ARE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS WORTH THE EFFORT?

As we near the end of another school year I am reminded of a topic that pops up now and then.

What does it matter if a high school has sports teams or not?

In my opinion it matters a lot.

There are downsides to high school athletics. Students are hurt and lose self-confidence if they are cut. Some teams have hazing traditions that can go too far. In some conferences one team dominates and others are hurt by being perennial “Also rans.” I realize these aren’t the only some of the many problems, and should definitely be dealt with as they are encountered.

I am looking at the overwhelming positives of competition, in general, and high school sports in particular.

To make my stance on this issue clear, let me start by saying/admitting that I was not what most would call a successful high school athlete. Many things held me back. I entered the “arena” as a 5’04” freshman who weighed in at 85 pounds. In my head I thought I was much bigger- which also, probably, worked against any possibility of success. I was one of 800 students in my class, so there was a lot of competition. I had an attitude, alluded to earlier, that allowed me to talk myself out of “preparing” before tryouts- as I most definitely should have. I was smart enough not to try out for the football team, but I did give it a lot of thought. I did try out for, and get cut from, the baseball team my freshman, sophomore and junior years.

I ended up running on the cross country team. The only requirement to run cross country in my school was that you attend all of the practices and shave your head. Remember this was in the early 1970’s when hair was so important there was a hit musical named after it! I ran for a year and then chose wrestling over cross country. I enjoyed both sports and, in my opinion, they helped shape my character in many ways.

I was fortunate enough to run cross country for a nationally recognized coach, Jow Newton, who became a legend in my hometown of Elmhurst, Illinois. I met him when he spoke to my first freshman gym class (It was my first gym class ever as my small private school did not offer physical education). He gave his “sales pitch” to all of the freshmen boys and, in summary, it consisted of this simple statement. As head coach I (Newton) have coached XXX cross country championship teams with xxx second place and xxx third place state finishes. The students I have coached had no long distance running experience and before they graduated grew used to winning. (I am not sure what numbers he used when he spoke to my class. I do know that before he retired in 2016 he had coached for 57 years, won 28 state championships in cross country in addition to 12 second place and 4 third place finishes). He was a wonderful man, a great coach and, in my opinion, a kind, strict, thoughtful leader. I was by no means one of his best runners, but he knew me and encouraged me during practices and competitions. I remember running around a curve on certain courses, or coming into the chute on another, and hearing him yell, “Come on Steikey, you got this. Push, push you got it!

He could always get a little more out of me, and most runners. If I saw that I was approaching him I would push harder no matter how tired I was or how bad I was aching from chin splints or a stitch (Sharp pain in the side common to long distance runners). I loved running for Coach Newton and probably would have continued if my best friend Dan hadn’t talked me into joining the wrestling team. I know many athletes excel, or at least participate, in more than one sport in high school. I was not at a point where study was a priority and my parent limited me to one sport a year until I improved my grades.

I did practice wrestling with Dan, who was about my weight, prior to trying out for the team. Some of the wrestlers started in clubs years ago and had several moves they were very good at. Some had started during their freshman year and had a one-year head start on me. I told Coach Tony Portincaso that I would like to try out. He warned me that I would be at a disadvantage with my lack of experience. I asked for a chance and he gave it to me.

The coach worked with everyone and was always willing to answer questions. He made learning moves fun but saw that I was struggling. He was patient, and counseled me that I would probably be better served to only work on moves I felt confident in. I took his advice and found about six moves I was good at. Because of my height I had one move I excelled at. The cradle. It’s a move to be used when you start the second or third period and you’re in the up position, where you have one hand around the opponent’s waist and the other on his elbow. He is kneeling with his knees and hands in contact with the mat.

I wrestled in several meets my first and second years; more than I (Or the coach) suspected would be possible. I worked hard and was at a position, weight wise, that I was comfortable at 105 or 112. I had to lose weight to hit both, but I really wanted to compete and was usually able to hit the weight I was trying for.

