Is High School Sports Out Of Control?

I have written before about rules - being rules.

Break them and pay the price, that appears to be the consensus. But there has been no consistency throughout the high school sports world, be it in various athletic associations or with individuals who have grudges with people - and fellow teachers - in enforcing rules so that everyone lives by the same list.

And it has prompted a fair amount of feedback, from readers who have voiced their opinions in blogs. Others, and I am flattered, chose to just call or write me and want to share it privately. No problem. Everyone has an opinion in this democratic society and I'll listen, but only if they're reasonable.

Couple of weeks to go and Mike Gordensky, the teacher and basketball coach at Pickering High School, will be finished serving his penalty for being a really bad boy - that of allowing two of his students to compete in a U.S. basketball tournament last year without the permission of everyone who claims he did a nasty thing and broke a rule. You may remember, he had been suspended from coaching basketball by OFSAA for a year in a highly controversial episode that had people commenting across the country. It also made several people and athletic associations look rather silly.

And, as I have said, these same organizations - and others - have chosen to look the other way when information is shared about others breaking rules.

How about this. Should students who break the law be allowed to play for their schools? Some people say no way. Others say they should serve a further penalty: no sports for a given time period. There are some who tell me sports is a second chance and part of the rehabilitation process.

And, how about the students who switch schools - and also find loopholes to rules, with the help of their teachers, coaches and parents. Lots of hanky panky stuff with no one around to take a stand or clamp down - unless it has to do with situations like Gordensky.

People say there are two sides to every story. There's more to black and white, grey too. Now, people are complaining to me that a kid who isn't Catholic has switched to a non-Catholic school and is playing sports.  I'm not a member of the clergy, why complain to me?

Others are asking how students can live in cities like Barrie, Orillia, Brampton and Guelph - and still go to school, and play sports, in Toronto schools? Finger-pointing appears to be on basketball and hockey. No one is challenging  a swimmer or table tennis player.

The Greater Toronto Area high school sports world, more and more people claim, appears to be out of control. I am starting to wonder if they have a point - and does anyone in the educational world really care?

Comments

[Geronimo]

You are right on. They don't care and they also squirm when people challenge their so-called ego-driven personal authorities. The threat is always, you don't like it, then go somewhere else. Or better yet, no one pays us to do convene or coach or ....

[Morris]

OFSAA says it is doing a great job - and the irony is they really believe it.
Time to get serious and get some people in to ensure that every league has consistency.

[Coach]

Forget it. Teachers and OFSAA are in bed together.
They do what they want.
Far too many times they have made inappropriate decisions that have hurt innocent players a great deal.
Some of these people are living in glass boxes and when they come out are very insensitive.
They wouldn't tolerate it if the shoe was reversed.

[Mike]

God bless the day when athletic associations and OFSAA do the right thing.
Not what they think is the right thing.

[Name Withheld]

What is disappointing is reading and hearing that people mean well, but screw up.
I coach a team and work hard. My family kows it and so do our athletes.
But there are other schools who have coaches who think in a different atmosphere and that ultimately affects my players.
Our athletic association is made up of the "old buys club" with a few females who would be better off in the drama club.

[Muppets]

Gordo was the scapegoat for a bunch of people who wanted nothing better than to slam his face in mud.
I hope he returns and kicks some ass.

[Steve]

I know, I know.
The economy is so-so and we're getting over a recession.
However, after following the high schools as a club coach, if the corporate world ran the way some of these athletic groups do their stuff, they'd be bankrupt.

[RH]

Any young person who is, or has been, in trouble with the law would not be on my team.
I don't care if his or her daddy ia a lawyer.
They're in school to get an education.
If a probation officer said get the person involved, well, maybe. But I wouldn't want any hothead on my team.

[JJ]

Sounds as if some people think you would be good known as Archbishop Grossman.

[Robby]

I see nothing wrong with the current system.
The various leagues run their own shop and if people aren't happy than that's too bad.
If we don't coach, there is no sports in schools and the Boards know that all too well.
I don't disagree that if a kid has been in trouble with the police then maybe he or she needs a cooling down period and to focus on academics rather than risk getting confrontational and in another conflict playing sports.

[Mr. Blake]

If Gordensky takes the fall, then OFSAA needs to point the fingers at many others.
If they don`t they`re hypocrates.

[Mr. Lui]

You are absolutely correct.
High school sports is in trouble.
The problem is simple. Far too many good people give their time as coaches and assistants to help youngsters who think they know more, treat us like fools and really don't give a damn.
Add to that, the coaches who take advantage of situations and spoil it for the rest of us.
Keep this formula and we have disaster.
That's why I like so many coaches have packed it in.

[Concerned Observer]

Private schools fare better in sports because every teacher knows they have a responsibility to coach school teams. This job description is spelled out in the hiring process and is factored into the teacher's salary. To the best of my knowledge public school teachers receive roughly the same salary and likely more benefits "Teachers Pension" than their private school counterparts; so why is it that it takes such an effort for public schools to coach and encourage and organize school sports teams ? There needs to be a task force to study this and implement an action plan or school sports in public schools will continue its steady decline.

[Richard]

I personally think there are too many rules governing the current system and that too many schools/parents/students/teachers/coaches are worried about what other programs are doing. Personally I would like to see OFSAA get rid of transfer rules and open things up so that an elite level could be created. The problem with highschool sports is that the competition level is kept low by rules that restrict programs from stacking up talent. Subsequently, people are on the lookout for violations. I say, let them stack their teams and play against the prep schools that already recruit for their programs but just don't allow them to compete in Provincial Jr.A hockey, for example. That way you'll have a top tier or elite teams all playing each other and a lower tier of non-stacked teams competing. The level of high school sports will rise and less time will be spent worrying about whether the other team is playing ineligible players.

[Concerned Observer]

Richard's comments make sense. An elite program is good. Public and private schools are already doing this. They should have their own division at OFSAA. However we still need better coaching, more organization and more enthusiasm for all the rest of the student athletes who just want to have fun, get some exercise and represent their school. Having 12 kids on a basketball team and only playing 5 or 6 of them in a meaningless regular season game where you are up or down by 20 accomplishes nothing. Kids should be rewarded for playing for a team not punished by nailing them to the bench.

[Jimmy]

Hip, hip for Richard.
Well said.
One huge problem.
No one will listen to common sense.

[Ross]

So this paper's Male Athlete of the Week misses the first 2 football games of the season as he cleared eligibility. Why did he transfer? I heard recently that a player transfered from one LOSSA school to another a month ago and he is now playing basketball for his new school. Why did he transfer?

OFSAA tries, but districts, schools and coaches are the ones who find the loopholes and circumvent the rules. Then players who are ruled ineligible have their families contact lawyers to plead their case in court.

Developing an elite league of schools might be a good idea. Get the schools that recruit out of district, the exclusive sports schools and the private schools that offer scholarships to attract athletes in a league of their own. They can play like minded schools from across the GTA, province, country or North America. Then we can get back to kids competing for their neighbourhood schools and perhaps playing more than one sport a year.

What ever happened to the 3 sport athlete in high school?