I have been reading the comments regarding the incoming head football coach and athletic director at Sherman High School, and now I can see where Bruce Springsteen got the inspiration to write the song "Glory Days."
Some take shots at former head coach Drew Young, and that's okay, because that's the way it is in such a public position, not everyone is going to agree with how things are done. Things people can't say about Coach Young are that he didn't care or he couldn't coach. He does care a lot about students who are involved in athletics. Coach Young shows up for games every time a team plays, even making road trips when possible. After being a sports editor for more than 10 years, I can tell you that this is something more than a few athletic directors don't do.
He was also a good coach. After all that turmoil surrounding his hiring, Young and the coaching staff took the 2004 Bearcats to the 4A Division I semifinal game, and that was a team that had a collection of players who had absolutely no business even making the playoffs. But that team was so much better than the sum of its parts. I think Sherman is about like any other school district in Texas, sometimes a team can catch lightning in a bottle and compete for a state championship. It's not something every Sherman high school sports team is going to do every year.
Through his tenure, Young never forgot what his true mission was -- to help educate young people and prepare them for the rest of their lives. And that's something a school district cannot compromise in order to win a trophy or two.
The true measure of how a school district does isn't found in the number of state championships, but I think it is found in the number of National Merit Scholars the district puts out, and the amount of scholarship money a graduating class collects. Sherman had three National Merit finalists and the class of 2009 earned about $3.5 million worth of scholarships.
What I don't want to see is some guy sitting at the bar retelling the story about how he scored three touchdowns against Polk High. High school should be part of life's rich pageant, not the glory days.
Athletics are a wonderful part of the educational process. As someone who went to college to play football, I can tell you without athletics I would not have gone to college. The things I learned in athletics kept me in college, helped me get my degree, and have been a great aid throughout my adult life.
I hope I keep my view of athletics in proper perspective especially since I am a parent of a Sherman High girls soccer player. I like the games. I umpire high school baseball and am a C-3 rugby referee. I like to be involved, and I like to watch the young people be successful in a competitive situation.
I try to remember that athletics are part of the educational process, and whether teams win or lose, it doesn't really matter in the big picture.
What does matter is what the players learn about themselves and can they apply the lessons they learn through athletics to real-world situations so they can become successful adults.
That's the kind of image I want my school district to project when they hire Young's replacement.