What has happened to our local sports teams?

Wetzel and Tyler Counties used to be feared by other schools. They knew coming to our schools would be a challenge to leave with a win. This past week on Sunday I was in Preston County sightseeing with my wife, looking at the fall leaf colors, something we like to do and do each year.

We stopped at a local restaurant in Grafton to grab a sandwich and I got into a conversation with a man who said the same thing. He said everyone wants to play Grafton now. Back 10-30 years ago no one did and they even had trouble scheduling teams. According to my viewpoint which was much in alignment with his, two things basically started the problem. One was when parents decided to become more involved and try to run the teams instead of letting the coaches do their jobs and the other was the use of social media. It is agreed that good intentioned volunteer help from parents makes a difference. However when the parents start trying to tell the coaches who should play and at what position, then it’s time to get them out of the way.

Back several years ago I was at the local gym when a parent came in and told the basketball coach that his son was going to be the starting point guard or he would take him somewhere else. Now mind you, the kid was good, however the head coach stood his ground like he should and told the parent that a point guard had already been chosen. The parent left with his kid and enrolled him in another school where he became successful. The point guard the coach chose went on to become the highest scorer in school history.

I have seen a great decline in local sports. Now, we still have many good athletes and some good teams. We have some quality coaches, who by the way don’t have to win all the time to be successful. Some know how to get the best out of kids. We have seen success at a high level in cross country, volleyball and with a couple football teams who will make it to the playoffs. Some of our local golfers performed well and the soccer teams had some success. But for the most part we have become an easy target for other schools. We can’t compete competitively with 13-14 kids on a football team and we can’t blame that on the coaches. Several kids have suffered minor injuries this season on the football field and it can be attributed to the small number of players having to play both ways every game, plus inexperience from incoming freshmen who have to step in to fill the gaps. We have been lucky not to have someone seriously injured. All injuries are serious, but some can haunt these kids for the rest of their lives. In order to avoid some of these injuries we need players. It is disappointing when our schools can only get 13 to 14 players on a team year in and year out. I don’t know what happened to the idea of 7 man football for these smaller schools. Maybe it could be something that would keep our teams playing.

Recently I read a post on facebook that talked about whether or not we should vote for a school levy. It reminded me that in days past, that kind of talk would have taken place at the local coffee shop or by phone calls between adults. Today it’s plastered all over the place for all the kids to see, with the parents making the remarks and basically doing so for attention. They thrive on it. One even told me, did you see I had 35 comments and 200 views. So what? You didn’t help your children one bit, what you did was instill in them the hate that you have built up inside of you.

School levies provide much needed support for all kids in the county. Every county has them, I noticed a few parents who stated they would not vote for a levy if their school was shut down. So what? It will still pass, because most people whether they have children in school or not want to see the schools have success. They want to see the children receive a quality education, have up to date facilities and receive breakfast and lunch. They want competitive sports teams with opportunities for the children to have choices such as soccer, baseball, softball, football, track, cross country and more, and they want enough kids to field a team without having to play both ways on the football field. I hate seeing these kids get hurt!

Another great baseball player passed on, just last month it was Pete Rose, this time it’s ex-L.A. great Fernando Valenzuela, who left this world on October 22, 2024 at age 63 following a brief illness. Valenzuela changed baseball for Dodger fans as he helped fill stadiums everywhere he went. His pitching career was spent mostly in L.A. where he kept fans in awe 11 of his 17 seasons. He was a six time All-Star and recorded over 2,000 K’s. He grew up in a small Mexican town where he polished his trade in small leagues throughout the country before signing with the Dodgers. In 1981 he finished his rookie season with a 13-7 record and became the only player in Major League Baseball history to win the Cy Young award and Rookie of the Year Award in the same season. Rest in peace ‘El Toro’.

Well the Mountaineers have been disappointing so far, and with only four games left after they squeaked by Arizona on Saturday, it doesn’t look good for the home team. Against Kansas State the crowd showed up, but the team once again spoiled all the fun. Blame it on the coach if you want, much of it lies there, but the blame can be spread in several places as receivers dropped passes, runners fumbled the ball, penalties were numerous and the defense never showed up. With the score at 45-18 late in the contest it seemed as though fans had had enough. Out the door they went in droves not looking back. Saturday night at Arizona they played well at times, but the competition was sub par. This season can still be somewhat salvaged, but the home guys must win out and at this point I don’t see that happening.

The Regional cross country championships were held last Thursday, with Wetzel and Tyler representing well. Magnolia finished second to St. Marys and Tyler Consolidated was a close third. Winning the race was Silver Knights junior Amos Kimble who is having himself quite the year. There is a real possibility he could bring it all home on Saturday at the state meet. Also in contention is Magnolia’s premier runner Landen Davis, he finished second overall at the regionals and with a huge effort he could win it all as well. Let’s hope for first and second place finishes from these two in either order. It would be huge for the schools!

The big game in local football this week is Valley visiting Magnolia. The Lumberjacks have only one defeat this season while the Blue Eagles picked up their second win over Ravenswood this past weekend. However, this could be a good one if the Blue Eagle defense can rise to the occasion. Let’s call it Valley 34, Magnolia 21.