Behind the scenes of school sports

Behind The Scenes of School Sports

By Justin Ekstrom

    School sports are for the enjoyment of the athletes, and to have the chance at excelling. In high school, sports are for the thrill of competition; maybe a kid will discover a new passion. Athletes in college sports, for the most part, are there for the love of the game. However, in some schools and around small towns, that pleasure is being taking away. The athletic system is easily corruptible. Coaches, parents and administrators change the fairness of sports. Politics in school sports defeats the purpose of playing, and currently schools are avoiding resolving the problem, but tighter investigations along with other methods could prevent it from tainting the games we all love.

    Tryouts are one of the first places politics are involved in sports. There is always at least one person who people feel do not deserve to be there, and someone who did not make it and should have. When I am talking about high school, I mean small-town politics. For example, if you personally know the coach or have important family in the community, that influences their decision. There are even stories of bribing, with hundreds of dollars of “gifts” or “donations”. In this way, parents are also at fault. Talent should be the sole factor. Of course, this always leads to someone deserving missing out on an opportunity. In a 15 person survey conducted in my school, eleven athletes say they’ve felt “cheated” out of something in their sport. This includes not making a previous team, proper training, and playing time. "I felt like something wasn't right when I did not make the team, especially when the kids who did told me how bad a couple of the players who did make it were. I knew that one kid had previously played for the coach, and the other's dad work for the town, maintaining the fields." says one sophomore who did not make the baseball team.  In the same survey, only one person said they feel as if everyone gets equal opportunities on their team. "My coach know how to give every player the right chance to play. We don't get equal playing time," says one girls soccer player at Wilmington High. High school sports are supposed to be an environment where every kid gets a chance to show their skill and those who deserve to play, play. Not all players feel this is the way their sport is handled. Players can often hear the coach yelling, “Get the ball to so-and-so” and keeping this person in for the entire game. By favoring and singling one person out, it is thought to help the team win. However, this takes away from team chemistry. In addition, it takes away time from others, which in turn slows down their development. Other times a kid will simply feel they have worked too hard for too little. Coaches are human too, so they tend to have favorites, for whatever personal reasons. It could be the child’s parent that influences the coach, which is completely unconnected to the individual playing. Fourteen out of fifteen student-athletes agree with this, and ten have felt as though a coach was unfair towards them for one reason or another. Out of the 5 that said no, four said they have witnessed this upon a teammate. With a majority of high school students feeling this way, it is sure to lower their confidence.

    On the other hand, those who experience everlasting praise and benefits seem to feel a sense of invincibility, even after moving onto college sports. If an athlete has talent, their school will pull strings to aid them. Obviously if they help the school win, the school will be tempted to provide for them (whether ethical or not). Sometimes these players will gain too much confidence, and go around thinking they can get away with anything. Unfortunately, that is often the case. 2013 Heisman trophy winner and star quarterback of the national champion Florida State University Jameis Winston is a prime example. An extremely gifted player, Winston has had a lot of recent questionable acts. After a spectacular Freshman season, Winston is an “indispensable” player for their team. However, he has stolen from stores, been caught in an autographing scandal where he made fans pay, and has been part of a sexual assault case on campus. Jameis, known for being wild and sporadic, has been caught making offensive remarks to his team. Still, he is on the team and currently in no trouble. Where any other player would be kicked off the team, Florida cannot part ways with their indispensable star quarterback. The system is clearly flawed, from high schools to colleges.

    In small town high schools, a lot of this goes on with no consequences. Right now, some schools fire coaches in cases of politics, such as when they take or leave a player based on anything but talent. However, this only occurs when concern from parents arise. When suspicions popped up at Davis High School, the athletic department was forced to take action. In three years, five coached (from four different sports) were fired. They were suspected of filling rosters with board members’ children. There are times where the department will not take action, though. In these cases, the system will make exceptions for players because these individuals help the school win, and therefore benefits the town. More people will go to games which racks up the money, in addition to recognition and respect. Looking at the unfairness and unequal opportunities given to players on a team, most schools just frown upon this. Just expecting coaches to treat players right is not sufficient. Coaches need to be given incentive to do so. If that does not work, rules need to be placed and enforced.

    I think athletic departments should have specific rules on how the coaches should treat the athletes. How to be fair should also be noted. Maybe a survey after every season from the players will properly evaluate the coaches. After all, they are the ones who are with the coaches every practice and game. During tryouts, they need two or more evaluators for each team. This way there will be a collective thought on each person’s talent. Also, this will eliminate the personal reasoning that make a coach cut or put a kid on their team. There should also be stricter investigations in colleges (and if needed high schools) if a serious issue arises. Once again, I say that rules need to be clear so offenders know exactly what they deserve once the rules are broken.

    With the changes I suggested, politics in school sports can be contained. They will never be completely stopped, because people have different opinions and feelings, however the unfair nature of athletic systems need to give way to the pleasurable and competitive way sports are meant to be. It is not right to label all coaches or players the way they are in this essay. Throughout the country, there are coaches who do their job right, and have respect for their athletes. It is the ones who do not that taint the games we play. They are the ones who expose a  majority of student-athletes feelings of being cheated out of something they loved. People can say it is just the way the system is, but adjustments need to be made so the athletic system is the way it should be.

    

Source:

 http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/06/28/politics-at-play-five-head-coaches-lose-jobs-at-davis-high-school/

 http://grantland.com/the-triangle/jameis-winston-scandal-florida-state-notre-dame/
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/05/19/dont-trust-claims-of-huge-effects/ (picture)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_High_School_%28Massachusetts%29 (picture)