I had a lot of subjects I wanted to touch on this week – but they will have to wait yet another week. An article caught my eye today on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website . In the article, Joe Paterno, Dave Wannstedt, and even Clearfield’s own Tim Janocko are quoted as being in favor of spring football practice for high school. Now, let’s get one thing out of the way: when it comes to football knowledge, I happily defer to that triumvirate – they obviously know a lot more about football than I ever will. However, this is not strictly about football – it’s also about the well-being of these kids.
Let’s assume for a minute that the PIAA, in its INFINITE wisdom, sees fit to allow this spring practice – what happens to the baseball, track, tennis, and other spring sport athletes? I know that the plan is to hold these practices in mid to late May, but we all know how the weather is in PA – undoubtedly, some events (particularly in baseball) will be postponed into mid-May. In addition, many of these kids play Legion ball and other summer leagues -will they now be pressured to give up those activities or face reduced (or eliminated) playing time in the fall? I’m extremely concerned about the amount of time and dedication each sport ALREADY requires – football takes over a high school player’s daily life from the beginning of August until early November (or even early December if the team goes deep into the playoffs). Such a schedule squeezes out so many other opportunities, and encroaches on winter sports’ preseason practices as well. Spring practice would almost certainly harm other spring sports, as some kids who would otherwise be 2- or 3-sport athletes will concentrate solely on football rather than risk a coach’s’ wrath in the fall. Additionally, spring sports could possibly lose practice fields, as football coaches will want to use their traditional August practice fields in April and May – at times when other sports may already be counting on that real estate.
The aforementioned issues are secondary, however, to my primary concern – health. There’s no getting around it – football is a VERY rough sport. The game is all about hard running, hard hitting, and asserting one’s will on the other team. That’s a big reason why it’s so popular, of course, but it also takes its toll on bodies – even young, strong ones. Adding two more weeks of practice in the spring is two more weeks of helmet-to-helmet contact, two more weeks of potential ankle sprains, knee strains, and all the other injuries that we KNOW are part of the football landscape. Yes, all sports run injury risk, but football is more violent and therefore more prone to serious injury than just about any other sport. Coupled with this is the loss of healing time – let’s say a kid plays football, basketball, and baseball. The ONLY possible down-time in the entire schedule is from the end of baseball until early August – before that, the end of one sport leads directly to the next. Adding two weeks of intense training is, in my opinion, not in the best interests of our student-athletes.
Speaking of which, let’s remember that these kids are STUDENTS before they are athletes. Our world demands more of kids than ever before – earlier math and reading, more testing, and more demanding courses. I would not argue that those are bad things – but I WOULD argue that at some point, the athletic world takes away from the scholastic world. We’re already nearing that point – adding two more weeks of football practice is a step closer to that breaking point.
All of the above are, in my opinion, realistic concerns – so what’s the possible gain from adding this practice? Well, from the coaches’ point of view that’s easy: more time to hone their team, more time to evaluate players, and possibly a less-intense schedule in August if they can implement some of the fundamentals of their system in the spring. For the kids – I’m not really seeing the gain. Perhaps for the football-only kids, it’s a chance to get in shape or get a head-start on learning the plays – but there are already summer camps and individual workout plans for that. For multi-sport kids, I see no gain at all – they are already likely in shape, and most likely need some time off to let their bodies rest before the August two-a-days begin.
Before I conclude, let me make clear that I do not blame the coaches – their job is to do what’s best for football, and this fits that bill. Paterno and Wannstedt, in particular, have nothing to lose by endorsing this plan – it brings kids to their campuses with more football experience, with no downside from their perspective. A high school football coach will naturally want more prep time for his squad in a structured, in-pads setting; expecting anything else would be to ignore human nature. This isn’t about the football coaches – if wrestling was offered two weeks of summer workouts, or baseball was offered two weeks of fall workouts, they would love the idea. No, this is about a simple question: how much is enough? Too much of ANYTHING can do more harm than good, and in my opinion this plan is too much.
If they add spring practice, the PIAA will affirm something I have long worried about – that in the high school sports hierarchy, there’s football, and then there’s everything else. I hope that they see how this will set a bad precedent in so many ways, and decide not to pursue this plan.
Dave Glass can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net.
