


IMO, if I was a kid that was a great athlete and I knew that sports might be my only shot at college, I'm playing every sport that I can in the hopes that maybe someone will notice me in one of them.

Also, IMO if a kid wants to attend a camp of a sport he has hopes of making it in in college and it is not during that sports season, I don't see why that is a problem. Do you really think that missing one day of practice is going to make him any less of a player? I doubt it. The coach should be happy, especially in a small school setting that he has the kids willing to play his sport. If you punish the kid for missing that one practice then what are you teaching him? That if you want to search out other goals you might have in life that you can only do it at certain times. Well, in some instances it might be to late and that opportunity might pass you by and then imo, you have failed at helping that kid out.


There are alot of coaches out there that get this mentality that when that kid is playing for him, he is not allowed to focus on anything else and when an opportunity arises for that player it forces that player to make a decision which usually ends up in that player quitting that sport and paying for that coach, which is sad.

[eddie]

wheelersburg's edge has always been everyone working together as a student and an anthlete. This has been the diference ---A lot of kids hanging out together, studying, and playing a lot of same sports together.

[eddie]

ttt

[Soho]

This topic is boring. Everyone should play football or be in the band in the fall. Instead, people have free will. That stinks.

[FarAwayFalcon]

High school sports are great and we all love watching these kids play, but THE most important thing is that they get their educations, get into a college and further their education because a very, very few of them will ever play college sports and even a lot less will ever play pro sports.

Good post. I'd rather see a kid that works hard in one sport and is 1-2 year starter with a 3.8 or higher GPA, than a 3 sport star for 4 years that only has a 2.6 GPA. The fact is more kids from this area get academic scholarships and financial aid than athletic scholarships, and the margin isn't even close.

[eddie]

ttt