I have followed the volleying between both sides of the Soccer/Youth in Government issue, and I have to admit that I was disappointed by the lack of resolution at last evening’s School Board meeting.
I appreciate the fact that both groups have gotten together to discuss this situation, albeit at the eleventh hour.
But, it is striking that nothing was accomplished other than to determine that each group has parallel requirements concerning student commitment to their respective programs.
It appears as if there is no uniform policy in the high school athletic department regarding participation in Youth and Government and participation in the sports program.
It is apparently at each coach’s discretion. T his is why a uniform policy would be helpful.
Of course, it should be consistent across all grade levels. Dual program participation should not be a non-issue until the student’s senior year.
Policies should be made clear, in writing, and either handed to the student participants in every sport or made part of the registration/first day packets before school begins each year.
Perhaps both the student and parent should be required to sign the form, indicating that they have been made fully aware of the policy.
In my opinion, requiring students to forego involvement in other activities that may cause them to miss a game appears punitive.
Athletes may miss games due to illness, injury, family emergency, travel or other reasons, and the team has to pick up the slack in those cases.
So why not in this?
The onus of winning should not be placed squarely on the shoulders of any star player.
If the star player is not at a game, then the remaining team members have to try harder to achieve their goal of winning.
It was cited at the Board meeting that life is about choices and commitments to one’s team.
But the reality is that we often have to juggle more than one commitment in life, and we must be adaptable.
We are expected to fulfill commitments to multiple obligations in our lives; for instance, balancing both a family and career.
We may make sacrifices occasionally to each, but we do not have to choose between embracing one or the other as a life choice.
Finally, I asked last night whether the requirements and realities of applying for college in today’s educational climate were taken into consideration while discussing this issue.
Asst. Principal Ian Drummond answered with a single “yes.”
Yet I, and other members of the audience, weren’t convinced.
The competition to get into colleges and universities is fierce.
It is not uncommon for there to be a few thousand applicants for a limited number of freshman openings.
Admission panels are faced with choosing between many qualified applicants, and sometimes SAT scores and grade-point averages are so close between applicants that acceptance comes down to the extra curricular activities in which a student has been involved.
It is important for the student to be well-rounded and to have participated in a variety of activities, volunteer opportunities and/or sports.
Forcing students to choose between a sport and an academic activity to list on a college application may put the student at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to college acceptance.
Do we really want to limit the opportunities available to our Culver City High School seniors in this way?
I do not know either John Cohn or his daughter, Maya.
But I have been impressed with the way they have spoken and expressed themselves at recent School Board meetings.
This will be a blip on the screen of life from which Maya will undoubtedly recover, and I have no doubt that she will do exceedingly well in her future endeavors.
Ms. Hamme may be contacted at antiquer01@aol.com
