Sports offers key lessons, Lakeland senior says

Scott Carr does not view high school sports as merely an extracurricular activity. He is firm in his belief that being involved in basketball, baseball and football – or any team sport – teaches kids lifelong lessons.

“Teamwork teaches you life skills,” said the Lakeland High School senior. He said being part of a team teaches kids how to work with one another.

The sports keep him busy all year long, with seasons overlapping only by a couple of weeks.

“The funnest sport is football, but I spend most of my time in baseball,” he said. In addition to high school baseball, Carr plays American Legion baseball in the summer.

He said his best chance at playing college sports will be in baseball, and although he doesn’t know how successful he will be beyond that, he said he would like to continue to play for as long as possible.

“But what I really want to do is be a pharmacist,” Carr said. “I think it would be a good career.”

Carr took his more difficult classes last year, giving him more time to enjoy his senior year. Last year’s classes included chemistry and pre-calculus, and this year Carr is enrolled in English 101 through North Idaho College, where he receives college and high school credits.

While he enjoys many of his classes, Carr counts history among his favorite classes.

“Mr. Anderson is a really good teacher. I learned a lot,” Carr said. “And when you have a good teacher, it makes the class really good.”

Carr doesn’t only have good teachers, but his vice principal isn’t so bad, either. “My dad is the vice principal here,” Carr said. “So when I get a bad grade, he knows it before I do.”

But bad grades are not something that Carr needs to worry about. He said pre-calculus was his most difficult class, but even though he had some struggles with that he still maintains a 3.6 grade-point average.

Carr is the second of three boys in his family. His older brother, Lance, who served six months in Iraq, was able to communicate with the family on a regular basis.

“I got to talk to him on the Internet about every three days,” Carr said. He said his brother was “spoiled” by his mom and grandma who sent several care packages.

His younger brother, Troy, is in seventh grade, and it is clear that Scott is a proud big brother. He said Troy plays the same three sports but doesn’t need his help with improving his skills.

“He’s really good,” Carr said.

In addition to organized team sports, Carr enjoys snowboarding. “I don’t get to do it that much,” he said. “I taught myself how to do it, but my mom wouldn’t let me do it for a while because she was afraid I would get hurt.”

When time permits, Carr really likes working as a referee for children’s basketball games.

Carr said he does not know what else he would be doing if it weren’t for sports, and it is an important part of his life that has helped motivate him in many ways.

“The good thing about being in sports is it motivates you to keep your grades up,” he said. “It (sports) keeps you in line to be a good person if being in the sport is important enough to you.”