Joe The Coach- My View On Sports

My thoughts for this month's article I suppose reflect these very hot days that our Parma area kids are putting in to get ready for this year's football season. I do not mean just the players, but also band members, cheerleaders, flag or pom-pom girls, and any others that I may have missed. My heart is with you, because I too put in all of those hot days during high school and my four years at Kent State University, but the big difference is that I didn't have to pay to participate all the way through high school, college, and try-outs that I had post-college.

I have been curious, so I spoke to the Athletic Directors from all of our public high schools, and I discovered that all of the high schools will field a football team this fall, and I think that's just great. I found out that the kids had to hold fundraisers in order to raise enough money for their teams. From what I gather, all will play a varsity schedule, but not all will be able to have a ninth grade team schedule. Only one team will be able to field a full schedule for freshman football, and I think that's too bad for the younger kids. The amount required for pay-to-play seems to differ from school to school. My personal view is that if they have paid to play then they should all share in the playing time equally. I am not going to mention the amount needed for each player because it differs from school to school, and I don't want anyone to be embarrassed in any one school. I also found out that only one of the schools will be able to field a full complement of fall sports, such as soccer, cross country, tennis, etc. Again, it's just my opinion, but hearing that really upsets me! There are just so many good kids that will be left out of playing entirely. I talked to a police officer recently, and he wondered just where do we think that these kids will be instead? I find it to be an embarrassment that the only school that will field a full complement of sports is in the area that usually votes our levies down.

I am a retired teacher/coach from another system for teaching, but I did coach for the Parma area schools, and mostly for no pay. All four of my children attended Parma area schools, where they did quite well, and all went on to college. Where will some of these kids who would like to participate in sports but can't afford it finally end up? The system is also cutting several academic programs, and that actually bothers me more than the cuts in sports. Yes, I am a Senior Citizen, but I'll be darned if I won't vote for a levy. Hell yes there has to be a better way to fund our schools, but first you have to get the deadbeat Supreme Court off of their butts and find the answers. I want to personally thank the school system for letting seniors into events for free, but I will probably be paying. From what I can see of the schedule, Normandy High School will play Madison High School at Byers Field on August 26, Parma High School will play Midpark High School at Byers Field on August 27, And Valley Forge High School will play North Olmsted High School in North Olmsted on August 27 also.

P.S. Please share your feelings about this with me- I would love to hear from you.    coachjoe61@cox.net