We would practice hard and, as I recall, about two days before a scheduled meet we would have a “wrestle off” to determine who would compete in the upcoming contest. I tried to keep my weight around 109 so I could hit the weight I needed to be at weigh in. The guy at 112 was superior to me, the guy at 105 I defeated more than he was able to beat me. I always challenged at 112 and, generally, ended up wrestling at 105.

I wrestled for Coach Portincaso for three years. My record was about 500 give or take for the three years I competed. The coach appreciated the work I put in. Remember, I started high school at 5’04” weighing 85 pounds. My growth spurt started between my freshman and sophomore years. I was wrestling at 119/126 my senior year and pushing 6′ tall. Can you say tall and skinny? It’s a long time ago, but I think I might have even wrestled 132 once or twice.

Here are some of the reasons I believe high school sports helped me grow stronger in strength of character and body.

During our first practice for the cross country team Coach Newton allowed us to run with his team on a trial basis. We were a bunch of “long haired” freshmen running with shaved headed freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. We were together, but separate, Coach Newton kept us apart from the rest of the team who had been running over the summer. We ran some sprints and some laps. We ran hard and cooled off with a jog. I don’t remember the exact order, and I know he didn’t tell us how far we were running in any of the phases of the workout.

At the end Coach Newton had us gather together and take a break while he spoke to us. He told us we now needed to make a choice. If we wanted to run for him we would have to shave our heads over the weekend and commit to the team. I thought to myself, “I’m certainly not going to shave my head if I’m not committed to the team!” Then he asked us, “How far do you think you ran today?” I hadn’t even thought about the distance. It was a hard work out, but total distance…

I’m not sure how far he said, but I remember it was several times what the race distance would be. I think it was about 15 or 20 miles. He continued, “With no training, no conditioning, you have run xx miles. In our first meet, after two weeks of conditioning, you will have to run 3.2 miles. So, if a reason you have given yourself for not joining is that you can’t run that far. Forget about that one, you just ran much further! I hope to see you all Monday, now go hit the showers, you’ve earned it!”

What a jump start for the confidence of a scrawny 5’04” 85 pound freshman that was!

As the season went on I ran with pain. I ran in the rain. I ran hilly courses, which made the distance seem much longer than it was. I learned I could do things I didn’t think I could do. I believe that is what high school is for, to show students that they can do more than they think they can.

When I switched to wrestling I expanded even further. I had weekly challenge matches I won many of them, I lost some and it hurt more than losing a match against a different school.

My two biggest wrestling related learning experiences follow:

Both of these happened in my senior year. The first was when the coach allowed a sophomore who was beating everyone challenge me. I was insulted- A Sophomore? Really?

I don’t know what happened, but I do know I lost! He was really good, and I was really upset I lost.

I was mortified. I felt like everyone in the school knew that I had lost to a sophomore. I was angrier at myself. I shouldn’t have lost! I worked harder at practice than I have ever worked and that’s saying a lot! The following week when I challenged him, I won easily. In the interest of honesty though, I must admit, that after our first challenge bout he told me he was talked into the challenge by the sophomore coach. His heart wasn’t really into wrestling varsity with a bunch of guys he didn’t know. He also said that he liked me and felt terrible about taking my spot. I guess what I’m saying is that from the time I beat him I wasn’t absolutely sure if I had beaten him- or he had lost to me (On purpose). For the record though, I never lost another challenge match.

My second big learning experience was possibly one of the biggest in my life. It combined one of the most embarrassing and one of the most triumphant moments.

We were going to a big wrestling school in the area for an out of conference meet. During the warm ups and in the locker room I had heard a lot of chatter that seemed to stop when I approached. I didn’t think a lot of it, but from the bits and pieces I heard clearly, I learned that the guy I was scheduled to wrestle had finished second in the state last year and was an odds on favorite to win state this year. At this point he was 13-0.

I didn’t get too upset about the predicament I found myself in. First of all, what could I do about it? I was there, he was there, I would work my hardest to win and shake his hand when it was over, win or lose. If only it had been that simple!

