High School

I’D RATHER WATCH A HIGH SCHOOL GAME

By John Leon                                                                                    

As a long time prep reporter, I find it increasingly difficult to actually sit down and watch a professional sporting event, unless it’s baseball or football. I have come to prefer the games that are played at the High School or College level in basketball and football. The NBA is almost unwatchable anymore due to the lack of rhythm and flow, the too many foul calls and the antics of the players.

At the local level, it is a joy to watch the young athletes who are striving to make it to the next level and possibly beyond. The percentages of that happening, though, are about 1 in 500,000 at last guesstimate, to make the pro level.

Freshmen at both levels are beginning to make names for themselves and at the high school level, they are becoming increasingly important to all sports. More and more fans are being treated to the growth and potential of athletes starting as frosh and watching them mature through their senior years. It’s almost like watching your own children grow into young men and women.

The intensity of their growth and maturity during rivalry games are something to behold. This past weekend, I was treated to watching some young men and women, begin their journey as the players that many are sure that they will become. The growing pains, as they get schooled by the older players, is painful but necessary in the process. The coaches are trying to win games and at the same time, mold the players to get their full potential reached.

Ah yes, the “P” words, potential, promise and production. Much used and abused words, but almost a staple of the lexicon of reporting the sports that we cover.

The potential of a freshman being thrown into the fray, earning their stripes, or whatever other term you like to describe them. The players only get better by playing and it is at this critical juncture that coaches have to be wary of how much abuse the player can absorb, whether it is by the physical nature or the mental nature.

Remember these are 14 and 15 year old kids we’re talking about, and if too much is heaped upon them; the coaches may lose them entirely. Some kids step up and others take longer to develop, while others never get it or cannot handle it. It is this delicate balancing act that makes or breaks how good coaches, and teams, can be.

Production at the early stages is crucial also. By playing the kids at an early age, there is a certain amount of production needed to justify the time spent on the player. At what point does an upperclassman feel like the frosh player is infringing upon their time. Again, this is another minefield that coaches must tread carefully, due to the emotional growth of the now 16 or 17 year old player. There must come a time in every coach’s lifetime where they are torn, knowing that the younger player can help win games now, over the dedication of the upperclassman. Do they choose production and potential or loyalty? It would be nice to have both, but that is a rarity.

Reporting on the games is challenging in how we describe the contests. Many times, mistakes are made that we don’t report or have to be very creative in how we describe it. We don’s want to have parents and coaches, jumping down our throats over how we downed some kid because he screwed up a play. This also is part of the growth of the player. They have to deal with us and many players are new to the game of interviews, not having enough on their plate to worry about. Give credit to the coaches as they have been allowing access to the players and most if not all, watch “SportsCenter” on a daily basis to watch and learn valuable lessons on how to deal with the media. They see how the media can be overbearing and intrusive, but they also see the way some athletes handle themselves in front of the recorder or camera.

So the next time you go to a pro game and complain about the high prices and high salaries, why don’t you save some of your hard earned money, spend $3.00 and go to a high school game. You will enjoy yourselves for two hours or so, and watch the vitality, joy and level of sports that we all know is possible. You can watch how these young people grow before your eyes, and astonish you with their talent at such a young age.

            You won’t be disappointed.