[Editor’s Note: Mr. Laase provides both historical and personal contexts to the weeks’-old flap between the Cohn family and Culver City High School over senior Maya Cohn’s exclusion from the girls’ soccer team last month. The given reason: By participating for the third straight year in the YMCA’s Youth and Government program, Coach Scott Mair concluded that she failed to show sufficient commitment to the soccer team.]
The early commitment of a high school freshman or sophomore student/athlete to the YMCA Youth and Government program does not come into immediate conflict with their chosen sport(s) because there are no playoff games played at the lower levels.
It is only when a player reaches the varsity level that it can lead to his or her being forced to make the heart-wrenching decision of having to choose between the love of playing varsity sports or continuing to participate in the Culver-Palms YMCA's Youth and Government program, and learning about how our democracy works.
Built-in Systemic Conflict
I hope you noticed that I said can lead.
Depending on the head coach's own personal points of view, they might not lead to the student/athlete being sanctioned and having to choose between the two now conflicting programs.
That’s because not all head coaches at Culver High see Youth and Government as a worthy educational program. Some varsity coaches accept or at least tolerate their players enrolling into Youth and Government.
Some do not.
That is where the problem arises.
There is no clear, overall policy in place. The policy is still being left up to the individual head coach each year.
A varsity student/athlete should not be forced to make this type of gut-wrenching decision solely based on his varsity coach's pre-judged perceptions of another educational program. Whether that person is a community member, parent, or even a teacher volunteering to coach.
Winging It
Even today, a varsity head coach can annually redefine his or her team's commitment and eligibility policies, at the coach’s own discretion, without warning to the school or the players and their parents.
But coaches come and coaches go. Principals come and principals go. And with them go their own unique personal perspectives.
That’s why a District policy is needed.
Flashback
At last Tuesday night's School Board meeting, Coach Dave Sanchez read what could be thought of as an “official position” of the CCHS Athletic Dept.
As he read, I couldn't help but flash back to a time six years ago when my daughter, Katie, was forced to go through this same heart-wrenching turmoil over playing girls' varsity soccer and participating in the Culver-Palms YMCA's Youth and Government program.
A Very Proud Dad
My daughter chose to do both.
And yes, she did suffer the consequences.
Boy, did she ever.
As it turned out, my daughter made the right decision in doing both, even though her coach wouldn't see it that way. As a 3thid-year Y & G member and as an elected officer, she helped lead her delegation in distinguishing itself as a “Premiere Delegation” at the 2003 statewide Sacramento Spring Legislative session.
This was the first time Culver-Palms Y & G was awarded this high honor. Since then, other CPY delegations have been awarded this distinction.
But my daughter's 2003 delegation was the first to accomplish that prestigious goal.
Also in the spring of 2003, the CCHS girls' varsity soccer team won its only league championship, going undefeated in league play (9-0-1).
The only blemish on an almost perfect record came in their second game when those dastardly Normans from Beverly Hills came in and tied Culver 1-1.
More Than Meets the Eye
Some will say that in life you have to make tough decisions, and this is just one of them.
But I believe there is much more going on than just a coach teaching a student/athlete one of life's hard lessons.
Coach Sanchez spoke about the student/athlete having to make a commitment to the team. But I can think of many of CCHS's past great athletes who made a commitment to a varsity team for each season of the school year. Why aren't these student/athletes’ less than total commitments considered as being just as lacking as a Y & G commitment?
Why are these student/athletes’ lack of total commitment to a varsity team being overlooked and accommodated by some their coaches?
Because most coaches see these players as extremely good athletes who are great assets to their team They welcome their participation even if they have missed some practices before their other team's season ends.
It loks as if the concept of having a “team commitment” is not a make-or-break, final determining factor for eligibility.
When the term “team commitment” is used, the term probably means a commitment to the Athletic Dept., and not to any varsity team in particular.
There Is No “I”
We have all heard the famous axiom that there is no “I” in t-e-a-m. I would like to point out that there is no “I” in c-o-a-c-h, either. If you think about it, high school coaches are part of another larger team, a team of high school teachers. Our high school teachers are a part of an even larger District team of educators.
I'm sure no coach, at any level, would welcome any policy if it is seen as restricting his or her historically sacred authority. The high school Athletic Dept. will probably resist having any policy put in place, thinking that if this perceived cut happens, what will be next? But if there is no first cut, then there will not be a second, third or fourth.
No Infringement
What I am talking about here is establishing a new local community standard for Culver High School: That no longer could a coach's own personal, singular perspective about a specific program be used to limit the educational opportunities available to our student/athletes.
Writing a District policy limited to establishing the after-school status of the Y & G program would not, in any way, infringe upon or diminish a coach’s authority over a team, either on or off the playing or practice field. It would finally clarify for all: The student/athletes, their parents and the coaches that a student/athlete's earlier commitment to the now state-excused and reimbursed absence of the Y & G attendee would be accepted by all coaches and could no longer be seen as a possible “treasonable offense.”
Each Generation Must Learn
What kind of signal are we sending the next generation, as a society, when:
We can fill a stadium with tens of thousands of fans paying hundreds of dollars each to watch a sporting event, and yet only 20 percent (less than 5,000) of the registered voters participated in last month’s School Board eection?
No high school student should ever be forced to have to choose between love of a sport and love of democracy.
Daughter Update: My daughter, Katie, played four years on the Us team. She still plays soccer once or twice a week in an adult soccer league. She is currently working at the Wiseburn District Middle School where she is in her first-year as head coach of their boys soccer team. Katie is in her third year as one of the Youth and Government advisors at the local Culver-Palms YMCA.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at gmlaase@aol.com
