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Isn't high school sports supposed to be all about a level playing field?
Isn't that what Title IX was all about? Isn't that what the class system is all about? The multiplier? Giving each school an opportunity to be competitive with every other school?
This isn't collegiate or professional sports. This isn't supposed to be about a salary cap or a luxury tax or Boone T. Pickens. This isn't about who can produce the best team that money can buy.
High school sports in Illinois has a sense of sanity when the Illinois High School Association enforced a rule that prohibited teams from traveling more than 300 miles to compete in contests.
Cincinnati was the mileage marker, 300 miles from Chicago, no farther. High schools in Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states were eligible to schedule games from coast to coast. Not Illinois.
Now the rules have changed. Illinois schools are eligible to schedule games from her to Hawaii. As Sun-Times prep editor Steve Tucker reported recently, Whitney Young' s boys basketball team is playing in more states this season than Loyola University.
I don't know who is funding Whitney Young's trips to here, there and everywhere. I hope they shot some hoops with President-elect Barack Obama while they were touring Hawaii. I assume the Chicago Board of Education didn't pay their bills and nobody claimed they raised funds by selling chocolate bars.
It is admirable that Whitney Young has a benefactor. It is troubling to me that few other schools do. So the playing field isn't level. Some kids have an advantage of getting exposure to college coaches and playing against the best competition in the country. Other kids stay home.
I think the system stinks. Van Coleman thinks so, too. He is one of the most respected recruiting analysts in the country and he has observed the abuses created by unlimited travel opportunities. It all comes down to what states will allow and what they believe is best for their athletes.
Iowa, for example, doesn't allow travel beyond adjacent states. It didn't allow a member school to participate in a Thanksgiving tournament in Peoria because it occurred a day before Iowa began basketball competition.
Some states don't permit their schools to compete in Christmas tournaments. They still believe it is a time for kids to be with their families. Illinois, however, has been conducting holiday basketball tournaments since the 1920s and has more events for boys and girls than any other state.
"In many states, schools must raise their own money to travel," Coleman said. "The abuse comes from outside sources. It falls back on adults to make rules that are adult rules and fit the situation.
"I like it if schools compete in only one or two tournaments a year, so they aren't affected academically. As it is, there are way too many tournaments. It raises questions about whether it is good for the kids to get so much exposure and travel so much.
"Schools to have determine a balance between exposure to different cultures compared to what is best for the kids academically. The current system must be scaled down to what makes sense."
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Mr. Bell,
I have asked some of these same questions aloud. For instance: "Who pays for these trips to different states for public high school teams?"
What kind of message does this send to kids? Doesn't this make some kids feel "entitled" to these kinds of perks?
As a high school senior, my Hales Franciscan team played in a holiday tournament in Rockford, IL. Many of us thought that this was a "great" trip.
Posted by: Marc Thomas | December 26, 2008 10:10 AM
I HAVE READ ON SOME BLOGS THAT THE PLAYERS RAISED SOME
OF THE MONEY FOR THE TRIP, AND I HAVE READ THAT THE
TOURNAMENT THAT INVITES YOU TO BE IN THE TOURNAMENT,
PAYS ALOT OF THE FREIGHT!
THE TEAM FROM WHITNEY YOUNG IS A SPECIAL BUNCH OF
PLAYERS, AND YOU ALSO HAVE MICHAEL JORDAN'S YOUNGEST
SON ON THE TEAM, WE SHOULD BE HAPPY THEY WERE INVITED
AS WELL AS THE OTHER TEAMS!
IF THEY HADN'T ACCEPTED, ANOTHER TEAM WOULD HAVE GONE
IN THEIR PLACE!
THE MESSAGE IT SENDS TO STUDENTS IS ONE OF APPRECIATION
FOR YOUR TALENT, NOT ONE OF ENTITLEMENT, IF THEY DIDN'T
HAVE A WINNING PROGRAM THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN INVITED!
IF YOU ARE MAD, CALL OR WRITE THE IHSA, THEY LIFTED THE
RULE OF TRAVELING ONLY 300 MILES!
