Making the Grade

Somewhere in the United States, a stud high school athlete is in class right now, doing absolutely nothing. And he or she thinks this is just fine. The grade standard around the country a student must obtain in order to participate in high school sports is a 2.0 or a C average. Some schools have different rules depending on the school system and private schools do their own thing, but as long as I can remember it's always been a C average for public schools. You would be amazed at just how many kids can't make the grade. I recently went to watch my younger brother compete for his high school track team and I was surprised at how many kids were there, dressed in street clothes, working at the meet, raking the jump pits and recording event results. Kids that were actually supposed to be on the team. Students who were supposed to be competing, were instead watching. The same kids I had just watched a few months before during the summer league track season, many of them exceptional athletes! I asked around a soon learned that none of the kids had the grades to run.

I remember from personal experience what it feels like to be unable to make the grade. I know what it feels like to be the best and not be able to play. I have been asked to leave the field in front of my friends and classmates. Nothing inspired me more than the shame I felt, nothing made me want to hit the books harder than seeing people look at me in disappointment. So I was amazed that so many kids could come out to a sporting event that they claimed to be the best at, and laugh and joke as if the situation was not some sort of bizarre self punishment. You wouldn't have found me within miles of a football game or track meet I was supposed to be participating in, but was ineligible for.

It is obvious that things have changed on several levels. One, it's obvious that many parents are not demanding the same level of commitment academically as they are expecting athletically from their kids. By allowing kids to participate in summer leagues and on junior athletic teams while failing to post satisfactory marks in the classroom we become unconsciously tolerant of their academic shortcomings. What incentive do sports oriented kids have to make the grade if they know they can play AAU basketball all summer? Children will easily become absorbed in the here and now, completely disregarding their own future if we are not there as mentors and parents to guide them. The fact of the matter is, while a few slip through, for most it doesn't matter how great you are, if you can't get passing marks, then the future of your athletic career looks bleak.

Secondly, it's obvious that changes should be made in regards to how we handle student-athletes who are ineligible to compete. The joking and horseplay I saw at my brothers track meet bothered me a great deal. Had I been the Head coach I would have asked the kids to leave, after all, it does partly reflect on him that half of his team can't compete. Not having the grades is no laughing matter, it reflects poorly not only on the student, but the high school and the staff involved. I would not allow student athletes without passing grades to attend games or events for their particular sport. That means no standing on the sidelines for football players without the grades, no sitting on the bench for basketball players who are flunking; it should be the same for all the sports respectively. That might be a drastic step, but it is also a necessary one. Something needs to be done to re-focus the student athletes that are not making the cut. It may be that embarrassment at not being able to play is not motivating kids like it once did.

At the end of the day, I rest easy because I do believe that most kids get it. Thousands of outstanding student athletes make it to college and compete collegiately in the classroom as well as on the playing field every year. There will be a few exceptional athletes who are just bad eggs in the classroom, things like that happen. What I am worried about is what seems to be a growing trend towards more emphasis on sports and less emphasis on grades. It starts at the grade school level and it filters into high schools and colleges across the country. We need to take a step away from sports for a moment and direct our children's minds towards something else. A textbook would be great. Remind them that the cart does not go before the horse, or in this case sports do not come before academics, being allowed to play a sport in high school should be looked at as a reward for meeting standards in the classroom. If more kids would embrace that idea, then it is likely that they will find themselves in the starting blocks, and not in the bleachers next to me.