That guy was not good. He was great! He was also an idiot!

He came shooting across the mat as soon as the referee blew the whistle to start. He threw some take down I had no defense for and I was down before I was even actively wrestling. He worked me, and as hard as I fought, he put me on my back. I struggled and fought hard, then he let me escape. The referee blew the whistle and the same thing happened. I was outmatched. I was starting to understand how David must have felt when he got a good look at Goliath, but it worked out much better for David.

This went on into the second period. High School wrestling is three 2-minute periods. About the fifth time he took me down I was on my back and pushing hard to try to get off the mat to avoid being pinned (Losing the match when the referee determines my shoulder blades are both in contact with the mat) similar to a knockout in boxing. The action of a wrestler moving on his back, resembles a fish struggling to survive. Fish is a derogatory term for a bad wrestler. In this match I was the fish. I didn’t like it. I was angry that he was toying with me. I was angrier that he was so dominant that he could just toy with me like a killer animal toys with its’ prey.

At one point in the match I heard his equally obnoxious coach say to anyone who was listening, “He must be working on his takedowns.” which drew some laughter. I was still fighting, although nobody could tell by the results I was having. I was happy with myself for not giving up. I was disappointed that I was not better prepared for this fight.

The referee had us both stand in the middle circle of the mat facing each other separated by about three feet. My opponent had just released me again and was set to take me down, yet again. He went for a double leg takedown, almost like a straight on tackle in football. I saw it coming! I had a defense for it! I kicked my legs back and cross faced him. This is an action of putting my right forearm on the right side of his face as he approached. By kicking back I put my weight on his upper back as I worked the cross face I forced the left side of his face to contact his left shoulder I locked my right hand into his left arm pit and spun my body onto the right side of his body, keeping my weight on his back.

It would be unorthodox, but I thought I could work the cradle from the standing position. While his head was contorted by my forearm and my left hand was free as I was forcing him down to the mat, I hooked my left arm behind his left knee and brought it up to allow my hands to clasp with each other as I firmly held his left knee, left shoulder and neck in my grasp.- That was the cradle!

It is recommended that the wrestler grind his chin into the opponent’s head to distract him while working the move.

I DID THAT! I always did that, usually it was only as needed. On that particular day it was with great vigor and, I might add, malice!

I rolled his body in a ball with his shoulders firmly planted on the mat and his knees and arms facing towards the ceiling- The same one I had been staring at the whole match! I kept grinding his forehead with my chin. I was yelling at him, “Are you still having fun? Hey mother ——, I could sit like this the whole day! I think I will!”

The referee slapped the mat! I HAD WON!

I didn’t care. I was still grinding his forehead with my chin and yelling at him. He was crying- not sure, but I hoped he was!

Coach Portincaso, always a gentleman, pried me lose from my victim and held my hand up! I jumped as high as I could. A mat mate (Wrestling cheerleader) I had always had a crush on was jumping up and down and hugging the other girls around her. My dad and my little sister were running down from the stands to violate protocol and hug me- and Coach P let them. This was the first match they were able to see. I was afraid I was going to embarrass them my dad told me how proud he was that I wouldn’t give up- how cool is that?

My opponent did not win state that year. He finished the season with a very impressive record showing only two losses. One was to me, and the other was in the state finals!

As I was crawling on my back I was praying and fighting. God answered my prayer and I learned a whole lot about never giving up!

What do I feel high school sports can help provide?

Athletes and students who participate in after school activities learn a lot in addition to the regular curriculum. The necessity to be on time is reinforced. Students who miss or arrive late to practices are usually not allowed to participate in scheduled events. Teamwork is taught and practiced. Students who violate team rules can be barred from competition. A certain minimum grade is required, usually a C or better. Students who fail to meet this requirement are barred from participating in activities.

And last, but not least, if you participate you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, you might even be able to beat the number 2 guy in the state!

Thank you for reading, please comment and let me, and others, know what you thought.