REMEMBER ALOT OF SHOE COMPANIES SPONSOR ALOT OF THESE
TOURNAMENTS, THE SHOE COMPANIES SPONSOR AAU BALL AS WELL!
DON'T HATE THE PLAYERS FOR GOING TO HAWAII, I HAVE
NEVER GONE TO HAWAII, BUT THESE PLAYERS AT YOUNG HAVE,
AND THAT IS A POSITIVE THING, THEY WON 2 AND LOST 2!
WITH THE PROBLEMS WITH SOME OF THE YOUTH, ANYTHING THAT
IS POSITIVE SHOULD BE COMMENDED NOT SHOUTED DOWN!
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHO PAID FOR THE TRIP, CALL
THE TOURNAMENT SPONSORS AND ASK THEM, OR CALL WHITNEY
YOUNG AND ASK COACH SLAUGHTER, EITHER WAY WITH THE
ECONOMY BEING THE WAY IT IS, IT IS A MIRACLE THEY EVEN
TRAVELED TO PLAY THOSE GAMES!
LET'S BE HAPPY WHEN OUR YOUNGSTERS ARE DOING POSITIVE
THINGS, IT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE DID WHEN WE WERE
YOUNGSTERS, IT'S ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE CURRENT YOUTH,
AND THE POSITIVE DECISIONS THEY MAKE!
DON'T BE MAD AT WHITNEY YOUNG, THEY HAVE A WINNING
PROGRAM AND THEY WERE SELECTED TO PLAY IN HAWAII,
BOTTOM LINE!
WHAT COACH WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED TO TAKE THAT TRIP?
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | December 27, 2008 12:01 AM
Mr. Bell,
My family has wondered the same thing about all the travel. Family time comes first in our house followed closely by the academics. That's why kids are in school. Is it any wonder so many colleges find themselves struggling to keep some of these athletes academically eligible. There's a reason why Duke, Stanford, Vanderbilt and the Ivy League schools are what they are - They go after athletes that are also wonderful students and all around people. Hinsdale Central Girls travel to Wheaton North and the boys to Waubonsie, it's not far and we still get time with friends and family during the holidays.
Posted by: Marie Kokenis | December 27, 2008 8:32 AM
Taylor Bell - you got it right!
It's high school athletics people!
Posted by: Pete in Bucktown | December 27, 2008 11:11 PM
I wonder if there is some racism involved here. Nobody cries about hockey or soccer teams travelling or baseball having travel teams and some high school that travel to other states. I think it's a good experience for kids to see different places. Most of these kids playing basketball are black. Nobody cried when St Rita which has mostly white kids on their football team went to Ohio this summer and played. I am glad Whitney Young and North Lawndale and Marshall among others gets the chance to travel to other states. It's a good experience for these mostly black kids to get out and see another world. Instead of seeing only gloom and despair in their own communities. Stop the hating and jealousy on here!!!
Posted by: Tim from Evanston | December 27, 2008 11:14 PM
I GUESS THE TRIP TO HAWAII WASN'T FOR NOTHING, THE
DOLPHINS JUST BLEW OUT H-F BY 30 AT PROVISO WEST!
A WISE MAN ONCE SAID, PUT ME IN A TOURNAMENT FAR FAR
AWAY AND LET ME GET MY ACT TOGETHER AND THEN WHEN I GO
HOME, I WILL NOT FEAR ANYONE!
THE COACH IS BACK AND NOW THE TEAM IS COMING TOGETHER!
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | December 28, 2008 10:32 AM
"I wonder if there is some racism involved here," writes Pete in Bucktown. I could not imagine a more thoughtful and contributing comment...Give me a break.
Why must society jump to the race card at every opportunity? Taylor Bell raises a good question that has nothing to do with race.
Pete in Bucktown continues, "It's a good experience for these mostly black kids to get out and see another world." How about we encourage them to enroll in the US military? Then they can see great places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and the DMZ.
Next time think of something else to write that has nothing to do with race.
Posted by: Mike in Hopetown | December 29, 2008 1:03 PM