High school sports provides positive learning environment

Albert College's Winston Chen defends against Greenwoods V. Flatt in boys high school basketball action. Greenwood went on to win the game 51-42.

In a world of professional sports that is so focused on winning and losing, covering high school sports has been a nice change.

The attitude is always positive. The players and coaches thoroughly enjoy what they do. Overall it provides a great, positive learning environment for the students as they try and learn the sport they love.

I realized the difference in the atmosphere this past week when I was covering a high school basketball game.

The game was in Belleville between Albert College and Greenwood College.

The two teams were evenly matched at the start but Albert College ended up losing 51-42. Full Game Story

The lost was their third of the season, dropping their record to 1-3.

After the game, I noticed a player sitting on the Albert bench. He seemed down and disappointed that his team had lost.

I approached him for an interview.

“What did you think of the game today?” I asked.

““It was very good, very intense and we played a great game,” the player responded.

After a few more questions, I asked him about their season.

“The season is going great, we are putting in a lot of effort and the games that we have won we have done a great job in,” he responded.

It was somewhat surprising that he wasn’t disappointed in the loss. In his mind, as long as the team tried their best and put in a good effort, he was happy.

The Albert College coach responded the exact same way.

She was positive and upbeat and commented on what her players did well.

“Tons and tons of learning today, she said. “We hadn’t played Greenwood yet, so it was good practice and a great learning experience.”

You would never expect a positive response from a coach who’s team just lost.

Then I though back on all of the interviews I have done with high school coaches and players this season. I couldn’t remember a single negative response.

Sure everyone likes to win but with high school sports, winning isn’t everything. It really only matters if you enjoyed the game, learned something new and had fun in the process.

Play for the love of the game

I have been covering high school sports for about three months now.

I’ve been to quite a few high schools, covered a wide variety of sports and interviewed many different players and coaches.

I have spent many hours observing the high school sports atmosphere and, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Now you may be wondering, ‘Why? How can you honestly enjoy covering high school sports?’

An argument against it might go something like this.

How could any aspiring sports journalist like covering high school sports? They are just high school students. They aren’t professionals. They aren’t top athletes competing at the top level and most of them will never play professional sport past their teenage years.

Any one of those points backs up my reason for enjoying high school sports.

It’s sports at its grassroots level. These kids play for the love of the game. They all genuinely love the sport they are playing and are all out their to have fun.

As a sports fan it’s quite refreshing.

You don’t have money involved. Winning isn’t a live or death matter. The atmosphere is positive and kids are learning how to play the game they love. For the most part, these kids are playing the game the way it was meant to be played.

Professional sports doesn’t have too much of that anymore. The game has turned into a business where it’s all about the money. Players are playing the game to make a living. Wins and losses have a lot more consequences. There is a lot more negativity.

So next time, when you’re playing or watching your favourite sport, stop for a second and remember why you play the game.  Relax, enjoy it and have some fun. Sure most sports are competitive and nobody likes to lose. Just remember why we play the game and what made you love sports in the first place.

A look at what’s to come

Over the next few weeks I will be working on my digital story assignment.

The assignment will be trying to answer one question.

Does the college/ university recruitment process provide a viable option for high school students to obtain a post secondary degree?

I will be writing a wide variety of feature stories and profiles around this topic as well as provide video and audio content.

I will go in-depth on the Loyalist College recruitment process by providing information from both the college’s side and the athlete’s side.

I will profile athletes who were recruited from local high schools, such as current Loyalist Lancer basketball player Jenni Thompson.

The college and university processes will be compared against each other to see how similar they are.

I will also try and look at the Canadian (CIS) recruitment process compared to the American (NCAA) recruitment process.

Some features will look at people who benefitted from the process and were able to gain a degree that helped them in their life after sports.

Mike Botterill grew up in Belleville. He played his high school football in Belleville and was eventually recruited to play CIS University football for McMaster in Hamilton. From there Mike was able to obtain a post-secondary degree in business as well as get drafted into the CFL. After seven seasons in the CFL with four different teams Mike came back to Belleville and is now an owner of the BelleVegas Boardroom.

I hope to profile Mike and his journey through sporting world and the transition into the business world.

These are just some of the stories that will be included in this assignment. The stories will eventually be combined into a website and posted in the middle of February.

If anyone has any possible story ideas or information on the recruitment process please feel free to comment below.