Great job!

I can remember years ago when athletes were often called dumb jocks. Oh there were a few that struggled to stay eligible but for the most part players had to understand football or basketball plays, or baseball signals in order for the team to succeed. Our quarterbacks called the plays not like the coaches do today. We had to know the offense backwards and forwards and what we needed to do against this team’s defense which was different than last week’s defense.

In basketball we ran several offenses versus man defense and a couple for zone defenses and we needed to understand the concept of setting screens and blocking out for rebounding purposes. On defense, we had to understand the opposing team’s offense and how to defend against it. Not everyone understood these concepts I’m sure but were athletic enough to make the other team miserable.

One thing I can tell you about the past is that not all teachers knew if someone was a great player or not. And they didn’t care either. Pass the class or forget about playing in the game. The only teachers that attended games on a regular basis were those teachers that coached other sports because they loved competition. The band director was also there and the cheerleader advisor who also was a teacher. We didn’t think much about it as long as we were making our coach happy.

Now I’m sure there were a few teachers that came to a game or two but were silent about how we as their students played. I’ve always heard about other schools that played in the state tournament and how they had an assembly to celebrate the team’s success. We had a photo shoot where the coach and the two co-captains were holding the district and state trophies. The picture was in our school paper. I know how much work went into that success and it would have been nice to be acknowledged by more than a few of the teachers. But at least we made our coach a happy man and the students who got out of school for three days.

These days we don’t hear so much about the athletes not being very smart since so many make the honor roll and are involved with FFA, FBLA and FCCLA. The three organizations competed at the regional and state levels and some individual and teams earned the right to compete at the National level. There is a lot to learn and understand and the competitions are rigorous and instead of impressing a local organization at one of their meetings they need to impress a handful of judges in just a few minutes. This is extra-curricular and is done after school or sometimes as part of a class. But the teams’ work around sports practices and games. This means that in order for these kids to succeed in competition and the sports fields they also need to succeed in the classroom.

I often wonder when some of these kids sleep and eat and study. When I see that an FFA or FBLA or FCCLA student has done well in competition and will move on to the state or national level I always try to congratulate them when I see them because this is unique in a small school or any school for that matter. By the way we have several competitors that will be going onto national competition in FFA, FBLA and FCCLA. A few of them are eligible for both FFA and FBLA nationals.

The teachers that are coaching them have made big commitments and have done a great job guiding them and leading them to this other level of educational success. Andy Williams in FFA, Steve Greenwalt in FBLA and Donna Koch FCCLA are the three teachers and leaders of these kids and should be commended for their guidance and hard work as well. There is no doubt that these young students many that are also competitive athletes are smart and will someday also be great leaders in a community of their choosing. Great job to everyone involved and good luck at your national competition in the months to come.

— Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].