Serving two masters poses dilemma for prep athletes

The modern-day equivalent to the chicken-or-egg conundrum for prep athletes and their parents is this: Which comes first, high school or club sports?

Rick Wolff, chairman of the Institute for Sports Parenting had this to say about athletes who might on occasion choose to miss a high school game for a club event: “You can’t serve two masters. It’s not fair to the girls and boys at every practice who expect to play. As a parent I’d be outraged.”

But Central Valley soccer coach Brandon Deyarmin believes there’s room to do both.

He speaks from personal experience. As a high school player at University between 1987 and 1990, he was involved in such a controversy as a junior, choosing a regional soccer event over his high school team’s playoff.

“At the time, I think I was the first soccer player in Eastern Washington that made the regional team,” he said. “We were going away to play some big tournament that had a lot of college coaches.”

Deyarmin’s decision came during a difficult family period and after much soul-searching, he said. His dad was hospitalized with a severe head injury sustained while skiing. He was looking to get a college scholarship, which he ultimately did.

The decision caused a flap at U-Hi and temporarily cost him his school letter. But Deyarmin ultimately came back to coach at his alma mater before moving to CV.

What would he do today, as coach, if he were put in the same position and one of his stars chose to leave the Bears at a critical juncture in their season?

“I’d support him,” Deyarmin said. “I know when Brett Hite (a University of Washington and Spokane Shadow star) went to Costa Rica in part of his freshman season (at U-Hi), I didn’t blink an eye. It’s what he needed to do and I accept that.”

Spokane Stars basketball coach Ron Adams said that spring high school sports come first. When there is a conflict with one or two of his tournaments, he said it’s up to his players to make provisions in advance if they are going to miss a prep spring contest.

Three-sport U-Hi standout Tonya Schnibbe is one of Adams’ players and has missed softball games, an adjunct high school sport for her, because of conflicts with basketball or soccer.

“I gave him (softball coach Jon Schuh) a schedule for the Spokane Stars and he’s fine with it long as I didn’t miss district, regional or state games,” she said. “It’s a good thing there are airplanes.”

Deyarmin is a firm believer that there is a place for athletes in both club and high school sports if both groups would sit down and work hand-in-hand to accommodate them.

“I think a little bit what clubs have is a (belief) that what they’re providing is so much better than at the high school level,” he said. “There are high-quality coaches in the Greater Spokane League all the way down who are very knowledgeable about the game, and sometimes I don’t think we get much credit.”

But that doesn’t mean Deyarmin wouldn’t understand if a player chose a college-exposure club tournament over a Bears’ state playoff match. Looking back on his own situation, he said he would probably do the same thing again.

“Everybody needs to work a little harder trying to make both club and high school work,” Deyarmin said. “I’m for the best interest of the team, but also look at the big picture and where the kids are going. We do it for them. I try to make it as easy as possible for player and parents. I want them to experience as much as they possibly can and not limit them to just high school or club.”