On youth sports and discipline

Opinions often state, in one way or another, that public funding of competitive sports at any or all levels of schooling is frivolous, unnecessary, unwise or a waste of tax dollars, and on and on. The opposite position also comes up on a frequent basis. Which is correct?

The Columbia Falls High School 2014 football team was, until mid-season, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A, and though it suffered one loss during the regular season, it was still a serious contender for high state honors.

At the end of the regular season, it ranked statewide at or near the top in offensive and defensive performance. Multiple players on the team were among the best in the state, and several of them are likely to attend college with full ride scholarships — an earned opportunity of great value to them and to their families.

Most members of the team learned valuable lessons from that one loss, as well as from other wins and losses during their years on the field. They learned the values of discipline, teamwork, hard work and focused training. And they learned to work under the guidance and mentoring of dedicated people who had authority over them.

Regarding the worthiness of youth sports, a careful look at a recent happening in Columbia Falls may give any thinking person something to consider. The happening was a weekend party that occurred a day after the regular season had ended, but it took place only days before the first playoff game.

Nine members of the high school football team attended that party. In spite of their time on the field, they had not yet learned that there are consequences for bad choices.

One of the ground rules for the 2014 season forbade partying during the season, and the consequence for violating this rule was the removal of rule breakers from the team.

A few of the involved players were critical members of the offensive lineup, and a few were critical to the defensive lineup. But they were, because of their bad choice, not able to be on the field for their team during the first game of the playoffs — a closely fought battle with an excellent opponent that they had beaten earlier in the season. Columbia Falls lost by six points.

That game was the last for the 2014 Wildcat football team, and by losing it the seniors on that team suffered a loss that they did not deserve. After the game, tears flowed privately and publicly down the pained faces and onto the muddy uniforms of most of those seniors and their teammates. The tears will stop, but the hurt and the negative memory will persist — maybe for a lifetime.

All involved, the coaches, the players, the student body, the families of the players and the community at large, will feel the consequences of this loss. Many have been hurt by a few bad choices.

The coaches and school officials could have overlooked the contract between themselves and the young people for whom they are responsible, and they could have played the game with a full team. Then they might have won the game and moved forward in the playoffs, and maybe they might have won a state championship. But what then?

Those who broke the rule would have learned that it’s OK to break rules with few or no consequences. And the rest of the team, the student body and the community in general would have been conditioned that to win it’s OK to break rules, and that discipline doesn’t count. From the leniency decision onward, the rules would be flexible and meaningless, and a habit of rule breaking would begin.

For those who followed the rules and for the coaches, two days before the first playoff game, things changed for the worse. Adjustments were made in the lineups, strategies were changed, some of the athletes had to play both ways, fatigue and stress were increased, and a team that was without injury and near the top in its class now became more vulnerable and weaker on the field.

The players who followed the rules and had trained for years to be among the best lost their opportunity to prove their worth and to potentially receive a college scholarship. None of the players will ever know what they could have done, and an unknown portion of school and community pride that might have developed has lost its opportunity to do so.

Those who followed the rules will be stronger and wiser, but they have been injured. Those who broke the rules have injured themselves, and they have been punished. There is no need for further hurt. We must all remember that they are young, and that all of us have made bad decisions now and then. They will have to rebuild the respect that they once enjoyed, and they must earn again the trust and confidence of those that they have hurt.

As individuals and as a community, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the 2014 Wildcat football team, to their wonderful coaches and to the excellent school system that has developed in our community. They have made school sports a growth opportunity for our youth and a generator for future leaders in our community and the world.

To coach Schweikert, his staff, the 2014 Wildcat football team and to the Columbia Falls High School, thank you.

Bob Windauer lives in Columbia Falls.