Nepotism in high school sports

In life, if often seems that success is not about what you know, but who you know. More than that, it's who your family is. I mean, how else did George W. get into Yale or Harvard? And that's just one example. I'm of the mindset that a person should earn the right to a good job or a good education, and not coast through existence on his/her family name. Though familial favoritism is rampant throughout society, a forum in which it is readily apparent is in the arena of sports-- namely high school sports-- which is why I'm writing this in the first place.

Let's speak in hypotheticals shall we? (And by hypotheticals I mean thinly-veiled literals, mmk pumpkins?) So I know this kid who happens to be a phenomenal baseball player. Let's call him "Stuart." He goes to "Plentiful" High. He is not only a natural talent, but a hard worker who truly loves the game. In fact, he was able to start varsity as a freshman last year, and he did a great job. Fast forward to this year: Stuart is relegated to JV, shagging balls for the team he used to start for. Seriously?

You may be thinking, hmm, I wonder why this kid's not playing varsity this year. Maybe they got a new transfer student with the skills of Robinson Cano. Maybe Stuart's just not that great of a player. Or maybe the new assistant coach wants his son to play. (Just so you know, it's the latter.) Yes, good old Plentiful hired a recently FIRED coach to continue the legacy of coaching-mediocrity that is rampant in its sports department. Said coach has a son who plays Stuart's position... so it looks like Stuart's out of luck.

Now it would be one thing if this kid were an all star athlete in his own right, with the build and the skill for the game. But the truth of the matter is this: he didn't even play last year (remember, daddy got fired) AT ALL. And to make matters worse, he's 5' 4" and maybe a buck twenty. Oh yeah, and ask me if he can turn a double play... nope. Ask me if he went 0-14 with ELEVEN strikeouts before he got his first little hit. And Stuart's the one riding pine. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Oh wait, it doesn't. Am I the only one going WTF right about now?

Sure, there are a lot of instances where fathers coach little league teams and the like so that their kids can play, and I don't have a problem with that. In some cases, this is the only time those kids will be able to play sports, and there's always the option of joining another team. So the problems of nepotism are then mostly alleviated. Let the kids play all they want with the teams they want and have a great time.

But what about in high school? A kid doesn't have the luxury of being able to choose which team he plays for. In fact, if the kid wanted to transfer schools, he loses an entire year of eligibility. So nepotism becomes a problem. I think it's pathetic and sad that high schools are so adversely effected by politics. Especially in Plentiful's case. I saw it when I went there, and it gets progressively worse. You get underpaid teachers in there that need an extra $1000 who know nothing about the sport and have a huge chip on their shoulder. And good kids don't get to play, merely because they don't have the right last name, or (sadly enough) the coach resents the fact they're good. It's very sad and very true.

I worry about the kids who are mistreated in such a way, who are denied their well deserved right to play. What about those who would be inclined to get into trouble if they didn't have a goal in place? What about those that can't afford to go to college unless a scholarship is provided? Instead of having coaches who are supportive and helpful, they have coaches who wish they were coaching football and put their awful sons into the game. It just doesn't seem right to me. And it definitely doesn't sit well with me.

I've thought about what I can do to bring this problem to light, but sadly, nobody at Plentiful really cares. So at least I can blog about it right? Sigh.

** For those of you who read this as of 4/9/2008, I am sorry to report that I had to further change names to protect the innocent. They were way more funny before. **