Vocal Point: Freeman basketball program experiencing bitter times
There is sourness about the Freeman High School boys basketball program in the usually supportive, tight-knit, friendly community.
The much-publicized saga of the Freeman High Schools boys basketball team has entered the next chapter. If chapter one left a sour taste in your mouth, get ready to pucker up.
During the first chapter, titled “Highly Controversial, Community-Splitting, Firing Of Old Coach,” I couldn’t help but wonder if we, the parents and fans, weren’t a driving factor behind the aggressive, sometimes overboard coaching and poor sportsmanship showcased at various sporting events.
We push our coaches to win, and they in turn push their players. Getting caught up in the emotion of the game, we treat these fun, exciting, but relatively meaningless extracurricular school activities as if they were the NBA Championships.
The coaches are heroes when they win, and goats when they lose. Not only are they under tremendous pressure to win, but coaches are also expected to influence our children’s lives in a positive, supportive manner. The nature of their job is stressful enough, and somehow there is always less support for coaches when they lose. Human nature desires instant gratification, however, we must recognize that team sports take patience, dedication, and team work.
Now in the second chapter, “New Coach and Poor Sports,” six games have been played and the undersized Scotties, with only two starting seniors, are 3-4, with two of their losses by three points or less. By some people’s standards this might seem OK. (Isaiah Thomas would be ecstatic). Yet the senior starters have posted negative comments about their coaches on Web chat sites and have repeatedly stated that they need their old coach back.
Loyal, but wrong. In life beyond high school these students probably won’t have the luxury of picking their boss, in fact they may not even like them. Thus, it is the players’ responsibility to play and do their best, not pick the coach.
Could it be that some of these negative attitudes are trickling down from the parents? Alumni reported hearing one of the players’ parents comment that he would like to “break the hands” of one of the players after a last-second attempt to tie the game rimmed out. Rather than voicing his opinions in a more private setting, he continued to blame one player, and more absurdly, one shot, for a two-point loss. Perhaps we should take a moment to reflect on this quote from Michael Jordan: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
What will the next chapter of Freeman basketball look like? Will we overcome our resistance to change? Hopefully we will band together and support our team, including the coaches, regardless of the outcome; this is our job as parents.
Negativity surrounding a loss is the last thing our players or coaches need, because nothing good can come of it. Learning lessons about respecting authority, working together and giving your best effort in preparation and competition, regardless of the outcome … that’s what high school sports are supposed to be about.
Very few Scotties will go on to play professional basketball (maybe a few that transferred out), yet it is my hope that all of our kids will graduate better prepared for life.
Hopefully those involved that feel as if they have been given lemons, can find a way to make some lemonade. It will take patience, pain and a little sugar. If we bury our pride, support one another, and become a strong team unit, perhaps when the season is over we will all be left with a sweet taste in our mouths.
Most importantly, let’s do the right thing for our children, who are preparing for life in the real world. Let’s remember that high school sports exist to shape our children into stronger adults, not professional athletes. Cheers.