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Tony Lewis (center) gained confidence as an eighth-grader |
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
When Tony Lewis was in second grade, he and six other family members moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Fredericksburg with their cousin.
The family meandered to homeless shelters and motels for the next five years. Lewis was often laughed at by classmates because of his living situation.
That was until they saw his skills on the basketball court.
Lewis joined the Walker-Grant Middle School basketball team in seventh grade. He got his first confidence boost when he was named a starter on James Monroe High School's junior varsity team as an eighth-grader.
"Sports was a way out for me," Lewis said. "It felt like a sense of family. It kept me out of trouble. It gave me something to do."
Stories like Lewis' aren't uncommon.
Still, high school and middle school athletics are under intense scrutiny.
School systems are getting less money as the nation copes with the recession.
King George County proposed cutting all high school and middle school athletic programs before it put forth a proposal with no cuts last month.
"When you have things like Head Start and Governor's School on the table [as possible cuts], everything is on the table," King George School Board member Renee Parker said. "Athletics are a part of that."
The Spotsylvania County School Board proposed cutting middle school and freshman athletics before it voted 6-1 to implement a fee to participate in sports.
Caroline, Culpeper and Orange counties are all exploring the possibility of cutting athletic programs.
Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University's Sport in Society program, said that's a mistake. He said high school athletics are "utterly essential" to society.
"If you lose high school athletics or athletics at any level, the whole important lesson of cooperation gets lost," Lebowitz said. For many students, athletics are more important than academics.
He said sports teach conflict-resolution skills and how to work with others. They also give coaches leadership skills that they often take to administration, and promote diversity.
"Not everyone on a basketball or football team looks alike," Caroline Assistant Superintendent Eric Cunningham said.
Lebowitz said student athletes learn things they don't pick up in the classroom, where they mostly work individually.
Spotsylvania School Board member Ray Lora said coaches have more clout than teachers when it comes to enforcing discipline.
"If we stop athletics, what's going to keep kids from dropping out of school or being tardy?" Lora said. "You might as well build another jail."
ARE SPORTS A LUXURY?
Not everyone agrees that sports are essential. Spotsylvania resident Shawn Downing said they're a luxury.
Downing said not enough students take advantage of athletics at the high school, college or professional level to make it a priority during a recession.
"We should realize that maybe sports isn't such a good idea right now, considering how tight the budget is," Downing said. "When it comes to the extreme, would you rather have math and science or tennis and soccer?"
Another Spotsylvania resident agrees.
Martin Davis wrote in a letter to The Free Lance-Star that he "would grieve if we chose to exchange young minds for cheap trophy hardware."
Supporters of athletics said that's not the reason schools play sports.
James Monroe Principal John Gordon, a former basketball coach, said athletics are 50 percent of the learning experience. He said they also create school spirit and promote physical fitness.
"It's not about trophies at all," Lora said. "It's about growing up, developing character and staying in school."
Caroline's Cunningham is an example of that. He grew up poor in Chesterfield County, but earned a basketball scholarship to Liberty University.
He went on to earn a master's degree from Liberty and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Virginia.
He said basketball gave him a "marketable skill." Still, Cunningham said college scholarships aren't the only reason athletics are critical.
"Research shows that students who participate in athletics do better in attendance, do better with grades, and they comply with the student code of conduct," Cunningham said. "So not having athletics in the school places more burden on teachers to keep kids engaged."
PAYING TO PLAY
Charging a fee to participate in sports appears to be one of the most common solutions to the crisis facing high school athletics.
But not everyone is on board with "pay to play."
Lebowitz said the policy would create another uneven landscape in the nation in addition to race and gender inequities.
"On the surface that may seem OK," Lebowitz said of paying to play. "But it creates an elitist structure where kids from families that can't afford to play, what happens to those kids?"
Lora, who cast the lone vote against Spotsylvania's budget, said that in that county, athletes are slated to pay $125 per sport. Those who receive free lunch would pay $50. He said both fees are unreasonable.
"With the families that can't afford to feed their children, how on God's green Earth can they afford to have their children play?" Lora said. "That's not the way we do things in America."
Brooke Point High School Principal Wendy Payne, a former North Stafford High School gymnastics coach, said "pay to play" could make parents feel that their kids have the right to a certain amount of playing time.
Varsity sports would then become akin to parks and recreation sports, where every kid plays regardless of ability.
"If parents are paying the coach's salary they might think, 'Hey, buddy, you work for me,'" Lora said. "Those are the kinds of issues that come up in this environment."
Lora said he's in favor of a smaller fee for student athletes. He said the rest of the expenses can be made up by booster clubs, the PTA, football games, basketball games and the county's budget.
"Some things are worth fighting for, and this is one of them," Lora said. "We shouldn't balance our budget on the backs of our children."
MOVING FORWARD
After his success on the basketball court as a freshman at JM, Tony Lewis earned a scholarship to Blue Ridge School--a private school in Greene County--where he played basketball and football the next three years.
He's now a senior guard for Loyola (Md.) University's basketball team. He's on schedule to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
"With the way I was raised, I really didn't trust a lot of people," Lewis said. "I kind of stayed to myself. But once I started to be around my teammates and coaches, I learned to trust. I've been moving forward ever since."
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com
Participation in athletics rose in 2008-09 for the 20th straight year, according to the National Federation of High School Associations. Now 55.2 percent of high school students play sports.
A University of Chicago study shows student athletes do better in school, drop out less often and are more likely to stay in college.
Fairfax County research showed that middle school student athletes' grades improved, they had fewer discipline referrals and they were less likely to join gangs.
Fortune magazine reported that 95 percent of Fortune 500 managers played high school sports, while only 47 percent were in the National Honor Society.
"I think athletics is probably the closest thing we have to preparing kids for the world of work," Caroline County Assistant Superintendent
--Taft Coghill Jr.
