Lessons learned watching high school athletes
There just isn’t enough emphasis put upon high school sports anymore. Not a very politically correct statement, eh? Well, I would challenge you to adopt a team and prove otherwise.
This fall, my better half and I were lucky enough to see most of the home regular season volleyball games for the Lake City High School varsity team. We even made it to some of the away games. Very loose ties to some of the assistant coaches and parents of players on the team were the catalyst to choose Lake City as our adopted team.
We know none of the players personally, but feel as if we now know at least something about most of them. For example, these kids (actually young adults but as I get older they seem to get younger) handle adversity with grace and extreme poise. Conversely, they are excellent winners, showing compassion along with their excitement. Of course there are exceptions, but just go and watch the flow of a game, any game – Timberlake, Lakeland, Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Lake City or your local high school.
The level of excellence varies with the team at hand, but sports in general is the best collective example of dynamic visual excellence I can think of. Images of a Kaylen Meredith side-out spike within the 10-foot line come to mind; Lakeland’s Bubba Bartlett making a solid tackle or diving catch on the football field – all things seen on TV, and at your local high school.
When you are at the game, see beyond the obvious. If you make it to a football game, check out the ball boys on the sidelines. Those guys have an important job, and most of them are on top of it.
Basketball season is coming up and while cheering for your team, pay attention to the court during a time out. There is an excellent chance of seeing a cheer squad perform aerial maneuvers thought impossible 20 years ago. If the cheer squad isn’t building a pyramid or flying girls through the air, you have just to listen to the band. And if you are lucky enough to hear the Mullan Tigers’ band, well, suffice it to say it is worth the price of admission all by itself.
I know, I know, its just high school. This is more than evident at the beginning of some games, with the bleachers seemingly empty. Maybe it is the fashionably late people that bring the excitement to the venues, but just by sitting there, or in some cases, standing there, you can feel the excitement build as the game moves along. If you can’t feel it, maybe you’re dead. But if you can’t feel it, watch the faces of the athletes. Feel their pain, share their joy.
If you still can’t feel it, then take a glance at the parents. Talk about pain.
On the other hand, you might see a mother clutching her heart, mouthing “That’s my baby” to her daughter. Sports dads are often maligned, some deservedly so. The majority are just happy for their kids, and sometimes you can see their pride welling up in their eyes.
The volleyball and football seasons are all but over, so what’s next? Basketball! And some of my favorite Lake City volleyball players might just play. But then again, there’s that fireball guard from Coeur d’Alene High, Tara Roetter, and hopefully, that Mullan High School pep band.