To The Readers’ Forum:

Recent articles printed in The Jamestown Post-Journal have highlighted school sports programs claiming the many positive attributes for students participating. I concur that each year in our area schools a few students excel and are given the recognition afforded their accomplishments. My concerns are not intended to minimize this. I have known and shared in the glory of these accomplishments with many students.

However, as a past school nurse, I have seen the “dark side” of school sports that plays out all too often. Many students that long to participate are not able to for a variety of reasons often times creating negative outcomes sometimes leading to less desirable alternatives.

Summer basketball, cheetah volleyball, traveling leagues, summer sports camps and other programs outside of school sports have become mandatory requirements. Students lacking the resources and opportunity to participate in these activities have little chance of participating in the school programs.

Many of the sports have limited space on the team roster so year after year I witnessed students devastated from being cut from the team. The pain associated with this leaves many people with lifelong negative memories of their school years.

And getting on the team is no guarantee of play. For many students, the only playing time they see is during practice. In talking to many adults about their experiences with school sports, a common theme that I have heard is; it’s not how good you play, it’s who you are, that counts. While I would like to believe this is a false bias, six decades of hearing it and seeing it lends some validity to the comment.

Walking through the halls and gymnasiums of the area schools, you can’t miss the banners and the trophies of the honored few. But then there are those on the “dark side”. The one’s not able to access the mandatory requirements outside of school, or the ones not chosen, or the ones standing on the sidelines in the cold rain or sitting on the bench not being given an opportunity to put their hard work into play on the team.

I would challenge our school boards to honestly critique their sports programs. Are schools realistically providing opportunities for all students wishing to participate or are they sending numbers of students to the “dark side” of sports for the sake of the few winners?

Margaret Kelwaski

Sherman