Day 766 of 1000

My cousin Trisha sent me a very encouraging story from Utah about government high school football.  There is a second article about it here.  I need to disclaim that while I am a product of the government school system and played four years of high school football, I am neither a fan of government school nor publicly funded high school sports.  Both seem to do a lot of damage to the youth of America, but that is a post for another day.  This is a story about a coach who disbanded his football team and was supported by the parents for doing it.  Here are the basics, but the whole article is worth a read:

So when Matt Labrum, head football coach at Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah, suspended his entire team — all 80 of them — last week, can you guess what was coming next from parents of those suddenly former players?

If you figure Labrum got his head handed to him as he heard call after call for his immediate dismissal, you’d be incorrect.

Believe it or not, Labrum says he’s received no ill will from moms and dads for his radical disciplinary move — and that has everything to do with the off-field problems that fueled the total team suspension (e.g., bad attitudes toward teachers, skipping classes, failing grades, and a serious allegation of cyberbullying) and his desire to correct  them.

So Labrum told the players to turn in their jerseys — if they wanted to wear them again, they’d each have to earn the right to do so by jumping through an arduous series of hoops, including extensive community service…

An event like this happened in our high school, but it was not followed up with an effort by the coach to help any of the players get their act together.  I was one of only two seniors on the team who did not get kicked off.  I was one of the privileged kids who made all the teams and got to play, but I still have a sour taste in my mouth for the predominately horrible public school sports envirnonment at a time when kids do not know how to read nor do math when they graduate.  Still, this is very impressive.  The coaches have rolled up their sleeves and are working with the players on something that actually might build a little character and academic achievement.